Camera and microphone erected by political police outside Cuban machete victim's current residence

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Spy camera in Cuba (not one mentioned by Sirley)

Received word today from Sirley Avila Leon, who was the victim of a crippling machete attack on May 24, 2015, that the Castro regime has taken a keen interest in her: "They put a camera with a microphone two meters from the front of my mother's house on the telephone pole."

Sirley Avila Leon returned home to Cuba a week ago on September 7, 2016 after six months receiving medical care and initially her phone was unable to reach contacts outside, but she was finally able to speak with folks the following day.

The news Sirley gave was and remains worrying. She returned home to find it occupied by strangers with the approval of the Cuban dictatorship. Sirley is staying at her mother's house in Las Tunas.

Ominously, Osmany Carrión, the man who brutally attacked her in that appears to have been engineered by the political police has been bragging to neighbors and Sirley's family that he will finish the job he started.

This latest episode only underscores the need for continued vigilance regarding the plight of Sirley Avila Leon. This woman, who was an elected delegate of the municipal peoples assembly in her community made the 'mistake' of fighting to keep a school open for young children that earned her the enmity of the dictatorship while at the same time endearing her with the voters.

This reality is what has led the dictatorship to carry out a systematic effort to destroy her.

Brutal attacker of 56 year old woman in Cuba gets away with attempted murder

Man who attempted to murder dissident gets six years but has a pass to leave prison when he wants.

The man who did this to Sirley in Cuba is free to walk the streets today

 Cuban human rights defender, Sirley Ávila León, age 56, was gravely wounded in a machete attack on May 24, 2015 at 3:00pm by Osmany Carrión who had been "sent by state security thugs." She lost her left hand while raising it to block a machete blow to the head that would have surely killed her wielded by Osmany Carrión. Carrión continued the attack striking again at her head and she blocked the blow with her right arm which the machete cut deep and through the bone, breaking it. At the same time Osmany's wife grabbed the severed hand and threw it into a filthy pig pen contaminating it so that it could not be re-attached. The attack went on with further machete blows on both legs. A detailed breakdown of the event was posted previously on this blog, and is repeated here for one simple reason.

In Cuba where there is not an independent judiciary and all is subject to the whims of the dictatorship the nature of the attack and the "judicial process" involving this case did not charge Osmany Carrión with aggravated attempted murder but with the lesser charge of "bodily injury" and sentenced him to six years in prison. However he has a pass to enter and leave the prison during this time effectively leaving him free, and adding weight to the charge that the attack was engineered by state security. While the UN celebrates the Castro regime's treatment of women this is what is happening in Castro's Cuba today. On the day of the attack Osmany Carrión told her that he would decapitate her and that he would not spend much, if any, time in prison for what he had done to her and the Castro regime has made that prediction a reality.


Meanwhile artists and musicians languish in prison for their artwork and lyrics.

UN Women Silent on Cuban Woman's Continuing Plight

The hypocrisy of the United Nations reaches a new level

Sirley Ávila: Reform minded official turned opposition activist mutilated

This blog entry taken from Panam Post Blog.

The Castro regime has a record that stretches back decades of threatening, brutalizing and murdering women who speak their minds and demand that human rights be respected in Cuba. Back on September 17, 2013 Panam Post published an OpEd explaining how the Castro brothers get a pass for terrorizing and killing women. Unfortunately the situation has gotten worse and since the December 17, 2014 announcement of normalized relations between Cuba and the United States has been accompanied by new accounts of regime violence against women in Cuba that have escalated in severity while at the same time the international community has been complicit in its silence.

Sirley Ávila León, an ex-delegate of the People’s Assembly (Poder Popular) of Majibacoa who joined the democratic opposition after she was driven out of her position trying to keep a school open in her community. Official channels ignored her and when she went to the international media she was removed from office. Following escalating acts of repression by state security the mother of two, Sirley Ávila León, age 56, was gravely wounded in a machete attack on May 24, 2015 at 3:00pm by Osmany Carrión who had been "sent by state security thugs" and that the aggression "was politically motivated." She suffered deep cuts to her neck and knees, lost her left hand and could still lose her right arm. Although Carrión was the principle assailant, his wife threw her hand into the mud compounding the injury. It was a coordinated attack. Sirley was sent home in this critical state without the proper medication. Five months later she remains in need of medical attention, completely incapacitated, demanding justice and denouncing irregularities in the judicial process against her assailant.


