The Natalia Project: the first assault alarm system for human rights defenders at risk.

Murdered human rights defender Natalia Estemirova

Human rights defender Natalia Estemirova was murdered four years ago on July 15, 2009 and her killers have still not been brought to justice. However, Civil Rights Defenders in 2013 initiated The Natalia Project which seeks to increase protections for at risk human rights defenders and highlight her case.

Below is how Civil Rights Defenders describe the project:

"Everyday, people around the world risk their lives defending rights most people in the western world take for granted.  The Natalia Project was founded to protect these heroes with personal GSM/GPS alarms in shape of a wristband.  It alerts the local organization of the protected individual as well as Civil Rights headquarters in Stockholm an every one who has signed up via mobile, email, Facebook or Twitter. This page is the channel for any alarm triggered. Once a week we communicate the number of active wristband in duty to keep the page up to speed. Should the alarm go off, please alert others in your network and follow the various suggestions for actions suggested by Civil Rights Defenders. It has never been easier to take side with the people fighting for human rights. Like us for continuous updates and potential alarms."

For technical information visit here and for more information about the Natalia Project, please visit http://www.nataliaproject.org 

#FreeElCritico: Free dissident rapper Angel Yunier Remón Arzuaga

Cuban dissident and rapper unjustly imprisoned for 7 months on hunger strike

Angel Yunier Remón Arzuaga on hunger strike

Cuban dissident and rapper Angel Yunier Remón Arzuaga, whose stage name is "el Critico del Arte" (the 'Art Critic'), was tear gassed and arrested on March 21, 2013, for criticizing the Castro regime.  He is still in prison without charges six months later and officials had denied his wife, Yudisbel Roseyo, the right to visit her husband. This changed now that her husband's condition has become critical.

After over six months of arbitrary detention where he has suffered beatings, a bout of cholera, and harassment Angel Yunier Remón Arzuaga began a hunger strike.

The Pedazos de la Isla blog is closely following Angel's plight. Over the past 15 days the dissident rapper has been on a hunger strike which seven days ago he escalated into a hunger and thirst strike and is now in intensive care. According to Pedazos de la Isla:

On the night of Monday, October 28th, a doctor from Las Mangas Prison called Yudisbel to inform her that her husband was refusing to accept an IV  as a form of protest and that he was in a critical state.  Yudisbel was able to sustain a brief conversation with him but barely understood what he was saying, except for a phrase where he affirmed that it’s either “freedom or death” for him.

After a number of hours, a group of doctors picked Yudisbel up from her home and took her to the prison, where she was able to briefly see Yunier.  The rapper accepted an IV at that moment and when he had a bit more energy he told his wife that he had been beat 2 days prior and reaffirms his pro-freedom position.

On her part, Roseyo Mojena has said that she will also continue “on the streets” and although she is deeply worried for the life of her husband, she said she is supporting his struggle.  The couple has a 9 month old son.

Angel Yunier is not the only Cuban rapper persecuted for dissenting from the official line.  Rodolfo Ramirez, known by his rapping name as El Primario was the victim of a brutal beating which left him with memory loss and serious injuries on his head. The attack occurred on Sunday, July 21, 2013 at the Havana sea wall.

Rodolfo Ramirez before and after July 21, 2013 beating

Hopefully rappers around the world will demonstrate their solidarity with their counterparts in Cuba who are being targeted for expressing themselves. In the meantime please show your solidarity by letting others know about his plight by tweeting the hashtag: #FreeElCritico

Situation of Human Rights Defenders in Cuba explored at the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights

Situation of Human Rights Defenders in Cuba  

4:15 – 5:30

Frente Nacional de Resistencia Cívica y Desobediencia Civil
Orlando Zapata Tamayo
Movimiento Femenino por los Derechos Civiles 
Directorio Democrático Cubano

Human Rights Situation of the“Ladies in White” in Cuba 

5:45 – 6:45 
 
Centro de Información Legal “Cubalex”
Damas de Blanco 

State of Cuba 

 

More information on IACHR Audiences during this session and coverage in the media.

Watch Yoani Sánchez on livestream now at Stanford University addressing censorship in Cuba

"Reporting from Cuba: How Pixels are Bringing Down the Wall of Censorship" with Yoani Sánchez today Monday, October 28, 2013 - 7:30pm - 9:00pm Eastern Standard Time

Co-sponsored by The Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, the Association for Liberation Technology, the Center for Latin American Studies and the Stanford Human Rights Center

Yoani Sánchez was born in 1975 in a tenement in Central Havana and, on starting school, she proudly put the Little Pioneer scarf around her neck, vowing to “Be like Che!” Fourteen when the Berlin Wall fell, her adolescence was marked by what Fidel Castro called “a special period in a time of peace,” a time of terrible scarcity and broad disillusionment.

At the University of Havana Yoani’s incendiary thesis, Words Under Pressure: A Study of the Literature of the Dictatorship in Latin America, eliminated the idea of an academic career. Already married—to Reinaldo Escobar, an ousted-journal­ist-turned-elevator-mechanic—and a mother, she cobbled together a living as a Spanish teacher and tour guide. In 2002, Yoani decided to emigrate, but in 2004 she returned to Cuba. “I promised myself that I would live in Cuba as a free person, and accept the consequences,” she said. All of her work since then has been a keeping of that promise.

Yoani launched her blog, Generation Y, in April of 2007; later that year a Reuters article brought her to the attention of the world. In 2008 she won Spain’s Ortega y Gasset Prize for digital journalism and Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Recognition and awards followed, including an interview with Barack Obama, posted in her blog, and nomination by the Norwegian government for the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize.

Yoani is now the journalist she always wanted to be, one deeply immersed in technology. She started The Blogger Academy in her apartment in Havana and runs frequent courses in Twitter. She has published a manual on WordPress, and she works as a correspondent for Spain’s El Pais newspaper. Yoani plans to launch a newspaper in Havana, and is currently working toward that goal.

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When: Monday, October 28; 4:30- 6:00 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time) 7:30pm - 9:00pm EST
Where: Bechtel Conference Center, Encina Hall
Open to the public, RSVP required by Friday, October 25. To RSVP, please visit: http://cddrl.stanford.edu/events/reporting_from_cuba_how_pixels_are_bringing_down_the_wall_of_censorship/

Speaker
Yoani Sanchez - Blogger "Generation Y", Journalist and Publisher in Cuba

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) condemns attack on Church by Castro agents

 

Cuban church under attack from government  25/10/2013

 

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) condemns attempts by Cuban State Security and Communist Party officials to forcibly confiscate a property which serves as the national headquarters of the Apostolic Movement, one of the largest protestant Christian networks on the island.