Over 300 detained on Human Rights Day and a focus on two taken away

Two people behind the numbers and the images coming out of Cuba

Independent journalist Lázaro Yuri Valle after Embassy of Ecuador

Reports still emerging from Cuba on the total number of arrests on International Human Rights Day with estimates now ranging at over 300 Cuban activists detained.  However in this blog entry will focus on two detainees, Rosa María Rodríguez Gil and Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca, out of the hundreds taken. She has a story that is compelling and he appears in a series of powerful images that speak volumes on the nature of the regime that presently exists in Cuba.

Rosa María Rodríguez Gil with her son Yosvani in 2015

Rosa María Rodríguez Gil, a member of the coordinating council of the Christian Liberation Movement was detained on December 10, 2015 at 8:00am  and was released the following day on December 11 at 4:00pm amid threats and insults hurled at her by state security agents. She spoke before the United Nations Human Rights Council on June 25, 2015.

Rosa María Rodríguez addresses UNHRC with Regis Iglesias

Rosa Maria had been threatened on March 16, 2010 that if she did not begin informing on the Christian Liberation Movement, a nonviolent movement that seeks a democratic transition in Cuba, that her learning disabled son, Yosvani Melchor Rodríguez, would suffer the consequences. She refused and Yosvani was arrested on March 19, 2010 and held in custody for nine months then subjected to a show trial and given a 12 year prison sentence. In Geneva she denounced this blackmail along with the deaths of Christian Liberation Movement founder Oswaldo Payá, and its youth leader Harold Cepero on July 22, 2012 under suspicious circumstances that have not been cleared up. Five years, five months and 12 days after he was arbitrarily detained Yosvani Melchor Rodriguez was freed on probation on August 30, 2015.  

Independent journalist Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca

Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca is an independent journalist and social communicator who lives in Havana, Cuba and has a blog of opinion about the political and social reality titled YurielConteston Blog. He posted the photograph above on November 30, 2015 after being roughed up by Castro agents at the Embassy of Ecuador in Havana when he was covering a story on Cuban nationals protesting the change in visa policy.


On International Human Rights Day he was surrounded by Cuban state security agents who covered his mouth in order to silence him as they took him away. Towards the end of the video below you can see him taken away and how other elements use the flags to try and cover up what is going on. However, other media in the vicinity captured the following images which have been pieced together. Cuban state security agents tried to silence Lázaro on December 10th but the photos that others took speak volumes on the repressive and totalitarian nature of the Cuban government in 2015.

Int'l Human Rights Day 2015 in Havana

 These are but two of the over 300 hundred activists detained today in Cuba for their exercise of free expression and independent journalism. This is not normal and demonstrates a totalitarian regime that fears its populace and maintains control through a combination of fear and physical coercion.

Human rights day at MDC, Eve Ensler's monologue, and the crackdown in Cuba

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality." -  Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Activists arrested in Cuba on human rights day for peacefully assembling (Reuters)

In Cuba shouting "freedom" and "long live human rights" can get you arrested. On International Human Rights Day 2015 in Cuba the democratic opposition and independent civil society peacefully gathered to celebrate. Meanwhile the Castro regime began on December 9th to detain activists and lay siege to their homes in what can only be described as a crackdown. Preliminary estimates placed the number of detained activists today at 100 but despite this Cuban human rights defenders across the island carried out their activities. Reuters reported that at least six protesters were detained for shouting "Freedom!" and "Long live human rights!" in Havana. Amnesty International placed events into context on December 10, 2015:

Cuban human rights activists are at increased risk of detention or harassment from the authorities amid demonstrations on International Human Rights Day, 10 December, said Amnesty International following a wave of almost 1,500 arbitrary arrests in just over a month. Yesterday, police in the capital Havana arbitrarily restricted the movement of members of the prominent Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco) group of activists as they prepared for today’s demonstrations. This came after at least 1,477 politically motivated detentions in November 2015, the highest monthly total in many years, according to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN). [...] For years, harassment on Human Rights Day has been the rule rather than the exception, and is absolutely unacceptable,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.

 Unfortunately 2015 has been a terrible year for human rights in Cuba not only because of the huge number of arbitrary detentions but also the escalating violence against activists and the silence by visiting American human rights defenders who met with representatives of the dictatorship without addressing the violence the system commits against its own people. This has and will continue to have profoundly negative consequences for the marginalized and dispossessed. 