On September 2, 2015, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights requested the adoption of precautionary measures for Sirley Ávila León. "According to the application, submitted to the Commission by the Cuban Democratic Directorate, Ávila has been the object of harassment and threats that materialized in May of 2015, when the proposed beneficiary was the victim of a machete attack because of her work as a defender of human rights. After analyzing the allegations of fact and law submitted by the applicant, the Commission considers that the information reveals that Sirley Ávila León is in a serious and urgent situation, since her life and physical integrity are at risk."

In a democratic country Sirley would be a political leader in government representing her constituents but in Cuba she is a target of brutal repression. UN Women, the United Nations agency that claims that it is "for gender equality and women's empowerment" is promoting Raul Castro on it's twitter stream with the following tweet and image:

This ignores that the government in Cuba is a totalitarian dictatorship in which the rule of law is non-existent and that since 1959 the ultimate authority has resided in two brothers: Fidel and Raul Castro. Women in Cuban government structures have no real power other than to rubber stamp the decisions of the Castro brothers or face the consequences. UN Women should be helping women like Sirley Ávila León not legitimizing their oppressors.

IACHR adopts precautionary measure for Cuban machete attack victim

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) adopts precautionary measure for Cuban machete attack victim

Human rights defender Sirley Ávila León victim of machete attack

MC 428/15 – Sirley Ávila León, Cuba

On September 2, 2015, the Commission requested the adoption of precautionary measures for Sirley Ávila León. According to the application, submitted to the Commission by the Cuban Democratic Directorate, Ávila has been the object of harassment and threats that materialized in May of 2015, when the proposed beneficiary was the victim of a machete attack because of her work as a defender of human rights. After analyzing the allegations of fact and law submitted by the applicant, the Commission considers that the information reveals that Sirley Ávila León is in a serious and urgent situation, since her life and physical integrity are at risk. Therefore, according to Article 25 of the Regulations of the IACHR, the Commission asked Cuba to take the necessary measures to guarantee the life and physical integrity of the beneficiary and that she be able to carry out her activities as a human rights defender without being a target of acts of violence and harassment. It also requests the State to arrange with the beneficiary and her representatives on the measures taken and to report actions to take to investigate the alleged events that led to the adoption of this precautionary measure and thus to avoid its repetition. Read the resolution.

Original text in Spanish:

MC 428/15 – Sirley Ávila León, Cuba
El 2 de septiembre de 2015, la CIDH solicitó la adopción de medidas cautelares a favor de Sirley Ávila León. Según la solicitud, presentada ante la Comisión por el Directorio Democrático Cubano, Ávila ha sido objeto de hostigamientos y amenazas que se materializaron en mayo de 2015, cuando la propuesta beneficiaria habría sido víctima de un ataque con machete debido a su trabajo como defensora de derechos humanos. Tras analizar los alegatos de hecho y de derecho presentados por el solicitante, la Comisión considera que la información revela que Sirley Ávila León se encuentra en una situación de gravedad y urgencia, puesto que su vida e integridad personal se encuentran en riesgo. Por tanto,  según dispuesto en  el Artículo 25 del Reglamento de la CIDH, la Comisión solicitó a Cuba que adopte las medidas necesarias para garantizar la vida e integridad personal de la beneficiaria y para que pueda desarrollar sus actividades como defensora de derechos humanos sin ser objeto de actos de violencia y hostigamiento. Asimismo, solicita al estado que concierte con la beneficiaria y sus representantes las medidas a adoptarse y que informe las acciones a seguir a fin de investigar los presuntos hechos que dieron lugar a la adopción de la presente medida cautelar y así evitar su repetición. Lea la resolución.

Two violent assaults in Cuba and two radically different media responses

Violence escalates in Cuba. 

