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Abuses and perils that Cuban human rights’ defenders face


Cuban laws do not allow free association; no independent group can legally register or gather, including those that monitor and promote human rights. Human rights defenders, considered "peaceful opponents" because they face a totalitarian system, suffer systematic repression by the authorities (especially the political police): beatings, arbitrary detentions, kidnappings, surveillance, invasion of privacy, home invasions, dismissals from work, confiscation of property, prohibition from traveling outside the country, restrictions on movement within Cuba, threats of all kinds (including to life), "accidents," and other abuses. Some face fabricated charges, rigged trials, and lengthy jail sentences under terrible conditions; others pay with their life or disappear. They have no legal protections or remedies and are denied access to evidence when reporting violations.

Cuba Archive will soon publish a detailed report on more than 50 peaceful opponents and other detractors who have lost their lives or disappeared since Raúl Castro took charge in July 2006.

We highlight three cases, among many others, that illustrate the grave dangers that Cubans who defend human rights face on the island.

Iván Hernández Carrillo resides in Colón, Matanzas. He is the General Secretary of the Independent Trade Union Association of Cuba, an independent journalist, and founder of a private library in his home. His long career as a human rights’ defender began when he was sentenced in 1992, at the young age of 21, to two years in prison for "enemy propaganda and contempt for the figure of Fidel Castro." In 2003 he was sentenced to 25 years in prison during the repressive wave known as "Black Spring" and endured a regime of maximum security. Declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, in 2011 he was released to serve the rest of his sentence at home.  His mother Asunción Carrillo, is a long-time member of the Ladies in White, a women's group that founded to advocate for political prisoners. On March 25th, this past Palm Sunday, Asunción tried to reach a church in Colon, as the Ladies do in different parts of Cuba every Sunday, and was violently detained close to home. When her son Ivan came to her defense, police officers kicked him, punched him in the face (they split his mouth), and dragged him down the street until he was violently thrown into a police car. He and his mother were detained for several hours and were released with fines of 2000 Cuban pesos each. Ivan has endured a litany of atrocities and arrests for years and his Twitter account has been hacked. His mother is systematically and violently repressed for belonging to the Ladies in White. Currently, one of the Ladies from Artemisa, Marta Sánchez, has been in detention for over two weeks and has gone on hunger strike in protest.

Dr. Eduardo Cardet Concepción, from Velazco, Holguín, is a prisoner of conscience according to Amnesty International. The medical doctor is the National Coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement. In November 2016, he was arrested and beaten in the presence of his wife and children in front of his home in the town of, for criticizing Fidel Castro shortly after his death. He was sentenced to three years in prison for "attacking an official of the state." After a year and four months in prison, Dr. Cardet, will have the right to be released on parole, per the regime’s laws. For that to happen, he must first be transferred from the high-security prison where he is serving his sentence to a lesser facility, however, that has not happened. His health is a cause of serious concern, as he suffers from chronic asthma and has a nasal lesion that might require surgery (according to his wife, also a doctor, it could be a carcinoma). Prison authorities proposed three months ago to reduce the severity of his imprisonment, but the Ministry of the Interior has denied it.

Leonardo Rodríguez Alonso (shown, far left, with his family) is Coordinator in Cuba of the Patmos Institute, founded in 2013 to provide a forum for Christian intellectuals and civil society that, among other things, denounces internationally violations of religious freedoms taking place in Cuba. A husband and father, he resides in Camajuaní, Villa Clara, with his family. On February 28, he was arrested in Caibarién after meeting with activists who monitor religious freedoms in other parts of the country. He was taken to the Provincial Unit for Criminal Investigations in Santa Clara and detained for more than 48 hours without his family knowing his whereabouts. Days earlier, he had been arrested at his home and transferred to a police unit, where he was interrogated and threatened as well as informed that he would not be allowed to travel outside the country. This is the latest of a long history of harassment, detention, and threats leveled by state authorities against him and his family. His adult children, Dalila and Leonardo, both professors, were expelled from their teaching positions at the Marta Abreu Central University in Villa Clara last year. In 2016, Cuba Archive detailed attempts to incriminate him in common crimes and an attack with a toxic substance against his home.

What can we do?
It is frustrating to watch the indifference of the international system and the impunity that Cuba has been granted. From the three cases above and others we have highlighted in past bulletins, often the lesser-known opponents who live far from the international journalists and diplomats in Havana are more viciously repressed. We can help protect them and others in danger -with social network activism or using the internet to report abuses to the media, international organizations, churches, governments, supporting organizations that document the violations and take the complaints to international instances and/or being creative with our activism. Please consider helping in any way you can. These brave people who fight for freedom peacefully need us.
 