Human rights defender Sirley Ávila León machete attacked on May 24, 2015

 An emblematic example of this is the plight of Cuban human rights defender, Sirley Ávila León, age 56, who was gravely wounded in a machete attack in Cuba on May 24, 2015 by Osmany Carrión who had been sent by state security agents. She lost her left hand while raising it to block a machete blow to the head. She suffered deep cuts to her neck and knees, lost her left hand and the machete cut through the bone of her right humerus leaving her arm dangling. Sirley, a one time delegate of the People’s Assembly of Majibacoa worked through official channels to represent her community but when they ignored her requests to keep a school open she went to the international media and was later removed from office. She joined the democratic opposition and this led to escalating acts of repression by state security against the 56-year-old mother of two culminating in this attack. Sirley is still in danger and her assailant is free to walk the streets of Cuba. Her case has been documented in a precautionary measure by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on September 2, 2015.

Surprisingly, on October 30, 2015 when Eve Ensler a dramatist and American feminist, known for her work the Vagina Monologues, was visiting Cuba she didn't meet with the women who are regularly beaten up by agents of the Castro regime for exercising their human rights to peaceful assembly and expression but with Mariela Castro. Mariela Castro is the privileged daughter of the Cuban dictator Raul Castro and a fierce advocate of the 56-year-old communist dictatorship.  Ms Castro is known to use the same dangerous and dehumanizing rhetoric against dissenters as her dad, Raul Castro, and uncle, Fidel Castro do. An example of this is the highly reported incident over twitter with Yoani Sánchez in 2011 when the dictator's daughter denounced tolerance and called critics "parasites."  Eve Ensler has a campaign called One Billion Rising that purports "to amplify the voice of marginalized women." Furthermore the name of the campaign revolves around the idea that one billion women in the world are the victims of some form of violence. This raised a number of questions in the incongruity between her stated aims in the One Billion Rising campaign and her actions and statements when visiting Cuba.

Miami Dade College had invited Eve Ensler to speak on International Human Rights Day and that seemed a prime opportunity to raise awareness for marginalized Cuban women who have and continue to be victims of the Castro dictatorship's violence. This was also a good moment to ask the American feminist one question: "Who is more marginalized the wealthy daughter of Raul Castro or the women beaten up on the dictator's orders?" However, she was not physically present and spoke over Skype for around 40 minutes and then did not take any questions. Ensler's critique of U.S. foreign policy, during her monologue, as imperialist and advocacy for "revolution" may explain her moral blindness with the Castro dictatorship but does not excuse it and raises questions such as the one posited above.


Nevertheless the organizers of the event had a more interactive approach that allowed Cuban activists to raise the plight of Cuban women with several posters and two activists were able to speak out. One of them, Ana Olema, was able to reach the microphone and speak out on behalf of Cuban women. Meanwhile in Cuba the international media captured images of Cuban women being rounded up and roughed up for wanting to peacefully march and express their dissent. It was an honor to roughly translate her impassioned words to English and only hope that in the stress of the moment that it was understood. Let me close by echoing the words that got activists arrested in Cuba earlier today: "For freedom" and "long live human rights" for men and women!

Castro agents cover Lázaro Yuri Valle's mouth to stop him shouting long live human rights

International Human Rights Day in Cuba is the Castro Regime's Day to Target Human Rights Defenders

We cannot celebrate Human Rights Day here in Cuba. We can't because they repress us and beat us. Right now there's an act of repudiation in front of the Ladies in White headquarters." - Bertha Soler, Lady in White, The Associated Press, December 9, 2011 

Today is International Human Rights Day in Cuba and over the past several years it has been a day in which the regime in Cuba does not celebrate human rights but carries out systematic and nationwide acts of repression to impede Cuban nationals from observing and celebrating the anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948. It is a day when human rights defenders are specially targeted in order to silence and terrorize them, but it starts before that.

According to independent journalist Robert Guerra in a tweet published on December 4, 2014 state security agents arrested activists in order to threaten them for organizing activities on December 10th.


Today at 11:00am EST in Havana, Cuba the Ladies in White have announced that a human rights activity will be held on L and 23. In years passed the Castro regime has organized violent acts of repression to stop activists from peacefully assembling and exercising that fundamental right: the right to assembly.

2014 saw the Castro regime working hard both inside and outside of the United Nations to defend one of the few regimes in the world with a worse human rights record then Cuba's: North Korea. In March of 2014 a United Nations report confirmed that the dictatorship in Cuba had violated international sanctions smuggling weapons to North Korea that included rockets and MiG jet fighters hidden under bags of sugar. At the United Nations General Assembly the Cuban dictatorship worked hard to defend the regime in North Korea leading the fight to to block, the regime's referral to the International Criminal Court for its gross and systematic human rights violations. Thankfully the Castro regime failed on this occasion.