Two high profile dissidents in the past two months have been victims of violent attacks. A former academic turned dissident was badly beaten up on July 5, 2015. A former government official turned dissident was machete attacked a month and a half ago that took her left hand and may yet claim her life.

Antonio Rodiles attacked by State Security agents on Sunday

Yesterday opposition activist Antonio Rodiles was badly beaten up by state security agents who broke his nose and big toe leaving him bloody while he was on his way to join the Ladies in White on their weekly Sunday march following Mass in a peaceful demand for the release of political prisoners. The courageous activist denounced the attack shortly after returning from the hospital describing in a video with detail the beating and choke hold he was placed in while peacefully dissenting and the news has been covered widely in the international media as it should be.

Sirley Ávila León: Holds state security responsible for May 2015 machete attack

In contrast, on May 24, 2015 Sirley Ávila León was brutally attacked with a machete by a husband and wife team in a state security coordinated assault. She lost her left hand and may still lose her right arm. She went on record, before a camera to denounce the attack. She is a former delegate to the so-called "People's Assembly" who disenchanted with the regime shutting down a school in her district and without avenues to address it ended up joining the opposition. This made her a target of escalating harassment that ended in the brutal machete attack earlier this year. However the international media has by and large ignored her plight. She was sent home from the hospital in mid June while still in a critical state.

The situation in Cuba for nonviolent dissidents is deteriorating and requires international attention and solidarity. Over the past 12 Sundays in Cuba hundreds of activists have been violently arrested for exercising their fundamental rights.

Hopefully the international media will pay more attention to their plight.

Cuban woman mutilated in deadly machete attack holds State Security responsible

Former People's Assembly delegate pays high price to live free in Cuba

Sirley Ávila León, age 56, mother of two brutally attacked

What happened
Sirley Ávila León, age 56, was gravely wounded in a machete attack on May 24, 2015 at 3:00pm by Osmany Carrión who had been "sent by state security thugs" and that she is sure that the aggression "was politically motivated." The attack was severe enough that she suffered deep cuts to her neck and knees, lost her left hand and could still lose her right arm. Although Carrión was the principle assailant, his wife threw her into the mud after he cut off her hand compounding the injury with infection. It was a coordinated attack. Sirley has not recovered from her injuries, her life hangs in the balance but she has been sent home in this critical state without the proper medication. 

"She has still not recovered and could lose her right arm." - Hablemos Press

The 56 year old mother of two, small farmer and opposition activist has charged Cuban state security of being behind the deadly attack. She says that they are trying to be rid of her.  Furthermore that prior to this attack some of her cows and pigs were attacked with machetes, which she then added “I reaffirm that this is something that was prepared against me for some time.”


Background
Sirley Ávila León, an ex-delegate of the People’s Assembly (Poder Popular) of Majibacoa, a relatively sparse area of Cuba did something highly unusual in Cuba that got her in trouble. She had represented her community not the dictatorship and been re-elected for three terms. She had gotten the government to establish an elementary school for the few students who lived there. Otherwise they would have had to travel several kilometers daily to get to a school. At the same time transportation in Cuba is also a complicated affair to get around. When in 2012 the regime wanted the school shut down and Sirley began a protracted struggle to keep the school open she was confronted initially by the refusal of anyone to meet with her or the state controlled press to report on what was happening. She broke a taboo when she appealed to the international media and then tried to run in the rubber stamp elections which she then lost after maneuvers by the regime.

 
Joining the opposition 
Sirley crossed another line when she joined the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU in Spanish) which is part of the democratic opposition. In 2013 reports emerged that her son (an ex-official of the counterintelligence) was told by state security to tie her down, declare her insane for dissenting from the system, and have her shipped of to an psychiatric institution. He refused. Sirley denounced this in an UNPACU video on April 14, 2013. The Castro regime has a long track record of using psychiatry as a political weapon and these institutions have also had a record of neglect in which patients have died from exposure. The Politics of Psychiatry in Revolutionary Cuba published in 1992 documented the interrelationship between Cuban psychiatry and the Cuban State Security apparatus to target dissidents.

