RIGHTS-CUBA:
Fewer Political
Prisoners, More
Arbitrary Arrests -
Dissidents
By Dalia Acosta
HAVANA, 8 (IPS) - The
number of political
prisoners in Cuba fell
last year, but arbitrary
detentions increased,
according to a report
released Wednesday, by
the Cuban Commission for
Human Rights and
National Reconciliation
(CCDHRN).
At least 325 people were
arbitrarily arrested --
most of them were held
by the authorities for
some hours or a few
days. Those apprehended
"for trying to exercise
certain civil and
political rights" were
released without charge,
said CCDHRN, which has
worked illegally in the
country since 1987, but
is tolerated by the
authorities.
"Our day-to-day
observation leads us to
think that the style of
political repression has
changed. The long prison
terms handed down years
ago have given way to
short periods of
detention," Elizardo
Sánchez, a human rights
observer and head of
CCDHRN, told IPS.
"The current situation
could continue in the
short term, unless there
are unforeseen changes
in government policy,"
the activist said.
Manuel Cuesta Morúa,
spokesman for the Arco
Progresista dissident
coalition, said that
such "warnings" from the
authorities are on the
increase. "The limit
still appears to be the
street. The authorities
are determined not to
allow any public
demonstration that might
get out of hand," he
told IPS.
According to the CCDHRN
report, the interim
government -- in power
since the announcement
of President Fidel
Castro’s illness on Jul.
31, 2006 -- "has done
nothing to change the
dire situation of civil,
political and economic
rights that has existed
in Cuba for more than
four decades."
The Cuban government,
for its part, does not
recognise the legitimacy
of this kind of report,
nor of organisations
like CCDHRN, which the
authorities say have no
real influence in the
country and only exist
because they are
promoted and financed by
the United States
government.
When it speaks on human
rights, the Cuban
government stresses the
social achievements of
the country and the
benefits its 11.2
million people enjoy in
terms of education,
health and employment,
guaranteed by the state.
The lack of other rights
are officially
attributed to the
country’s need to defend
itself from the U.S. --
which uses its U.S.
Interests Section in
Havana to promote
internal rebellion --
and has publicly
declared its support for
a change of government
and an end to socialism
on this island.
The U.S. has maintained
an economic embargo
against the island for
over 40 years.
However, a public debate
of the current problems
troubling Cuban society
– a debate stimulated in
2007 by the government
itself -- has brought up
some issues that have
been part of the
dissident agenda, and
are now being raised by
broad sectors of the
population.
Among the proposals
being debated are the
right to freely enter
and leave the country,
elimination of the
present dual currency,
extension of cooperative
ownership to certain
services, and access by
Cubans to tourist
hotels, from which they
were banned 15 years
ago.
The CCDHRN report was
distributed to the press
Wednesday. It includes a
partial list of
political and
socio-political
prisoners which the
organisation publishes
every six months, based
on information from
relatives.
On Dec. 31, there were
234 political prisoners,
12 fewer than the number
reported in mid-2007.
The report considers
this to be of minimal
significance, but it is
part of a clear trend.
CCDHRN reported 333
documented political
prisoners at the end of
2005, and 283 at the end
of 2006.
Only 72 out of the 234
listed are accepted as
prisoners of conscience
by human rights watchdog
Amnesty International
(AI). Of these, 59 are
serving sentences in
maximum-security jails,
and 13 have been granted
conditional release for
health reasons.
According to CCDHRN, "if
the government were to
apply, without
discrimination on
ideological grounds, the
provisions of Article
58, sections 1 and 2 of
the current criminal
code which establish the
right to conditional
release, nearly a
hundred political
prisoners could be freed
from prison
immediately."
The general prison
population, estimated at
80,000 in the absence of
official figures, could
also be reduced by
applying this provision.
"Every time we see
someone convicted of
‘dangerousness’ we know
they are technically
innocent because they
have committed no
crime," Sánchez said.
"Dangerousness" means
someone is suspected to
have the potential to
commit a crime. It is a
category that covers
thousands of men and
women who have been
arrested.
The report says the
government’s recent
announcement that it
will sign the U.N.
International Covenants
on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR) and on
Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
is "positive, if Cuba is
willing to respect the
letter and the spirit of
both pacts."
The decision means Cuba
will open its doors to
regular monitoring by
the newly created U.N.
Human Rights Council
from 2009.
According to the CCDHRN
report, instead of
"signing more
commitments," the
government should
respect the laws already
in force in the country,
and make headway by "reform[ing]
laws that criminalise
the exercise of
elementary civil,
political, economic and
cultural rights."
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