Human Rights Day: Continuing on the path towards human rights for all

Human Rights Day: Continuing on the path towards human rights for all

Washington, D.C.; December 10, 2020.- 72 years after the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the world has not yet achieved the full guarantee and enjoyment of each person’s inherent rights. In Latin America and the Caribbean, structures that contribute to human rights violations, particularly violations against historically marginalized populations, remain persistent and in some cases are worsening.

This December 10th, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) joins the international celebration of Human Rights Day by reviewing the human rights situation across the region, particularly the countries where we partner with civil society: Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Mexico, Panama, and Peru.

The killing of George Floyd

Race and Equality added our voice to the global outrage sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a Black U.S. citizen, at the hands four white police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25th. Video of the tragedy on social media sparked indignation and a re-examination of the realities of racism and police brutality in the U.S.

We were heartened by the rapid and forceful response of the international human rights protection system to this travesty, including the June 17th Urgent Debate of the United Nations Human Rights Council on “the current racially inspired human rights violations, systemic racism, police brutality and the violence against peaceful protest” and the adoption of Human Rights Council Resolution 43/1. We are concerned, however, at the lack of follow-up effort to strengthen the various international human rights mechanisms’ ability to monitor States’ compliance with their obligations in this regard.

COVID-19: a multiplier of inequality

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clearer than ever that economic inequality and inequality in access to health and education have deadly consequences across the region. It has also made clear that when States fail to design public policies with an intersectional approach, indigenous, Afro-descendant, and LGBTI populations who have suffered historical marginalization and discrimination are the hardest-hit.

In Brazil, for example, the Afro-Brazilian population has seen its most fundamental right to life threatened by the denialism of President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration. Afro-Brazilians have been the population most negatively impacted by the current government’s refusal to implement proper public health measures. During the most critical months of the pandemic, Brazilian women were murdered at a rate of one every nine hours. Of these victims, 73% were Afro-descendant women.

Discrimination for reasons of sexual orientation and gender identity has also manifested itself in the context of COVID-19. In Colombia, a trans woman and sex worker named Alejandra Monocuco died in late May after medical personnel refused to give her emergency care. The personnel, who had been called by Alejandra’s companions when she suddenly became unable to breathe, refused to approach her when they learned that she was HIV-positive and told her companions that she must have been suffering an “overdose.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has coincided with the 2020 Census in Mexico, a situation that Afro-Mexican activists fear has affected census-takers’ ability to collect trustworthy data on the Afro-descendant population. Particularly in parts of Mexico not normally thought of as Afro-Mexican population centers, low rates of self-identification among Afro-descendants can lead to undercounting.

Anti-LGBTI violence and hatred

Latin America continues to be the region with the most murders of trans people. In Brazil, where the current government continues to tolerate and encourage LGBTI-phobia, 151 trans people have been murdered this year. In Colombia, Race and Equality has worked with our grassroots partners to record 65 incidents of discrimination, harassment, assault, and murder against people with diverse sexual orientations and/or gender identities.

The refusal to recognize LGBTI people’s rights and respond to their demands for justice is concerning across the region. In Peru, for example, the Constitutional Court rejected Óscar Ugarteche’s effort to have his marriage to his husband Fidel Aroche, celebrated in Mexico in 2010, inscribed in the National Civil Registry. Peru also failed to account for the rights of trans and non-binary people when it implemented its quarantine policy known as pico y género,[1] leading to acts of discrimination against this population.

In Panama, civil society continues to demand that the government introduce a law legalizing marriage equality for legislative debate, while LGBTI organizations in the Dominican Republic are leading a campaign for a Law on Equality and Non-Discrimination to protect the rights of Afro-descendant and LGBTI people.

Human rights defenders continue to be murdered

Four years after the historic Final Peace Accords ended more than 50 years of armed conflict between the Colombian government and the FARC rebels, the country is suffering one of the worst periods of violence in recent memory. The rise in violence is attributable to attacks against social leaders, human rights defenders, and ex-combatants participating in the peace program and to violent murders of civilians, such as the August 11th murder of five Young Afro-Colombian men in the Llano Verde neighborhood of Cali.

According to the Ideas for Peace Foundation (Indepaz), 287 murders of rights defenders have taken place this year as of December 7th. Indepaz reports that 688 such murders have taken place during the current administration of President Ivan Duque and a total of 1,086 have occurred since the signing of the Peace Accords. Colombian civil society continues to call for an urgent response on the part of the State, but President Duque’s government persists in prioritizing its own policy of “Peace with Legality” above the implementation of the Accords. This policy neglects vital elements of building sustainable peace, particularly women’s rights and the rights of ethnic minorities, which had been enshrined in the Accords’ groundbreaking “Ethnic Chapter.”

Repression of civil society

In Cuba, repression of activists, journalists, artists, and human rights defenders has increased as the government uses the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext for restricting the activities of independent civil society. Short-term detentions, raids and searches, confiscations of property, summary trials, and arbitrary criminal charges such as “contempt” or “public disorder” are all wielded against civil society leaders.