In August of 2013 Sirley was able to document on video harassment from the national revolutionary police when she tried to sell mangoes. She has a small farm and was producing food. A neighbor appeared on camera to defend Sirley and denounce the heavy handedness of the regime while it ignored far more serious crimes. She denounced further harassment and threats on November 8, 2013. At the same time her activism, distributing literature and advocating a democratic transition made her a priority target of the political police who placed eight common prisoners around her home to spy on her while they are supposedly cutting invader species of plants.

Rising repression and violence
Other activists have been the victims of politically motivated machete attacks and women have been targeted with extreme violence by state security. This latest attack is an escalation in the level of violence and points to an ominous trend.

"Sending her home endangers her life further." - Hablemos Press

Will you help her?
Sirley Ávila León is a courageous woman who despite being in great distress continues to demand justice and is asking the international community to help. First, the medical attention has been deficient and she reports that the doctor prescribed medicines that are unavailable on the island and she is asking for help from abroad to get them and food. The principle aggressor has been detained due to the attention brought to the attack, but his wife who also participated in the attack is still free. She believes that the political nature of the attack will make it impossible to obtain judicial defense for the case. "Here they do not want to do anything, that is why I am asking for international help from some lawyer who can advise me "

Rights defender speaks out about machete attack in Cuba

"That person was prepared. He knew who I was, how I think and how to identify me. His goal was to end my life. Deprive me of my life. Why? Simply because I have demonstrated to the people that I know and where I live that Cuba needs freedom it is the time for people to be free." - Werlando Leyva Batista

Human rights defender Werlando Leyva Batista attacked

A video has emerged of Werlando Leyva Batista, member of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL) who was attacked with a machete by a paramilitary agent on June 8, 2013 in Holguin, Cuba. The video was sent to Pedazos de la Isla by independent journalist Alexei Jimenez Almarales. In the video, we see Werlando in the hospital, with a cast on his arm, explaining what happened to him at the hands of his attacker, “Amauri”.

 

What is known so far... 

Eduardo Cardet Concepción of the Christian Liberation Movement, said that Leyva Batista had to have surgery as a result of machete wounds on his right forearm. “They yelled insults calling Werlando a worm, a counterrevolutionary, an opposition member [...] and then using a machete they attacked him,” said Cardet in a telephone message released by MCL.” Cardet later reported on June 10, 2013 that Leiva Werlando was "improving, today they changed his dressing, but until they remove the cast in a month they will not know if he regains all the mobility of the hand.

State security ensures that the individual who assaulted Werlando is detained (his name is Amaury Diaz Hernandez)" The attack is not an isolated incident but fits into an overall pattern of heightened repression that has targeted a number of Christian Liberation Movement activists.

In an interview with Radio Republica, the activist said that the worse blows with the machete were received in one hand and on one thigh, "the goal of the attacker was to end his life because he had taken it upon himself to provide training and do public activism in favor of freedom." In a declaration published by the Christian Liberation Movement, Werlando also described his work on "The Peoples Path" initiative.

 Independent journalist and Holguin native Alexei Jimenez Almarales sent the following report from the island to Pedazos de la Isla:  “More than 10 dissidents were threatened on the morning of June 12th for standing in front of the Lenin Hospital in the city of Holguin.  These human rights activists were showing solidarity with MCL activist Werlando Leyva Batista who received two machete blows three days ago.  They are at the Hospital under threats of being detained, as authorities have said they will call the police.   Those present are:  Yoel Ordeñe Garrotiza, Yonis Leon Abarta, Osnai Pérez Matinés, Luis Quintana, Julio Cesar Ramos Cúrvelo, Juan Carlos Iznaga Santisteban, Denis Pino Basulto, Liliana Campos Buzón, Robier Cruz Campo, Madelaine Escobar Barseló, Juan Carlos Reyes Ocaña, Jorge Taylor y Daniel Rodrigué Osorio”.

Early this morning the Christian Liberation Movement tweeted that State Security was trying to eject MCL activists from hospital in Holguin where they were visiting their colleage Werlando Leyva Batista and machete attack victim.