Cuba wasn't always this way. 63 years ago Cuban diplomats representing a democratic Cuba assisted in the drafting and passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR). Despite the claims of the dictatorship in Havana, the UNDHR is a document profoundly influenced by the Latin American tradition.

Sonia Garro Alfonso and Ramón Alejandro Muñoz González

Amidst the dreary news this year there is one positive item: Yesterday, December 9, 2014 Sonia Garro and her husband Ramon Alejandro Muñoz were released from their arbitrary detention after being unjustly imprisoned for 2 years, 8 months, and 22 days. They are now under house arrest.

Amnesty International reported on July 18, 2012 that "Lady in White Sonia Garro Alfonso, and her husband, Ramón Alejandro Muñoz González, were arrested at their home in Havana [on March 18, 2012]: around 50 police forced their way into the house and fired rubber bullets at them. According to her sister, Sonia Garro Alfonso was wounded in the foot by one of these bullets." The same document revealed that "Sonia Garro Alfonso was suffering a kidney problem before her arrest that may require surgery. "

Elaine Muñoz Garro

Sonia Garro Alfonso and her husband should never have been arrested, much less arbitrarily detained over these past 997 days. The human cost of the dictatorship is difficult to measure but take into account that Sonia and Ramón have a young daughter who has not been able to live with her parents for all this time. Her name is Elaine Muñoz Garro and she is also a victim of the Castro regime's tyranny.

All eyes on Cuba today. Human rights defenders, pro-democracy activists and independent civil society need your solidarity and vigilance.

International Human Rights Day and Cuba: What really happened and how was it reported

“When truth is replaced by silence,the silence is a lie.” - Yevgeny Yevtushenko 

 On International Human Rights Day the media was more interested in the handshake between the president of the United States and the dictator of Cuba at the Mandela memorial service. Searching google with "'human rights day' Cuba dissidents" provided only 50 results versus 72,400 results for "Castro Obama handshake" However, the massive crackdown in Cuba, at first garnered little attention, and what was reported low balled and trivialized what was taking place while offering a misleading analysis and questionable sources. Scores of activists detained and women activists badly beaten to the point of being hospitalized and requiring surgery for internal injuries was not deemed newsworthy by the Cuba based news bureaus or that two Argentine human rights defenders had been detained in the island for meeting with Cuban dissidents. The heightened level of repression appears to be in response to the increased number of activities by civil society to commemorate human rights day combined with the belief that they will not pay a political price for their repression. Some of these activities were small gatherings in a private home to observe December 10th.



The level of violence visited upon activists such as Damaris Garcia of the National Resistance Front Orlando Zapata Tamayo who lives in Velasco, Holguin whose home was attacked with gas launched by regime officials because various activists along with an elderly woman and Damaris's young son had gathered there on December 10th to observe the anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The child was asphyxiated by the gas and is still suffering from complications.

Meanwhile, in Puerto Padre, Las Tunas, dozens of members of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL) were attacked with clubs, stones and tear gas as they gathered at the home of Roger Curbelo. Through their Facebook account, MCL members reported that police and "special forces" burst into the house, breaking the door and windows, leaving several injured and arrested, among others, Alexis Guerrero, Ismael Guerrero, Ezequiel Morales, Roger Curbelo, Ercilia Correoso and Armando Peña, who was later abandoned in an embankment far away from home.

Over twitter initially and finally in The Miami Herald on December 12, 2013 the plight of Arlenis Pérez Alarcón, a member of the Ladies in White based in Santiago de Cuba was finally reported on. Arlenis was repeatedly kicked and stomped on during a confrontation between police and about 20 Ladies in White on December 10, 2012. She required emergency surgery on December 11, 2013 and was discharged the same day, despite her daughter's protests concerning the seriousness of her mom's injuries, late on Wednesday, due to pressure from state security.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/12/12/3815095/cuban-police-free-the-last-of.html#storylink=cpy

 
The statements made below by both the Reuters and Associated Press reports that there were "pro-government demonstrators", that "government employees mounted rival gatherings" and that a "hundred school children chalked peace symbols...and sang in a government-organized event," ignores the reality that Cuba is a totalitarian dictatorship and these activities are ordered from on high and orchestrated by state security agents. In addition that children are obligated to take part in these political activities which sometimes include acts of violence against nonviolent activists in order to be able to study at university and avoid themselves being targeted.