In Nicaragua, where the human rights crisis of April 2018 has not yet abated, authorities continue to persecute those who dissent from the current government. In the context of a public health and economic crisis sparked by COVID-19, this repression severely harms Nicaraguans’ fundamental rights. Currently, 109 people remain behind bars as political prisoners stemming from protests. Two recent laws (the Law on Foreign Agents and the Special La won Cybercrime) and the recent effort to punish “hate crimes” with life imprisonment pose acute threats to the freedoms of association, assembly, and expression.

Nicaraguan authorities continue to wield repression against those who demand accountability and respect for human rights. Along with their families, these rights defenders are threatened, monitored, and at times prevented from moving freely by the police. Meanwhile, an average of 40 violations of freedom of the press, including both physical attacks and persecution in the courts, are recorded each month.

On International Human Rights Day, Race and Equality reaffirms our commitment to building the capacities of in-country organizations to document human rights violations, defend their rights before the Inter-American and United Nations human rights systems, and advocate for reforms that will lead to the full enjoyment of human rights for all, without discrimination. We call upon all States to comply with their obligations to protect and promote human rights, obligations that are more pressing during the COVID-19 pandemic than ever.

We commit to continue our work advancing human rights for all people in the countries where we work, regardless of their race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or political beliefs. We salute the efforts of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Council, the UN treaty bodies, and the special procedures of the UN human rights system, and express our hope that they will remain steadfast in their work.

 

[1] Pico y género, which was also implemented in other parts of the region, called for women and men to leave the house on alternating days

As the Cuban Government Represses Independent Civil Society and Media, Race and Equality Demands Respect for Freedom of Expression and Peaceful Assembly

Washington, D.C., November 24, 2020.- The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) condemns the Cuban government’s ongoing repression of independent civil society, especially its current efforts to repress protests against the imprisonment of the musician and activist Denis Solís. On Sunday, this repression escalated with the detention of over a dozen activists, accompanied by attacks and censorship against local and international media outlets.

On Monday, civil society reported that at least 16 arbitrary detentions had taken place on Sunday, the majority of them in Havana’s Central Park, where independent activists and journalists gathered for a peaceful protest to demand Solís’ release. Solís, a member of the San Isidro Movement, was detained on November 9th and sentenced in a summary trial to eight months in prison for the supposed crime of “contempt,” a vaguely-defined statute frequently used to criminalize independent civil society activists.

Those detained have all been released, but they were interrogated, threatened, and in many cases beaten while in custody. Among those detained were Juan Antonio Madrazo Luna, Marthadela Tamayo González, and Osvaldo Navarro Veloz, all members of the Citizens’ Committee for Racial Integration (CIR). The Dama de Blanco Berta Soler, activist Ángel Moya, reporter for independent outlet 14yMedio Luz Escobar, and independent journalist Héctor Luis Valdés were also detained. Other incidents of repression were reported across Cuba. In Antilla (Holguín province), CIR member Esber Rafael Ramírez Argota was detained; Leticia Ramos Herrería and Marisol Fernández Socorro, both Damas de Blanco, were arrested in Matanzas.

Race and Equality learned from Cuban contacts that violence was perpetrated not only by the police and State Security agents who quashed the protest, but also by pro-government civilian groups who insulted and struck the protestors while authorities stood by.

Persecution of CIR

This was the second incident of arbitrary detention that CIR, an independent civil society group working to promote the human rights of Afro-Cubans, suffered in November. On November 12th, CIR’s national coordinator Juan Antonio Madrazo Luna was detained outside his house in Havana. He was held incommunicado for over 18 hours as police searched his home and confiscated computers, cameras, hard drives, a projector, a voice recorder, a printer, documents, money, and other possessions.

Marthadela Tamayo González and Osvaldo Navarro Veloz were both detained at about 10:30am on November 19th, as they tried to attend a press conference at the CIR office about the failure of the government’s National Program Against Racism and Racial Discrimination. The two activists were taken to a police station in Alta Habana and spent approximately 50 minutes locked in a police car before being interrogated by two officials who identified themselves only as “Osvaldo” and “Ricardo.” “Ricardo” was the same officer who had overseen Madrazo Luna’s detention on November 12th.

During the interrogation, “Ricardo” warned the two to cease their activism with CIR, telling them that “you will not be allowed to ridicule President Díaz-Canel on social media,” a clear reference to CIR’s campaign marking the one-year anniversary of the National Program Against Racism and Racial Discrimination. About two hours after they were detained, they were driven to another police station in Santiago de La Vegas and held there until they were finally released around 2:50pm.

The planned press conference was suspended, with Madrazo Luna reporting that the CIR office was surrounded by State Security agents watching for journalists or community members who might try to attend.