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Atropellos y peligros que enfrentan los defensores de los derechos humanos en Cuba 


Las leyes cubanas no permiten la libre asociación; ningún grupo independiente, incluyendo los que velan por los derechos humanos, puede inscribirse o reunirse legalmente. Los defensores de derechos humanos, considerados “opositores pacíficos” por enfrentar un sistema totalitario, sufren represión sistemática por parte de las autoridades, especialmente por la policía política: golpizas, detenciones arbitrarias, secuestros, vigilancia, invasión de la privacidad y del hogar, despidos laborales, confiscación de la propiedad, prohibición de viajar fuera del país, restricciones de movimiento dentro de Cuba, amenazas de todo tipo (incluyendo a la vida), “accidentes” y otros atropellos. Algunos enfrentan juicios amañados, cargos fabricados y largas sentencias de cárcel bajo condiciones terribles; otros pagan con la vida o desaparecen. Carecen de protección o remedios jurídicos y se les niega acceso a las evidencias.
 

Archivo Cuba pronto publicará un informe detallado sobre más de 50 opositores pacíficos y otros detractores que han perdido la vida o desaparecido desde que Raúl Castro asumió la dirección de Cuba en julio del 2006.

Resaltamos tres casos, entre muchos otros, que ilustran los grandes peligros que corren los cubanos que defienden los derechos humanos en la isla.

Iván Hernández Carrillo y su madre Asunción Carrillo residen en Colón, Matanzas. Iván es Secretario General de la Asociación Sindical Independiente de Cuba (ASIC), periodista independiente y fundador de una biblioteca en su hogar. Su larga trayectoria como defensor de los derechos humanos comenzó cuando con sólo 21 años fue condenado a 2 años de cárcel en el 1992 por "propaganda enemiga y desacato a la figura de Fidel Castro". En el 2003 fue condenado a 25 años de prisión en la ola represiva “Primavera Negra” y sufrió un régimen de rigor máximo. Fue declarado preso de conciencia por Amnistía Internacional y excarcelado con licencia extrapenal en el 2011. Su madre, Asunción, pertenece hace años a las Damas de Blanco, grupo de mujeres que se fundó en el 2003 para abogar por los presos políticos. El pasado 25 de marzo, domingo de ramos, Asunción intentaba trasladarse a la iglesia en Colón, como hacen las Damas en distintos puntos de Cuba todos los domingos. Fue detenida con violencia muy cerca de su casa. Su hijo Iván salió en su defensa y agentes de la policía le propinaron patadas y golpes en la cara (que le partieron la boca) y lo arrastraron por la calle para introducirlo violentamente en una patrulla policial. El y su madre estuvieron detenidos varias horas y se les impusieron multas de 2000 pesos cubanos a cada uno. Iván ha sufrido una letanía de atropellos y detenciones durante años y su cuenta de Twitter ha sido hackeada. Su madre es reprimida de forma sistemática por ser Dama de Blanco. En la actualidad, una de las Damas en Artemisa, Martha Sánchez, lleva más de dos semanas detenida y ha iniciado una huelga de hambre como protesta.

El doctor en medicina Eduardo Cardet Concepción, de Velazco, Holguín, es prisionero de conciencia según Amnistía Internacional. En noviembre de 2016 el Coordinador Nacional del Movimiento Cristiano Liberación de Cuba fue arrestado y golpeado frente a su vivienda, en presencia de sus hijos y esposa, por criticar a Fidel Castro a días de su muerte. Posteriormente, lo condenaron a tres años de prisión por “atentado a la autoridad”. Al año y cuatro meses de prisión, la ley le da derecho a la libertad condicional. Antes, tendría que ser trasladado de la prisión de alta seguridad donde se encuentra a un recinto de menos rigor, lo que no ha ocurrido. Las autoridades de la prisión propusieron hace tres meses la reducción en la severidad de su encarcelamiento, pero la jefatura del Ministerio del Interior se la negó.  Su estado de salud es preocupante, ya que sufre de asma crónica y tiene una lesión nasal que pudiera requerir cirugía (según su esposa, que también es médico, podría ser un carcinoma).

