Text below taken from Irish human rights NGO Frontline Defenders:
18 November 2015
Human rights defender Hugo Damián Prieto Blanco has been detained since 25 October 2015 when he was arrested while on his way to participate in the demonstration “Todas Marchamos” (We all March), organised by the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) movement. He is being detained at the Fifth Unit of the Municipality Playa (Quinta Unidad del Municipio Playa), in Havana. The human rights defender is facing charges of public disorder linked to his participation in a demonstration at the premises of the Attorney General's office on 22 October 2015 demanding that all human rights defenders detained during the Pope's visit to Cuba should be released.
18 November 2015
Cuba: Ongoing arbitrary detention of human rights defender Hugo
Damián Prieto Blanco amidst arbitrary arrests and judicial harassment of peaceful demonstrators
Mr Hugo
Damián Prieto Blanco
has been arbitrarily detained since 25 October 2015 and is now facing
charges of public disorder linked to his participation in peaceful
demonstrations
in Cuba. Human rights defenders Geovanys Izaguirre Hernandez and Laudelino
Rodriguez Mendoza are
also currently under detention following their arbitrary arrest on 5
November 2015 and a summary trial on 6 November 2015 in which
they were sentenced
to 6 months imprisonment.
Hugo Damián Prieto Blanco |
This
is an example of several cases of arbitrary arrests and judicial harassment against defenders
in Cuba in the past months. Amongst
them, the case of human rights defenders Jorge Luis García Pérez “Antúnez”
and Yris Tamara Perez Aguilera, both of whom
were arrested on
11 November 2015 and released the following day.
Geovanys Izaguirre and Laudelino Rodriguez |
Hugo
Damián Prieto Blanco, Geovanys Izaguirre Hernandez, Laudelino
Rodriguez Mendoza and Jorge
Luis García Pérez "Antúnez" are members of Frente de Acción Cívica “Orlando
Zapata Tamayo” (Civic Action Front “Orlando
Zapata Tamayo” - FACOZT). FACOZT is
an organisation that
fights for the release of political prisoners in Cuba and reports
human rights abuses committed by police forces against peaceful demonstrators in the country.
Yris Tamara Perez Aguilera is the president of Movimiento por los Derechos Civiles Rosa
Parks (Rosa Parks Civil
Rights Movement), which
is a feminist movement fighting to
end the repression against human rights defenders and for
the release of political prisoners.
Human rights defender Hugo Damián Prieto Blanco has been detained since 25 October 2015 when he was arrested while on his way to participate in the demonstration “Todas Marchamos” (We all March), organised by the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) movement. He is being detained at the Fifth Unit of the Municipality Playa (Quinta Unidad del Municipio Playa), in Havana. The human rights defender is facing charges of public disorder linked to his participation in a demonstration at the premises of the Attorney General's office on 22 October 2015 demanding that all human rights defenders detained during the Pope's visit to Cuba should be released.
Human
rights defenders Geovanys Izaguirre Hernandez and Laudelino Rodriguez Mendoza were
arrested on 5
November 2015 and taken to the police station in the city of Palma Soriano. In
the morning of 6 November 2015 both human
rights defenders were subjected to a
summary judgement
and sentenced to six months imprisonment.
They
were both
convicted of failing
to pay a fine of $15,000.00
(Cuban pesos) for allegedly
making anti-government graffiti in the city of Palma Soriano. The
graffitti read "Queremos Cambios"
(We want change), "No más
hambre" (No more hunger), "No
más
desempleo" (no more unemployment).
On
11 November 2015, at approximately 7am, members of the regime’s special brigade broke into the home of
Jorge Luis García Pérez “Antúnez” in
Camaguey and arrested him along
with his wife and fellow human rights defender Yris Tamara Perez Aguilera.
The arrests happened one day after Jorge Luis García Pérez “Antúnez” launched the campaign “No, no and no” (“No,
no y no”) asking the government to free Messrs Geovanys
Izaguirre Hernandez and Laudelino Rodriguez Mendoza. Jorge
Luis García Pérez “Antúnez” and
Yris Tamara Perez Aguilera were
released the following day, but their home was seized by the police
and their computer was taken along with some documents.
Front
Line
Defenders has received recurrent reports on arbitrary detentions
conducted against human rights defenders in Cuba. The human rights
organisation Information
Centre “Let's Talk” Press (Centro de Información Hablemos
Press - CIHPRESS)
has recently issued a document reporting 1021 arbitrary and politically
motivated arrests in Cuba in the month of
October 2015 alone.
The alarming number of arbitrary detentions in Cuba shows
that human rights
defenders
who speak out against the regime continue to be targets of systematic
repression. In this context, one of the most vulnerable group of human
rights defenders are the women from Damas
de Blanco since they are
frequently subject to harassment
during their weekly protests in Havana and
other Cuban cities. This
group of women has seen an
increased pattern of
arbitrary detention against
them, where the government detain them for a few
hours and re-arrest them the following week.
Front
Line
Defenders is gravely concerned at the arbitrary arrests and detentions
of human rights defenders in Cuba, intended to silence all dissenting
voices. Further concern is expressed at the continuous acts of violence
and human rights violations committed against
those who fight for the implementation of human rights in the country.
Front
Line Defenders urges the authorities in Cuba to:
-
Immediately and unconditionally release Hugo Damián Prieto Blanco, and drop all charges against him, as Front Line Defenders believes that he is being held solely as a result of his legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights;
-
Immediately and unconditionally quash the sentence of Geovanys Izaguirre Hernandez and Laudelino Rodriguez Mendoza and ensure their release from detention, as Front Line Defenders believes that their summary trial did not allow them to exercise their right to defence and that they have been sentenced solely as a result of their legitimate and peaceful human rights work as radio journalists;
-
Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity and security of Hugo Damián Prieto Blanco, Jorge Luis García Pérez “Antúnez”, Yris Tamara Perez Aguilera, Geovanys Izaguirre Hernandez and Laudelino Rodriguez Mendoza;
-
Return the computer of Jorge Luis García Pérez “Antúnez” and Yris Tamara Perez Aguilera confiscated during the raid, as they are manifestly not linked to any criminal activity;
-
Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity and security of members of Damas de Blanco and their right to carry out peaceful demonstrations without fear of reprisals;
-
Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Cuba are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions.
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