Repression on the rise

Since the detention of Denis Solís on November 9th, the Cuban government has stepped up its violations of freedom of expression and its use of arbitrary detentions against human rights activists, journalists, and artists who speak out for Solís’ freedom.

Police surrounded the offices of the San Isidro Movement on November 18th, where 14 people had gathered to plan a peaceful protest march. In response, some of the protestors chose to launch a hunger strike. At the moment, two people continue to go without food or water, and five more remain on hunger strike.

Race and Equality calls on the Cuban government to cease its harassment and persecution of human rights defenders, including members of CIR. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Human Rights Council Resolution 13/13 both require state parties to desist from any actions that interfere with the work of human rights defenders and forbid discrimination, including for political reasons. We support the statement made by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IAHCR) calling upon the State of Cuba to “put a rapid end to the practice of harassment against independent activists, artists, and journalists who seek to exercise their right to freedom of expression.”

Look here for images about the repression of Sunday, November 22, in the Central Park of Havana:

Race and Equality demands respect for freedom of expression in the midst of the campaign for the release of Cuban activist Denis Solís; condemns the Cuban government’s continued repression against independent journalist María Matienzo and activist Kirenia Yalit Nuñez Pérez

Washington, D.C., November 19, 2020.- The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) strongly condemns the continued repression carried out against independent journalist and writer María Matienzo and her partner, activist Kirenia Yalit Nuñez Pérez, at the hands of the National Police and State Security. At least four officials and a police unit remain camped outside Matienzo and Nuñez’ home in Havana since Tuesday, November 17, threatening to arrest them and take them to prison if they attempt to leave the house.

Matienzo communicated to Race and Equality that she attributes the current act of repression to her and Nuñez’ participation in the Movimiento San Isidro’s campaign to demand the release of activist and musician Denis Solís, who was arrested in Havana on November 9 and was sentenced, two days later and in a summary trial, to eight months in prison for the supposed charge of “contempt.”

Matienzo signaled that on the first day, as they attempted to leave the house, officials in the street turned on the police sirens seeking to approach them and arrest them. In addition, her partner was blocked from accessing mobile data for half a day. This recent phenomenon has been attributed to a deliberate action from the Telecommunications company (ETECSA) to commonly suspend access to data services for activists and members of the opposition.

To Matienzo, a journalist for Cuban independent media outlet CubaNet, this type of harassment is a common and recurring practice. “Sometimes they let us leave and they detain us on the road; in March, Kirenia was able to get close to a meeting location before being detained and placed in a police car under direct sunlight and interrogation,” said Matienzo. On October 10, she faced a similar situation – she was arrested while walking towards the Movimiento San Isidro headquarters and was taken to a police station where she was kept for over five hours.

Kirenia, a psychologist and coordinator of the Cuban Youth Round Table (Mesa de Diálogo de la Juventud Cubana), was also fined 100 pesos in March of this year for being falsely accused of avoiding security mechanisms. In January, she was given a written threat of being arrested and processed for “introducing counter-revolutionary material” to Cuba.

Day of Repression

Matienzo emphasized that she and her partner are not the only victims of this wave of repression and persecution – dozens of other people have been beaten, threatened and arrested since the previous week in response to the Movimiento San Isidro’s series of actions to protest the arbitrary detention of activist Denis Solís and demand his immediate release.

“Denis Solís has a particular racial profile to which the government’s sexist, homophobic and racist approach has intentionally caused more harm. The situation of lack of freedom of expression seen in the island is untenable, but we have chosen to speak out. The people must wake up because this is an evil that affects us all equally,” said the journalist.

In response to the recent wave of repression, at least nine activists from the San Isidro Movement headquarters decided to undergo a hunger strike. According to Matienzo, 14 people remain inside the headquarters, where they held a meeting three days ago to draft poetry in favor of Denis Solís’ liberation. However, a group of around 100 men comprised of plainclothes police and State Security agents arrived at the scene and surrounded the property and prevented the activists from leaving; they also intercepted food deliveries being provided by a neighbor.

Race and Equality strongly condemns these actions, which are clear violations of human rights. We demand that the Cuban government adopt the necessary measures to ensure the safety of María Matienzo and Kirenia Yalit Nuñez Perez. In light of international human rights norms, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, freedom of expression must be guaranteed by all States.

Following the arbitrary detention of Afro-Cuban leader Juan Antonio Madrazo Luna, Race and Equality demands that the Cuban government end its persecution of independent civil society activists

Washington, D.C.; November 13, 2020.- The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) condemns the arbitrary detention carried about against Afro-Cuban activist Juan Antonio Madrazo Luna, the national coordinator of the Citizens’ Committee for Racial Integration (CIR). Juan Antonio was deprived of his liberty for over twelve hours, during which time his family and colleagues had no information about his whereabouts. Race and Equality demands that the Cuban government immediately end its persecution of citizens who take part in independent civil society activities.

