Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with
them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were
suffering."- Hebrews 13:3
Enjoying the holidays with family and friends. Getting ready for the New Year's celebrations? Please take a moment from the festivities and think of those locked up and mistreated for exercising their fundamental human rights.
More than a dozen human rights and pro-democracy organizations from Latin America, Europe and the United States have made a request during this holiday season that bishops, priests, pastors, rabbis, and men and women of good will to engage in all possible efforts with the authorities to obtain an amnesty of all political prisoners in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
Partial lists provided by internal human rights groups indicate that there are at least 120 political prisoners in Cuba, 576 political prisoners in Nicaragua, and 288 political prisoners in Venezuela spending the holiday season behind bars. At a minimum 984 fellow human beings arbitrarily detained and subjected to cruel and unusual punishments for being prisoners of conscience.
On December 23rd focused on three cases from three different countries: Cuba, Hugo Damián Prieto Blanco;Venezuela, José Alberto Marulanda; and Nicaragua, Amaya Eva Coppens. Sadly, there are many more and some cases are critical.
Cuba: Jailed artist on hunger strike
In September of 2018 rapper Maykel Castillo Pérez, "El
Osokbo" protested against Decree 349/2018 during a show. Three days after the concert, he was detained, and a case
alleging that the artist committed assault against the police re-opened. On November 15th Maykel sewed his mouth shut and began a hunger strike demanding he be
freed. An official told him that they would meet his demand, and he ended the strike. But as the days turned into weeks, and the imprisonment continued, the Cuban artist on December 4th re-started the hunger strike.
Venezuela: National Assembly jailed on trumped up charges
Former student opposition leader
and opposition deputy of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan
Requesens, has been a steadfast, moderate, non-violent opposition leader
to the Maduro regime in Venezuela. The Maduro regime has manufactured charges
that the opposition leader planned the assassination of Nicolas Maduro
and is seeking to sentence him to 30 years in prison. He is 29 years
old, married and father to two young children. He has been arbitrarily detained for 142 days. He has been the target in the past of brutal beatings.
On August 7, 2018, “fourteen men of the SEBIN (Maduro's intelligence agency) forcefully kidnapped lawmaker Juan Requesens and his sister Rafaela Requesens, the president of the Federation of University Centers, ” reported the Justice First party, to which Requesens belongs. His sister was released a short time later.
Nicaragua: Journalist arbitrarily detained
Lucia Pineda Ubau is the
press chief of 100% Noticias, and she has Nicaraguan and Costa Rican citizenship. On the evening of December 21st, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, "the Nicaraguan police entered the offices of 100% Noticias, a
privately owned cable and internet news station in Managua, ordered the
station off the air, and arrested the channel's director Miguel Mora and
news director Lucía Pineda Ubau." The Inter-American Press Association and the Nicaraguan auxiliary bishop of Managua, , Silvio José Báez, have publicly criticized the arrests.
Please join us in speaking up for these and other political prisoners. Please remember the words of the great Czech dissident Václav Havel who explained back in 1990 that "[t]he salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and human responsibility."
It begins with you. Will you do your part?
1. Please ask your pastor, rabbi, or priest to pray for the freedom of political prisoners during their religious services during this holiday season.
2. Please write letters to religious leaders in your community to request that the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua free their political prisoners.
3. Please use the following hashtags to spread this message.
#LiberenLosYa
#FreeThemNow
#FreedomForPoliticalPrisoners
#LibertadParaLosPresosPoliticos
#CubaNicaraguaVenezuela
#NavidadSinPresosPolíticosEnCubaVenezuelaYNicaragua. #ChristmasWithoutPoliticalPrisonersInCubaVenezuelaAndNicaragua
Enjoying the holidays with family and friends. Getting ready for the New Year's celebrations? Please take a moment from the festivities and think of those locked up and mistreated for exercising their fundamental human rights.
More than a dozen human rights and pro-democracy organizations from Latin America, Europe and the United States have made a request during this holiday season that bishops, priests, pastors, rabbis, and men and women of good will to engage in all possible efforts with the authorities to obtain an amnesty of all political prisoners in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
Partial lists provided by internal human rights groups indicate that there are at least 120 political prisoners in Cuba, 576 political prisoners in Nicaragua, and 288 political prisoners in Venezuela spending the holiday season behind bars. At a minimum 984 fellow human beings arbitrarily detained and subjected to cruel and unusual punishments for being prisoners of conscience.
On December 23rd focused on three cases from three different countries: Cuba, Hugo Damián Prieto Blanco;Venezuela, José Alberto Marulanda; and Nicaragua, Amaya Eva Coppens. Sadly, there are many more and some cases are critical.
Cuba: Jailed artist on hunger strike
 |
| Maykel Castillo Pérez: Prisoner of conscience on hunger strike. |
This is not the first time that he has been the victim of a politically motivated prosecution. On January 28, 2015, Maykel Castillo Pérez was sentenced to a year in prison in Havana. He was targeted for having used music to express his dissenting political opinions. He was charged with ‘peligrosidad predelictiva’ (‘pre-crime
dangerousness’), which is used to imprison dissidents for what they potentially do in the future due to their associations and/or views.. His defense
attorney told a reporter from Diario de Cuba that prosecutors wanted the
judge to sentence him to five years. He once described his musical
style as that of someone who “doesn’t make concessions with a system
full of liars.”
 |
| Opposition deputy Juan Requesens in custody without a hearing (PanAm Post) |
On August 7, 2018, “fourteen men of the SEBIN (Maduro's intelligence agency) forcefully kidnapped lawmaker Juan Requesens and his sister Rafaela Requesens, the president of the Federation of University Centers, ” reported the Justice First party, to which Requesens belongs. His sister was released a short time later.
Nicaragua: Journalist arbitrarily detained
 |
| Lucia Pineda Ubau: Journalist imprisoned for exercising her freedom of expression |
Please join us in speaking up for these and other political prisoners. Please remember the words of the great Czech dissident Václav Havel who explained back in 1990 that "[t]he salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and human responsibility."
It begins with you. Will you do your part?
1. Please ask your pastor, rabbi, or priest to pray for the freedom of political prisoners during their religious services during this holiday season.
2. Please write letters to religious leaders in your community to request that the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua free their political prisoners.
3. Please use the following hashtags to spread this message.
#LiberenLosYa
#FreeThemNow
#FreedomForPoliticalPrisoners
#LibertadParaLosPresosPoliticos
#CubaNicaraguaVenezuela
#NavidadSinPresosPolíticosEnCubaVenezuelaYNicaragua. #ChristmasWithoutPoliticalPrisonersInCubaVenezuelaAndNicaragua
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