Leonardo Rodríguez Alonso reside en Camajuaní, Villa Clara. Es Coordinador en Cuba del Instituto Patmos, foro de convergencia entre intelectuales cristianos y con la sociedad civil fundado en 2013 que, entre otras cosas, denuncia internacionalmente violaciones a las libertades religiosas en Cuba. El pasado 28 de febrero el padre de familia fue detenido en Caibarién luego de haberse reunido con activistas que monitorean libertades religiosas en otras localidades del país. Fue conducido a la Unidad Provincial de Investigaciones Criminales en Santa Clara, donde estuvo más de 48 horas sin conocerse su paradero. Días antes, lo habían arrestado en su casa y trasladado a la unidad de policía, donde fue interrogado y amenazado; además se le informó que no se le permitirá viajar fuera del país. Los últimos sucesos son parte de una larga cadena de acosos, detenciones y amenazas contra él y su familia. Sus hijos adultos, Dalila y Leonardo, eran ambos profesores y fueron expulsados de sus magisterios en la Universidad Central Marta Abreu de Villa Clara el año pasado. En el 2016, Archivo Cuba reseñó un ataque con una sustancia química contra la casa de Leonardo y los intentos de parte del régimen de que se inculpara en delitos comunes.  


¿Qué podemos hacer?
Es frustrante enfrentar la indolencia del sistema internacional y la impunidad que se le ha concedido a Cuba. En los casos reseñados arriba y con otros que hemos destacado anteriormente vemos como se reprime con mayor fuerza a los opositores menos conocidos y los que están lejos de la prensa internacional y los diplomáticos en La Habana. Podemos ayudar a proteger a las personas que corren peligro de varias maneras: con nuestro activismo en las redes sociales y usando el internet para denunciar los atropellos ante medios de prensa, autoridades pertinentes de otros estados, organizaciones internacionales, iglesias, gobiernos y otros, apoyando a organizaciones que documentan las violaciones y llevan las denuncias a instancias internacionales y/o desplegando nuestra creatividad con acciones propias que sean útiles. Por favor considere ayudar en toda o cualquier forma que le sea posible. Los valientes cubanos que luchan por la libertad pacíficamente necesitan de nosotros.
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Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Voice Of The Copts

Ashraf Ramelah <donotreply@voiceofthecopts.org>

Mar 27 at 9:51 AM

Voice of the Copts, a nonprofit organization, fights the spread of Islamic supremacy and Sharia throughout the Western world through education, advocacy and action. By drawing attention to the suffering of Coptic Christians in Egypt, it endeavors to educate the Western world as to the chilling effect of Sharia (Islamic law). Founded in 2007 by Dr. Ashraf Ramelah, Voice of the Copts focuses on three key issues: freedom of religion, cultural identity and women’s rights.


Egypt’s election: All votes will go to Al-Sisi
Egypt is holding its presidential election now through March 28. President Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi is running for re-election after four years of his first term. There is one opposing candidate from the Tomorrow Party who has vowed to cast his vote for the president and encourages all Egyptians to do the same.  
The ballots will be counted by the Election Commission as usual with the political parties in observance. The president is an independent candidate of the military without a political party. However, the military will be absent from the process because constitutionally it cannot be a part of civilian elections.
With the outcome already determined, Egyptians view the election as a comedic performance mainly because it is too painful to take seriously. Any real opposition candidates to the president have been orchestrated out of the process by the Al-Sisi government in the past months. (See my article entitled: Egypt: Al-Sisi’s pre-election maneuvers guarantee his March victory).
State-sponsored media rave about the popularity of Al-Sisi and show pictures of Egyptians endorsing him with his campaign slogan of “build it.” But certain facts belie such reports. For instance, the media is pressuring the electorate to go out and vote by stressing it as the sacred duty of every citizen. Guilt infliction would not be necessary if a highly popular, reformist incumbent were running.
Christian clergy and Muslim Imams are threatening the populace with the fate of hell for those who do not go to the voting polls while the courts threaten non-voters with monetary fines. State employees are told by their managers that they will receive punishments for misconduct if they are absent from the performance of their electoral duty.
Meanwhile, Orthodox churches in the Egyptian diaspora around the world are arranging buses to haul church-goers to offices of the Egyptian Consulate to cast their vote for Al-Sisi. This follows the directive of Pope Tawadros II, an advocate of the president, when last week he announced plainly that, “It is the obligation and duty of every person to vote.” Low turn-out at the polls would bring embarrassment to the president and must be avoided at all cost.
Complacency is being combated by the state, church and mosque, but the anger boiling underneath the surface of the ersatz conformity is an even bigger threat to Al-Sisi and can’t be dealt with as easily by the regime whose appearance must remain “democratic.” Calling the election a farce, the Civil Democratic Movement has risen up to boycott it. Analysts are citing it as the object of the president’s anger and the reason for the regime’s pressure upon voters across the country.
Anger in general toward Al-Sisi’s failed record is what led the regime in the first place to eliminate risk by clearing the ballot of opposition. The other candidates presumably represented forces so insidious to the country and the welfare of the citizenry that Al-Sisi waited until they threatened his position as president to deal with their lurking presence.  
Moreover, his failure to float ideas to fix the country’s infrastructure problems, inflation and poverty has been accompanied by a rise in police state tactics such as “aurora” visits to contrarians and jail for speaking freely and critically. Considering this in the light of the president’s promises of democratic reforms and talk of human rights, Egyptians are left with cognitive dissonance. Orthodox Copts have solved this problem by accepting Al-Sisi as a ruler who “means well” in light of terror atrocities, brute police force, rigged courts and rubble in place of churches. Political relativism helps this along. 
Are the Copts correct in agreeing with Al-Sisi that any other option rising in the political arena would be much too risky and threatening to Egypt’s long history of military rule? Military rule is all Egyptians know. Another military man as president would be pointless and, if less endearing, might prove disruptive to the stability of a people who need to manage daily life under massive corruption and civil decay. 
 