According to information from fellow CIR activist Marthadela Tamayo, security agents violently detained Juan Antonio around 4:00pm on Thursday, November 12 at his home in Havana. Security personnel also confiscated property from Juan Antonio and his sister Jacqueline Madrazo, including two computers, a camara, a projector and screen, an audio recorder, books, and documents.

Although Juan Antonio was released on Friday morning, his family and colleagues were given no information about his whereabouts for over twelve hours, despite visiting at least six police stations to ask where he was being held. Race and Equality, along with other organizations on and off the island, considers Juan Antonio’s treatment to be a case of forced disappearance.

Juan Antonio’s arrest comes on the heels of CIR’s efforts to publicize their report Denial, Exclusion, and Discrimination, which documents the human rights situation for Afro-Cubans and Cubans of mixed race, and the results of the organization’s investigation into racial discrimination in the Cuban labor market. Both documents have been disseminated at the national and international levels, including bring presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

A wave of arrests

 CIR also informed Race and Equality that CIR members Esber Rafael and Braulio Hastié were detained in Antilla (Holguin province) on Thursday. The arresting officer, a State Security agent identified as Henry Borrero Peña, confiscated another camera from the two activists. Also on Thursday, the artist and activist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and the independent journalist Iliana Hernandez were both arrested and released hours later.

The government constantly wields such tactics of police harassment and short-term detention against Cuba’s independent civil society. Race and Equality demands that Cuban authorities respect the fundamental rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and assembly, and freedom of movement. The Cuban State is obligated to protect and promote these rights under the treaties and international commitments to which it is party.

Race and Equality denounces the arbitrary detention of Cuban activist Yandier García Labrada and expresses concern for his health in prison

Washington, D.C.; November 6, 2020.- The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) denounces the arbitrary detention of Cuban activist Yandier García Labrada, a member of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL). Mr. García has been deprived of his liberty since October 6th and is being held at “El Típico” prison in Las Tunas province. In prison, Mr. García’s health has worsened considerably, partly due to a serious physical assault for which he has not received medical attention.

Yandier’s family was officially informed of his detention on October 27th, when his brother Irán Almaguer Labrada went to the Las Tunas provincial police station to request information. The official in charge of the case, who refused to give his name, revealed only that Yandier was being held in “El Típico” under the charges of “contempt” and “public disorder” and that no date had been set for his trial.

On November 3rd, Yandier’s other brother Yoanny Almaguer Labrada was finally allowed to see him and spoke with him for around 20 minutes. Yoanny reported that Yandier could not move his left arm and showed him bruises on his ribs, shoulder, and arms. He also reported that Yandier had not received any medical attention and that prison officials would not allow the family to give him the aerosol spray that he needs to control his frequent asthma attacks.

Until the meeting with Yoanny on November 3rd, Yandier had not been allowed to have either phone calls or in-person visits. The day after the meeting, Irán was detained for five hours in Buenaventura as he traveled from Manatí to San Andrés. The security official who detained Irán gave his name as Alberto and demanded that Irán “stop your opposition” if he wanted Yandier to be freed.

Facts of the case

According to information from Yandier’s brothers and MCL members, Yandier was seized around 3:00pm on Tuesday, October 6 outside of a grocery store in Manatí, where he resides. Yandier was in line to buy groceries and began to complain vocally about the market’s disorganization and poor service, leading other people to join in.

The market’s staff called the police to deal with this impromptu protest. When the police arrived, they arrested Yandier and three others, who were released later that day. Witnesses told the MCL and Yandier’s family that the arrest was “rough,” with four or five officers stuffing Yandier head-first into a police car.

Dr. Eduardo Cardet, national coordinator of the MCL, told Race and Equality that “the unjust and arbitrary incarceration of Yandier García Labrada is part of a systematic campaign of repression against members of the MCL aimed at suppressing our activism on behalf of human rights.” According to Dr. Cardet, threats and acts of harassments against MCL members are common. Race and Equality denounced such attacks in August.

“It is very concerning that Yandier’s family could not contact him or find out his status. The MCL demands the immediate liberation of Yandier García,” added Dr. Cardet.

Race and Equality calls for compliance with the rights of persons deprived of liberty

Race and Equality shares the family’s concern for Yandier’s worsening health and demands that the Cuban State protect his rights to life, personal integrity, health, and well-being, including by providing him access to adequate and timely healthcare. We also call on the government to provide him with the means to communicate with his family regularly. These measures are called for by international human rights instruments protecting the rights of those deprived of liberty, including the Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas, adopted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IAHCR) in 2008, and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, also known as the Nelson Mandela Rules.

Representatives from independent civil society and the IACHR Rapporteur on the Rights of Women call on Cuba to cease repression of female activists

Washington, D.C.; October 27, 2020.- Margarette May Macaulay, Rapporteur on Women’s Rights at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), joined representatives from Cuba’s independent civil society to demand an end to the persecution and criminalization of female activists in Cuba while committing to continue documenting and denouncing human rights violations.