In addition to these omissions the Associated Press report repeats the dictatorship's propaganda line against the Cuban dissidents and the dictatorship "organizing a human rights forum" without providing context or scrutiny. Excerpts are provided below along with links to the full articles. It is ironic that Al Jazeera provided more objective reporting, but they no longer have a news bureau in Cuba.

Andrea Rodriguez of the Associated Press based in Havana reported:

Cuban government agents have detained about 20 dissidents arriving for an International Human Rights Day march, halting the demonstration before it started. The opponents were seen being taken away in cars and buses Tuesday afternoon after their planned protest along a central street in Havana was interrupted. The would-be protesters resisted, but no injuries were reported. It was not known where they were taken. Pro-government demonstrators gathered in the street to shout slogans for the Cuban revolution. Cuban authorities consider the island's small community of outspoken dissidents to be counterrevolutionaries and charge they accept foreign money to try to undermine the Communist system. The government marked the day by organizing a human rights forum that celebrated its achievements in providing citizens with social services and protections.

Mark Frank of Reuters, also based in Havana, reported:

Cuban dissidents and government employees mounted rival gatherings across the Communist-run Caribbean island on Tuesday, marking the 65th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations.
While a handshake between U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuba's Raul Castro during ceremonies in South Africa honouring Nelson Mandela provided a moment of cordiality between the long-time foes, 15 Cuban dissidents held a seminar on human rights in the upscale Havana district of Miramar.
Outside, a hundred school children chalked peace symbols on the sidewalk, danced and sang in a government-organized event.

 One day later EFE reported that "up to 150 arrested on global human rights day" and reported:

As many as 150 dissidents were arrested while trying to mark U.N. International Human Rights Day, the opposition Cuban Human Rights and National Reconciliation Commission said Wednesday.
"As a preliminary figure, (there were) between 100 and 150 people arrested, not counting other forms of harassment or acts of vandalism. There was a lot of police violence all across the country," commission spokesman Elizardo Sanchez told Efe by telephone.

Most of the international media relies on the reports of Elizardo Sanchez, but fail to qualify that 1) when Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero were killed on July 22, 2012 Sanchez was initially repeating the official government version that it was an accident. 2) The Christian Liberation Movement reported that "two days after the deaths  Mr. Alejandro González Raga called them to transmit a message: Elizardo Sánchez says that for the well being of the family, that they accept that it was an accident. The Payá family in Havana received afterwards death threats by telephone from state security of the Cuban government." The failure to at least qualify the statements made by this individual in light of his past acts is disturbing. Furthermore that another human rights defender with a nationwide network who has been targeted with harsh repression, that Amnesty International said amounted to torture, Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva, is relatively ignored.



Reports published by the news bureaus in Havana fail to mention the level of violence visited on Cuban dissidents. The fact that some had to be hospitalized because of the seriousness of their injuries was left out of their reporting or that this is part of a worsening trend seen over the past three years. Finally, it appears that the number of dissidents arrested greatly exceeds the 150 mentioned in press accounts.

Message from Rosa María Payá on International Human Rights Day

Rosa María Payá Acevedo

Text taken from Pedazos de la Isla and reproduced below:


The Christian Liberation Movement (MCL) recorded and released a moving message from Rosa María Payá Acevedo, the young daughter of recently deceased opposition leader Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas, for International Human Rights Day, celebrated this past December 10th.  Listen to the message by clicking the following audio-link:


 
(Transcription by Pedazos de la Isla of the audio) 

“Today, December 10th 2012, Human Rights Day, I want to draw attention to the Cuban people, who currently suffer from not having those same rights.

Today, Cubans cannot democratically elect their president.

Today, Cubans are discriminated against in their own country based on politics, race, and ideology.

Today, Cubans cannot freely enter and exit Cuba, and hundreds of families suffer while separated.

Today, Cubans suffer from not being able to associate or express themselves freely.

Today, the forces of State Security oppress every person who dares to work for the changes that will bring freedom and well-being to our country.

Today, independent journalist Calixto Ramon Martinez is on his 27th day of hunger strike.

Today, Josvany Melchor has been in prison for nearly 3 years simply because his mother is a pro-democracy activist of the Christian Liberation Movement.

Today, in Cuba, the Spanish citizen Angel Carromero has been jailed for 141 days for a crime he did not commit.

Today, it’s been 141 days since, after many death threats, the conditions in which my father died have not yet been cleared up, nor has it been explained why Harold Cepero was left to die.

Today, we want to remind the Cuban government and the world that Cubans also have the right to have rights because we are human beings, and we will not rest until we get them.

"Freedom and Life”

- Rosa María Payá