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Amnesty
International Report 2000
Cuba
Republic of Cuba
Head of state and government: Fidel Castro Ruz
Capital: Havana
Population: 11.2
million
Official language: Spanish
Death penalty: retentionist
Background
New
legislation
Restrictions on human rights monitoring
Prisoners of conscience
Releases
Short-term detentions and harassment
Short-term detention
Eviction
Restrictions on movement
Threats
Summonses
Loss of employment
Death penalty
Ill-treatment
Prison conditions
AI country reports
Dissidents,
who included journalists, political opponents and human rights defenders,
suffered severe harassment during the year. Several hundred people
remained imprisoned for political offences, some of whom were recognized
by AI as prisoners of conscience. Some trials of prisoners of conscience
took place which did not conform to international standards. New
legislation was introduced to combat dissent and widen the use of
the death penalty. At least 13 people were executed and at least
nine people remained under sentence of death. There were some reports
of ill-treatment. Prisoners were sometimes subjected to cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment.
Background
President Fidel Castro continued as head of state, 40 years after
coming to power. His party, the Partido Comunista de Cuba,
Cuban Communist Party, remained the only legal political party.
In April the UN Commission on Human Rights censured Cuba for human
rights abuses, calling on the government to respect fundamental
freedoms. In November the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly demanded
an end to the US embargo against Cuba, for the eighth consecutive
year. The mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Cuba, which expired
in April 1998 without his ever having been granted access to the
country, was not renewed.
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New
legislation
Tough new legislation aimed at combating political dissent and protecting
the Cuban economy was approved in February and became effective
in March. Law 88, the Law for the Protection of the National Independence
and Economy of Cuba, provided a penalty of up to 20 years' imprisonment
for a series of offences. These include providing information to
the US government; owning, distributing or reproducing material
produced by the US government or any other foreign entity; and collaborating,
by any means, with foreign radio, television, press or other foreign
media, with the purpose of destabilizing the country and destroying
the socialist state.
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Restrictions
on human rights monitoring
Research into human rights violations in Cuba was hampered by restrictions
imposed by the government, such as the reported monitoring of telephone
calls and mail, the illegality of human rights groups, the absence
of any official data on the prison population, and the difficulties
imposed by the authorities on access to the country for independent
human rights monitoring.
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Prisoners
of conscience
Several hundred political prisoners, including a number of prisoners
of conscience, were believed to be held in Cuba, most of whom were
convicted after unfair trials. By the end of 1999, AI was working
on behalf of 19 prisoners of conscience. The absence of official
data and the severe restrictions on human rights monitoring made
it difficult to confirm information on other possible prisoners
of conscience.
Several new prisoners of conscience were convicted and sentenced
during 1999.
* Jesús Joel Díaz Hernández, executive director of the independent
press agency Cooperativa Avileñ¤a de Periodistas Independientes,
Cooperative of Independent Journalists of Ciego de Avila, was detained
on 18 January, tried the following day and sentenced to four years'
imprisonment for "dangerousness". Jesús Díaz' trial reportedly did
not conform to international standards of fairness, particularly
since his lawyer had inadequate time to prepare his defence.
* In March Félix A. Bonne Carcasés, René Gómez Manzano, Vladimiro
Roca Antúnez and Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello, all members of the
Grupo de Trabajo de la Disidencia Interna para el Análisis de
la Situación Socio-Económica Cubana, Internal Dissidents' Working
Group for the Analysis of the Cuban Socio-Economic Situation, were
tried and convicted of "other acts against State security", in relation
to a crime of "sedition". They were sentenced to terms of imprisonment
ranging from three and a half to five years. All four had been detained
in July 1997 after issuing a critique of a document disseminated
for the Fifth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party.
* In May the trial took place of Manuel Antonio González Castellanos,
a reporter for the independent press agency Cuba Press, and
three others, Yoanis Caridad Varona González, Leonardo Varona González
and Roberto Rodríguez Rodríguez. All four defendants were convicted
of "disrespect". Three received prison sentences ranging
from 16 to 31 months, and Yoanis Varona was sentenced to 18 months'
restricted freedom.