Commissioner Macaulay and three members of the renowned Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) served as panelists during the webinar ¡Cubanas Libres Ya! The Situation of Female Political Prisoners in Cuba on Tuesday, October 27th. The webinar was organized by the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) as part of the #CubanasLibresYa (Free Cuban Women Now) campaign, which began in March 2020 and has brought to light the realities of violence, persecution, and criminalization facing Cuban women who demand human rights and dignified living conditions for all Cubans.

Context

In his welcoming remarks, Race and Equality’s Executive Director Carlos Quesada stressed that the Cuban state utilizes the country’s Criminal Code to criminalize those who express opinions against the government, a blatant violation of its international obligations to respect and protect human rights. “Specifically, authorities can charge activists with crimes or concepts that are not clearly defined in the Code, such as ‘contempt,’ ‘assault,’ or ‘social dangerousness,’” he pointed out.

Race and Equality’s Director of Programs, Christina Fetterhoff, serving as moderator, stated that between January and September of this year, the Cuban Human Rights Observatory (OCDH) recorded 1,249 arbitrary detentions, including 367 detentions of women. She also shared that there are currently at least 10 women in prison, serving house arrest, or performing ‘corrective labor’ for political motives.

Caitlin Kelly, Race and Equality’s Latin America Legal Program Officer, shared that although precise data is difficult to gather, the marginalization and poverty afflicting Cuban women is undeniable. In response to these injustices, Cuban women have taken great strides in advocacy and activism to demand change. “However,” she went on, “as the IACHR has recognized, freedom of expression is non-existent in Cuba. State Security forces, the police, the Rapid Response Brigades, and other authorities violently break up protests and look for pretexts to imprison the participants.”

Cases

Race and Equality’s documentary video about the situation of female political prisoners made its debut during the event. Afterwards, Berta Soler, leader of the Damas de Blanco, and former political prisoners Yolanda Santana and Xiomara Cruz Miranda shared their personal experiences. Internet connectivity issues made it difficult to sustain a conversation, but phone connections and pre-recorded videos prepared by the women allowed the three to share their testimonies.

Ms. Soler explained that in the last five years, she has been detained over 200 times, sometimes suffering three arbitrary detentions in a single week. “I remember that during one arrest, two police officers used a chokehold on me while one of them gauged my eyes, causing one of my eyes to fill with blood. They kept me in a cell for over 24 hours without water to drink or running water for sanitary purposes, nor did I have anything to eat,” she related. She also shared that she had most recently been arrested on September 8th of this year, during events and protests marking the feast of Our Lady of Charity, a major national holiday.

Yolanda Santana, one of the women profiled by Race and Equality during the #CubanasLibresYa campaign, recounted that since joining the Damas de Blanco, she has received dozens of arbitrary fines from the authorities – the total amount she owes would be impossible to pay. In July 2018, she was detained for failing to pay her fines and put on trial without the right to present a defense. She spent a year in El Guatao women’s prison, where she suffered inhumane and degrading treatment.

Xiomara Cruz Miranda joined the event virtually from Miami, where she has resided since being granted a humanitarian visa early this year. The visa was granted after she fell deathly ill in prison, where she was being held as a political prisoner. She made clear during the event that her illness was produced by mistreatment in prison and the lack of adequate healthcare in Cuban hospitals.

Ms. Cruz has been a political prisoner twice. In April 2016, she was arrested in a Havana park along with three other activists and detained in El Guatao prison for a year and eight months before standing trial. She was eventually granted conditional release but was arrested again in September 2018 and sentenced to another year and four months for supposed “threats” against a neighbor who provoked a confrontation by throwing stones at her house.

An unacceptable situation

IACHR Commissioner and Rapporteur on the Rights of Women Margarette May Macaulay expressed her concern at the persecution and criminalization described by Cuban activists. She remarked that although the number of women in prison is relatively small compared to that of men, the effects of incarceration are extremely harmful for these women, their families, and their communities.

Commissioner Macaulay made clear that the situation is unacceptable and “must end,” listing several regional and international human rights standards on the treatment of persons deprived of liberty that the State of Cuba is violating. Among these are the obligations to act without discrimination and to provide those in detention with hygiene and dignified living conditions.

The Commissioner also emphasized that her office and the entire IACHR will continue to monitor the human rights situation in Cuba, inviting local and international civil society organizations to document human rights violation and report them to the Commission. She expressed her hope that the current government will end its use of arbitrary detentions, respect the right to freedom of expression, and allow free access to information.

