Castro Regime's Cover Up of the Oswaldo Payá Killing is Crumbling

"My family has received death threats and my children have suffered physical persecution by Cuban state security of the Cuban government in the streets of Havana."- Ofelia Acevedo, UNHRC, September 17, 2013



Each day that passes more evidence and testimony arise pointing to the fact that Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and Harold Escalante Cepero were extrajudicially executed in a premeditated manner by agents of the Castro regime.

The behavior of the dictatorship following their deaths targeting the family with death threats forcing them into exile and other members of the Christian Liberation Movement with violent attacks including one nonviolent activist attacked by a government thug who attacked him with a machete. He may never recover full use of his right hand.

Yesterday at the United Nations Human Rights Council both inside the plenary session and later at a parallel forum one could witness the efforts of the dictatorship along with its anti-democractic coalition fail to first silence a widow from denouncing the killing of her husband and demanding an international investigation into the deaths of Oswaldo and Harold to get at the truth and also to prevent additional killings of Cuban dissidents.

Parallel Forum on Human Rights in Cuba on 9/17/13 (UN Watch)

At the parallel forum, diplomats from Cuba, Venezuela, China, Russia and Ecuador, as well as two NGOs from Cuba took the floor, and tried to intimidate the speakers calling them liars and disputing their testimony.

The questions and their toxic and mendacious character were exposed and the facts of what is taking place in Cuba prevailed in the heated dialogue. The dictatorship's allies wanted the event to deteriorate into some sort of angry shouting match and failed.

Each one of the presenters addressed the substance of their questions, even when some of the diplomats and NGO representatives got up and walked out without listening to the answer to their question.

Dignity, truth and nonviolence triumphed yesterday over incivility, falsehoods and verbal violence it was a great day for Cuban freedom at the United Nations Human Rights Council as the Castro regime's cover up of the  Oswaldo Payá killing continues to crumble.

Below is what Ofelia Acevedo said yesterday at the Human Rights Council that the Cuban authorities failed to silence and censor:

Thank you, Mr. President.

My name is Ofelia Acevedo, a member of the Christian Liberation Movement and the wife of its national coordinator, Oswaldo Payá, opposition leader and Laureate of the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize who fought in a nonviolent way to achieve basic human rights for all Cubans.

He promoted the Varela Project, a referendum with the support of more than 25,000 citizens, who defied the crackdown against those who demand legal changes that guarantee freedom of expression, freedom of association, free elections, freedom of nonviolent political prisoners and the right to private property.

The government until now has refused to hold a plebiscite, and imprisoned the majority of its leaders. Cuban citizens being human beings we have a right to participate in the political life of our country and the Cuban government violates its own constitution to maintain the people oppressed. I ask this house to call on the Cuban government to respect its own constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to respond to the call for a plebiscite of Cuban citizens.

We now know that cars of state security of the Cuban government followed my husband and rammed the car in which he traveled the day that he died. Important press media and world leaders have demanded an independent investigation of the probably false and contradictory version given by the Cuban government.

The special rapporteur on extrajudicial crimes of the United Nations possesses a formal demand to investigate the assault that ended the life of my husband and the youth Harold Cepero.

My family has received death threats and my children have suffered physical persecution by Cuban state security of the Cuban government in the streets of Havana. Violence against the members of all the opposition grows in the country. Less than three months ago Werlando Leiva of the Christian Liberation Movement was attacked with a machete on a public street because of his nonviolent work in favor of the plebiscite and human rights in the island. Werlando, who is a father of three, may never recover total mobility in his right hand.

Yosvani Melchor Rodríguez is 30 years old and has spent three years in jail as punishment for his mother being a member of our movement.

The truth is essential so that what occurred with my husband and Harold not to be repeated with any other political activists inside the island. It is urgent to know:

How and why my husband died?

How many more nonviolent opposition activists have to die under suspicious circumstances for the world to decide to investigate the actions of the Cuban government against its own citizens?

Why is it that the Cuban government does not dare to realize a plebiscite that thousands of Cubans are demanding?

May God protect everyone and thank you very much mister president.