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Releases
There were some releases of prisoners of conscience. In March Reinaldo
Alfaro García, vice-president of the unofficial Asociación de
Lucha Frente a la Injusticia, Association for Struggle against
Injustice, was released on condition that he left the country. Reinaldo
Alfaro, who reportedly remained in Cuba, had completed more than
half his three-year sentence for "spreading false news".
All the remaining imprisoned members of the unofficial Partido
Pro Derechos Humanos en Cuba, Party for Human Rights in Cuba,
in Santa Clara, who had been detained in October 1997, were released.
They were Daula Carpio Mata, José Antonio Alvarado Almeida, Iván
Lema Romero, José Manuel Llera Benítez, Lilian Meneses Martínez
and Ileana Peñ¤alver Duque.
Lorenzo Páez Nuñ¤ez, president of the unofficial Centro No Gubernamental
para los Derechos Humanos "José de la Luz y Caballero", "José
de la Luz y Caballero" Non-Governmental Centre for Human Rights,
and correspondent for the independent press agency Libertad
(Freedom) was released in January. He had served an 18-month sentence
imposed for "disrespect" and "defamation".
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Short-term detentions and harassment
Freedom of expression, association and assembly continued to be
severely limited in law and in practice. Those who attempted to
organize meetings, express views or form organizations that conflicted
with government policy were subjected to punitive measures and harassment.
These included short-term detention, interrogation, threats, intimidation,
eviction, loss of employment, restrictions on travel, house searches,
house arrests, phone bugging and physical and verbal acts of aggression
carried out by government supporters.
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Short-term detention
Short-term detentions were frequent, and there were several incidents
of mass detentions. For example, on 14 January about a dozen people
were reportedly detained, allegedly to stop them from participating
in a march to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of US civil
rights activist Martin Luther King.
Between 22 and 27 January at least a dozen dissidents were detained
after members of the Fundación Lawton de Derechos Humanos, Lawton
Human Rights Foundation, reportedly held a public meeting calling
on people to join their peaceful struggle. A pilgrimage was also
due to take place on 25 January, to mark the anniversary of a mass
that took place on Pope John
Paul II's last day in Cuba in 1998, and on 28 January a peaceful
human rights demonstration was due to take place in celebration
of the birth of Cuban national hero José Martí. All detainees were
subsequently released.
In August some two dozen dissidents were temporarily detained to
prevent them attending two anti-government protests, one of which
was called by the ecological group Naturpaz and was to take
place in Lenin Park, Havana. The other was to take place in Pedro
Betancourt, Matanzas province. One of the detainees, Oscar Elías
Biscet González, claimed that he was threatened with imprisonment
if he did not leave the country.
In September, seven opposition activists were arrested in Butari
Park, Havana, where they were holding an informal class on civil
disobedience. The detainees were all taken to a police station and
then to the Departamento Técnico de Investigaciones (DTI),
Technical Investigations Department, in Havana. Five of the detainees
were released shortly afterwards, but Marcel Valenzuela Salt and
Marlon Cabrera remained in detention for two weeks. Marcel Valenzuela
was reportedly hit in the face by a plainclothes policeman when
he was arrested.
In October at least a dozen people were detained after congregating
at the house of Maritza Lugo Fernández for a meeting called by the
Foro Tercer Milenio, the Third Millennium Forum, a group
of non-governmental organizations who had written to Ibero-American
presidents calling for human rights and democracy in Cuba.
In November and December some 260 dissidents were detained around
the time of the Ibero-American Summit in Havana. Many more were
placed under house arrest. At the end of 1999, 11 of these people
remained in detention, including Oscar Elías Biscet González, president
of the Fundación Lawton de Derechos Humanos, who was detained
on 3 November and charged with "insult to the symbols of the homeland".
No date had been set for a trial. He was considered to be a prisoner
of conscience.
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Eviction
Eviction was another method of repression used by the authorities
to suppress dissidence.