Race and Equality also stands firm in our commitment to monitor the situation of political prisoners in Cuba, denounce abuses, and work with local activists to demand that Cuba comply with its international human rights obligations. We invite all those interested to visit the #CubanasLibresYa campaign website (cubanaslibresya.com in Spanish and cubanaslibresyaeng.com in English)

The Cubanas Libres Ya documentary is available for viewing here: https://youtu.be/gTQcFGute4g

Race and Equality: The Cuban government must grant political prisoner José Rolando Casares Soto full and unconditional liberty

Washington, D.C., August 20, 2020.- On Wednesday, August 19, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) confirmed that Cuban political prisoner José Rolando Casares Soto was released under conditional liberty via a phone call with Mr. Casares. As an organization dedicated to defending and promoting human rights, we celebrate the fact that Mr. Casares, an activist and member of the Cuban Youth Roundtable (Mesa de Diálogo de la Juventud Cubana) has been released from prison and can rejoin his family; however, we continue to insist that the Cuban government grant him unconditional liberty and rescind his convictions, as well as that of his wife Yamilka Abascal Sánchez.

Mr. Casares was one of the activists whose stories were highlighted in our report Premeditated Convictions, which examined the Cuban government’s strategies for criminalizing its opponents. In July 2016, Mr. Casares and Ms. Abascal attempted to defend a friend who was being detained by the police. As a result, Mr. Casares was arrested and detained for a week. During his detention, he was forced to undergo a strip-search and interrogation. Authorities informed him that he would be charged with “assault” and “resistance,” but he was not informed of any proceedings until six months later, when he and his wife were summoned to trial.

Sentencing

The couple were tried together in a trial that was closed to the public and did not include guarantees of due process. Ms. Abascal was convicted of “contempt” and served a two-year “limitation of liberty” sentence in their home, while Mr. Casares was convicted of “assault” and “sexual obscenity.” This second charge emerged due to the police’s claim that he had taken off his own clothing while being arrested, when in fact he was forced to do so as police searched for a flash drive containing information about the Cuban Youth Roundtable.

Mr. Casares was originally sentenced to five years’ correctional labor without internment. On March 24, 2017, he was ordered to present himself at the state-run Civil Construction firm of his municipality but refused to do so in protest of his conviction. As a result, his sentence was changed to five years in prison.

After the order to appear on March 24, Mr. Casares did not receive another official communication from the court or the Ministry of the Interior (which oversees the penal system) and did not learn of his new sentence until he was arrested off the street, on his way to buy medicine for his children, on August 3. The five-year sentence is noteworthy for being longer than the 1- to 3-year sentences typically given to political prisoners.

Three years of suffering

Mr. Casares was held in Kilo 5 Prison in Pinar del Río until August 2019, when he was transferred to the Kilo 4 Penitential Center, a minimum-security facility. During his imprisonment, he suffered complications from a dental implant that was broken during his arrest, along with an intestinal prosthesis that he has had since childhood. On May 11, 2020, he was transferred to a hospital after suffering severe stomach pains for several days. At the hospital, he learned that he had a kidney stone. He received an injection for the pain but was not given any other treatment.

Mr. Casares has spent three years of life in prison, separated from his wife and children, for no reason other than his political beliefs. When he was arrested August 2017, his daughter was only 1 year old, and his younger son had just been born in April. “At last our children will enjoy the love from their father that they lost for three years … I will continue demanding the liberation of all political prisoners who are still incarcerated unjustly,” Ms. Abascal wrote on Facebook. During the family’s ordeal, Cuban security officials threatened her with the loss of custody of their children if she continued to denounce her husband’s treatment.

On August 18, the government finally approved Mr. Casares’ latest request for conditional liberty, allowing him to return home. However, he is still subject to various restrictions.

Upon being freed, Mr. Casares emphasized that other prisoners who have committed no crime remain in Cuban prisons and that he plans to continue exposing the inhumane conditions in which political prisoners are held.

Irregularities

Race and Equality has presented petitions to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on Mr. Casares and Ms. Abascal’s behalf, documenting how both of their detentions were arbitrary in violation of Cuba’s international obligations.

Among the irregularities documented were the lack of a legal justification for their arrest, the lack of a court order to keep them in prison, authorities’ failure to inform them why they were being held, and Mr. Casares being held incommunicado for seven days without court oversight. The Cuban state has plainly violated their rights to freedom of opinion and expression, enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

These rights violations are retaliation for the couple’s work with the Cuban Youth Roundtable to denounce the government’s abuses and seek electoral reform. Race and Equality demands that Mr. Casares be granted full, unconditional freedom and that his fundamental rights be respected.

Race and Equality denounces harassment against members of the Christian Liberation Movement in Cuba and demands respect for freedom of expression on the island

Washington, D.C. August 3, 2020.- The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) denounces the harassment and threats committed this weekend by Cuban State Security against a family that are members of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL, for its initials in Spanish). These threats were intended to silence leaders of this independent civil society organization on the island.

Dr. Eduardo Cardet Concepcion, National Coordinator of the MCL and former political prisoner, denounced that on July 31 and August 2, State Security agents approached different members of his family, who are part of the MCL, to demand that they leave the organization and threatened them with criminal prosecution and fines if they continued participating in actions supporting the MCL or Cardet Concepcion.

