Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas born 66 years ago on February 29, 1952

Observing the 66th anniversary of the birth of Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas

February 29, 1952 - July 22, 2012

Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas would be sixty six years old on February 29th but according to friends and family, the Cuban human rights defender would joke that he had a birthday once every four years due to it being a leap day. 2012 was a leap year and Oswaldo celebrated his last birthday on February 29, 2012. This husband, and father of three was the victim on July 22, 2012, along with Harold Cepero Escalante, of an extra-judicial killing carried out by Cuban State Security that ended both their lives.

Payá pictured with his immediate family.

Oswaldo Payá was the founding leader of the Cuban Christian Liberation Movement (MCL), and Harold Cepero its youth leader. Five and a half years later the current MCL leader, Eduardo Cardet, is a prisoner of conscience who has been repeatedly and brutally attacked while unjustly imprisoned. MCL was founded thirty years ago in 1988.


Tonight the story of what happened to Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, to make the truth known, and seek justice will be told through the eyes of his daughter Rosa María Payá, and is part of a documentary series called The Witness Project, produced by Smock Media and executive produced by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. Rosa María now heads the CubaDecide initiative which seeks a binding plebiscite in Cuba.