* In August, as well as being temporarily detained, opposition activist
Ramón Humberto Colás Castillo, was evicted from his home in Las
Tunas province, along with his wife, Berta Mexidor Vázquez, and
their two children. Ramón Colás and Berta Mexidor, who were both
founders of the first independent library in Cuba, had lived in
their home for 13 years before being told they were illegal occupants.
Other independent librarians were also subjected to threats, short-term
detentions and the confiscation of their books.
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Restrictions
on movement
Some people had restrictions imposed on their movement by the authorities.
* The Reverend Santos Osmani Domínguez Borja was sent to Holguín
province, more than 700 kilometres from his home. He and the Reverend
Lázaro William Urbina Dupont had both been temporarily detained
after formally requesting permission from the government to hold
an act of public worship.
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Threats
Many people were threatened with imprisonment in order to intimidate
them.
* In August Venancio Roberto Rodríguez Martínez of the Hermanos
Fraternales por la Dignidad, Fraternal Brothers for Dignity,
was threatened with imprisonment for being a counter-revolutionary.
Many dissidents were threatened with being tried under the new Law
88. They included Lázaro Estanislao Ramos González of the Movimiento
Cívico Máximo Gómez, Máximo Gómez Civic Movement, Raúl
Rivero and Hirán González González, both independent journalists
of Cuba Press, and Oswaldo Paya Sardiñ¤as of the Movimiento
Cristiano Liberación, Christian Liberation Movement. Several
people who took part in a 40-day fast starting in June were also
threatened.
* Leonel Morejón Almagro of Naturpaz left the country in
October because of the continual harassment and threats to which
he was subjected.
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Summonses
There were numerous cases of people suspected of anti-government
activities being summoned for questioning before local authorities.
During interrogation, which sometimes lasted a few hours, many were
threatened with imprisonment.
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Loss
of employment
Several government opponents and their relatives were dismissed
from their jobs, reportedly for political reasons.
* Former prisoner of conscience Eduardo Blanco Tolosa was dismissed
from his job and then threatened with being returned to prison and
charged with "dangerousness" if he did not find new employment.
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Death
penalty
There was an increase in the use of the death penalty, particularly
after the introduction in March of new legislation imposing the
death penalty for serious cases of drug trafficking, corruption
of minors and armed robbery. At least 13 people were executed and
at least nine people reportedly remained on death row.
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Ill-treatment
There were several reports of political prisoners being beaten by
prison guards and a few reports of beatings of non-prisoners.
* On 14 August human rights activist Oscar Elías Biscet González
was arrested in a park where he was to give a talk on civic resistance.
On arrest, he was reportedly beaten about the face and neck and
his elbow was burned with a cigarette by policemen. He was then
reportedly put in a cell, forced to strip naked, beaten and kicked.
He was subsequently transferred to the DTI in Havana, where he claimed
he was interrogated and threatened with imprisonment if he organized
any other dissident activity. He was released on 16 August.
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Prison
conditions
Prison conditions continued to be poor and in some cases, especially
in punishment cells, constituted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Punitive measures reportedly included the withholding of food or
medical attention, detention for months at a time in cells with
no light or bedding, threats, discrimination, verbal abuse and beatings.
Many prisoners reported being ill because of poor nutrition and
poor hygiene. The effects of the US embargo on the availability
of medicines and equipment contributed to the problem.
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AI
country reports
" Cuba: Some releases but repression and imprisonment continue
(AI Index: AMR 25/005/99)
" Cuba: Prisoners of conscience Manuel Antonio González Castellanos,
Leonardo Varona González and Roberto Rodríguez Rodríguez (AI Index:
AMR 25/027/99)
" Cuba: A worrying increase in the use of the death penalty
(AI Index: AMR 25/029/99)
" Cuba: Current prisoners of conscience must be released (AI
Index: AMR 25/036/99)
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Source:
Amnesty International, International
Secretariat,
1 Easton Street, WC1X 0DW, London,
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ISBN: 0 86210 290 1
AI index: POL 10/001/00 |
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