The first of these acts occurred on July 31, when a State Security agent who identified himself only as “Elio” arrived at the workplace of Yaimaris Vecino’s father. Vecino is the spouse of Cardet Concepcion. “Elio” told Yaimaris’ father to ask his daughter to leave the MCL or else her husband would return to prison.

This is not the first time that Cuban authorities have taken actions against Vecino. In the past, including the months that Cardet Concepcion was in prison, she was cited and interrogated on various occasions by State Security agents, who have even come to the clinic where she works to interrogate her there.

The second act of repression occurred on Sunday, around 1pm, when two officials from the Political Police came to the home of Yordan Marino Fernandez, Coordinator of the MCL for Holguín and Las Tunas, and Vecino’s cousin. The police forced him to report urgently to the police station in Velasco, the town where he lives. Once there, the activist was interrogated by two State Security agents, who threatened to charge him with a common crime.

According to the report, the agents told Marino Fernandez that they were not going to allow any member of the MCL to leave the country and that they would economically suffocate the organization until it disappeared. They also threatened to fine Marino Fernandez’s spouse and threatened their son. Before allowing him to leave the station, the agents ordered Marino Fernandez to stop his involvement with the MCL and not to support Eduardo Cardet Concepcion, or else both would go to prison.

The threats against Yaimaris Vecino and Marino Fernandez are especially worrisome because they are very similar to the threats that State Security agents made against Eduardo Cardet Concepcion before he was brutally attacked and convicted of a crime he did not commit in November 2016. The National Coordinator of the MCL served a three-year sentence. He served the majority of his sentence in prison in inhumane conditions and was stabbed by other inmates. He was placed under conditional liberty in May 2019, which he was subjected to until October 2019.

The MCL was founded in 1988 and despite their belief in peaceful change, they have been one of the most persecuted organizations by the Cuban state and its security forces. Of the 75 political prisoners during the Black Spring in 2003, 17 were members of the MCL. On July 22, 2012, their founder, Oswaldo Paya, died under unexplained circumstances after his car was hit by a State Security vehicle.

Race and Equality expresses its concern for the security of Yaimaris Vecino, Yordan Marino Fernandez, and all other members of the MCL, and urges the Cuban state to stop harassing them and to allow them to carry out their work as a political party. We also urge the international community to monitor the situation of MCL members and to demand respect and protection for the rights to freedom of expression and assembly on the island.

IACHR grants Race and Equality’s request for precautionary measures for Cuban political prisoner Silverio Portal Contreras

Washington, D.C.  July 23, 2020.- The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) is pleased that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has granted our request for precautionary measures for Silverio Portal Contreras. The request was submitted on June 5, 2020 and was granted this Wednesday. Portal Contreras is in a situation of grave risk and the Cuban government should follow the IACHR’s recommendations to take measures necessary to protect his life and personal integrity.

Silverio Portal Contreras is a Cuban political prisoner who was arrested in July 2018 while participating in a public protest. He is an independent activist who has supported various movements in Cuba, including the Ladies in White and the Opposition Movement for a New Republic. While in prison, his health has suffered significantly. He has suffered from thrombosis and consecutive ischemic attacks and transient ischemic attacks (TIA) that have left him partially paralyzed and with reduced eyesight because he did not receive adequate treatment for the conditions. His eyesight is also affected by a cardiac condition and because he was beaten in prison by prison authorities.

In a resolution in October 2019 denying Portal Contreras medical parole, the Provincial Tribunal of Havana recognized that Portal Contreras suffers from health conditions that put his health and life at risk, such as hypertension, ischemic cardiovascular disease, hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia, and that he therefore requires “specialized follow-up to maintain his illnesses.” However, the judges decided that his state of health is “compatible with the penitentiary regime.”

Race and Equality filed for precautionary measures on Portal Contreras’ behalf after his wife, Lucinda Gonzalez Gomez, informed us that she had stopped receiving her scheduled telephone calls with Portal Contreras after he reported experiencing another TIA. Gonzalez Gomez also received several calls from other prisoners reporting that Portal Contreras had been severely beaten by prison authorities and placed in an isolation cell. The prisoners also told her that Portal Contreras was losing his eyesight because of the beating and lack of medical attention. At the time the precautionary measure request was submitted at the beginning of June, Gonzalez Gomez had had no communication with her husband for several weeks and feared for his life.

In the resolution granting the precautionary measures, the IACHR recognized the extreme situation of risk Portal Contreras is in, noting the “special severity” of the allegations given that the perpetrators are the same state authorities responsible for his care as a prisoner. The IACHR also noted the damaging and permanent effects the failure of the State to provide Portal Contreras with medical care can have, given his condition. The context faced by human rights defenders in Cuba was also a significant factor, which the IACHR described as being “characterized generally by a climate of hostility, persecution, and harassment, particularly with respect to those who have manifested opposition to the government.”

Although the granting of precautionary measures is an important step in drawing international attention to Portal Contreras’ case, he is still very much at risk. Prison authorities continue to deny Portal Contreras the medical care he needs. On Wednesday, Gonzalez Gomez received a call from her husband informing her that he is not receiving the medication he needs for a heart condition, and as a result is losing sight in both eyes. The prison doctor denies that Portal Contreras has a heart condition.

Race and Equality calls on the Cuban government to implement the recommendations the IACHR made in the resolution granting precautionary measures to Portal Contreras, including conducting an investigation to avoid repetition of similar events. Race and Equality is open for dialogue with the Cuban government to help implement these measures. We also urge the international community to follow Portal Contreras’ case and pressure the Cuban government to provide him with the medical care he needs and to release him from prison.

Read the Resolution (in Spanish) here.

“In Santiago, I spent 100 days in an isolation cell”: The story of Lisandra Rivera, victim of State repression in Cuba

Lisandra Rivera first learned about Cuba’s opposition groups when she was 25 years old, living in her hometown of Santiago de Cuba. One Sunday in August 2013, she was at the beach with her friends when she saw a group of women dressed all in white protesting in the middle of the street. The young women stopped to watch the protesters and ask them about their group, the famed Damas de Blanco. They also watched the police put down the protest.

Before long, Lisandra and her mother joined the Damas. “We went to mass with the Damas every Sunday to demand freedom for political prisoners and for the people of Cuba. We carried out activities for children and brought aid to elderly and sick people,” says Lisandra, now 32 years old.

Later that year, Lisandra also became part of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU). Through her involvement with UNPACU, she met Yordanis Chávez, another activist who today is her husband.

A Family Affair

Lisandra comes from a family of activists. Her parents were not part of an organized opposition group, but they were unafraid to criticize Cuba’s political system. In the mid-1990s, both of her parents were arrested and prosecuted. Her father was sentenced to seven and a half years of prison, while her mother received three and a half years of house arrest. “I was four or five years old,” Lisandra remembers, “I didn’t understand what was happening.”

Today, Lisandra’s family continues to face the risks of human rights activism in Cuba. “My mother was pushed out of a guagua [an open-air bus] that she was riding, my husband had teeth knocked out in prison and I had a miscarriage in 2014 after a beating by the police,” she told Race and Equality.

Detention

On February 10, 2016, Lisandra witnessed inspectors and police officers beating her uncle and confiscating the merchandise he was selling at his business.

“I came up and started to ask what was going on. I told them they could not detain anyone arbitrarily, much less beat people. They turned on me and started to mistreat me, but the people around us supported me, so the police chief sent another officer who detained me,” remembers Lisandra.

Lisandra was brought to Santiago’s Police Station No. 3 and held for nine days before being released with a fine. She did not encounter the authorities again until seven months later, in December.

On December 18, says Lisandra, “they came to my house at 5:30am, they detained my husband and my mother. They went and got other neighbors to serve as witnesses while they searched my house. They confiscated a few things and after two or three hours, they detained me.” That day was a Sunday, when Lisandra, her mother and other activists had planned to take part in the Todos Marchamos (We All March) campaign. Lisandra’s relatives were released, but she remained in custody.

On January 17, 2017, Lisandra was put on trial for ‘assault,’ supposedly for striking a police officer during the February 2016 incident. During her trial, she was not allowed to present witnesses; the judge threw out the testimonies of her husband and her cousin who had witnessed the events. The prosecutor, however, presented two police officers who had not even been present during the incident as witnesses. Lisandra was sentenced to two years of deprivation of liberty.

Prison

After her sentence, Lisandra initially spent eleven months in the Santiago de Cuba women’s prison. She spent the remainder of her sentence in a high-security prison in Camagüey.

“In Santiago, I spent 100 days in an isolation cell,” says Lisandra, who was sent there as punishment for refusing to take part in political education or stand at attention before prison officials.

In describing the conditions of Cuban prisons, Lisandra says, “There are never medicines, there are never doctors, the conditions of the cells are horrible, the beds are just slabs, there’s no running water and there’s no lighting. There’s just one little bulb for the entire cell. The security staff are particularly hard on those who are in prison for political reasons. In Camagüey the beds were broken, and there was no running water or lighting.”

Being forced to sleep on a cold, solid block without a mattress caused Lisandra to develop arthritis. Although her family tried to send her medicine, vitamin supplements and extra food, prison officials refused to give them to her. Lisandra did not receive any medical attention until she fell ill with laryngitis.

Today

Lisandra remembers that the day she returned home from prison, “the whole neighborhood” was waiting for her. The next day, she returned to UNPACU’s national office, located in Santiago. Her activism went on a brief but happy hiatus, as she became pregnant soon after. Today, due to her pregnancy and the COVID-19 pandemic, she continues her work “publishing on social media to denounce [abuses].” “I’ve always been tough,” she affirms.

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