Dr. Ashraf Ramelah is the founder and president of Voice of the Copts, a human rights nonprofit organization 501 (c) (3). The organization has offices in Italy and the United States.
Dr. Ramelah is dedicated to the Coptic cause and believes that his life’s mission is to speak up for the oppressed Copts who cannot speak up for themselves.
Dr. Ramelah is well known to the Egyptian government due to his advocacy for the Egyptian Copts as well as for Voice of the Copts’ lawsuit against them on behalf of Muslim convert to Christianity Mr. Hegazy and his family in 2009-2010. Ashraf Ramelah also appears as an entry in the Coptic History Encyclopedia (http://www.coptichistory.org/new_page_5260.htm).
Dr. Ramelah, himself a Copt, was born in Cairo, Egypt. At the age of 17, he travelled to Italy to study architecture. He graduated with a doctorate in architecture from La Sapienza – Universita’ Degli Studi di Roma,Italy. His special study is restoration of old monuments and history of architecture.
His career as an architect took him to work and live in Italy, Saudi Arabia, Gabon and the USA. His personal interests are Egyptology and Coptic history in the period after the Arab invasion of Egypt in 651 AD.
Voice of the Copts is dedicated to bringing fair, correct and balanced information to the entire world regarding Copts and Christians in countries with an Arab-Muslim majority.

 
La Casa Futura: Achieving independence for Egyptian youths in the freedom of the West
Rome, Italy. -– a Voice of the Copts’ project
La Casa Futura assists refugee youths fleeing from Egypt due to religious persecution. La Casa Futura is a two-year assimilation program in a residence building for young men and women (ages 15-20 years old) coming from Italian refugee camps. Language classes, vocational training and assistance for legal status in Italy are provided.

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The Scorpion and the Frog


the AZEL

PERSPECTIVE

Commentary on Cuba's Future, U.S. Foreign Policy & Individual Freedoms - Issue 119
 


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In the fable of the scorpion and the frog, a scorpion asks a frog to carry it across the river. The frog, afraid of being stung, hesitates. But the scorpion argues that if it were to sting the frog, they would both drown. Considering that it would be irrational for the scorpion to cause both of their deaths, the frog agrees. Midway across the river the scorpion does indeed sting the frog, dooming them both. As they are both drowning the frog asks the scorpion:  Why? The scorpion replies that he could not help himself; it was in his nature to do so.
I was reminded of this fable by political analyst Eugenio Yañez as we discussed the behavior of the Cuban government in denying visas to a number of high level dignitaries that sought to travel to Cuba to receive a democracy award named in honor of the slain government opponent Oswaldo Payá. The award was to be issued in Cuba, by the Latin American Youth Network for Democracy at the home of its president Rosa Maria Payá Acevedo, Paya’s daughter.

The award’s recipient, and invited guest of honor, was Luis Almagro, current Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS). Among the dignitaries also invited were Patricia Aylwin former Chilean Minister of Education and daughter of the late President Patricio Aylwin, former Mexican President Felipe Calderon, former Czech Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations Martin Palous. All of them, and others, were denied entry by the Cuban government, which considered the visit an unacceptable anti-Cuban provocation. The action of the Cuban government has generated numerous protests by public figures across the region.
  
The day before, in my conversation with Dr. Yañez, he accurately predicted that the Cuban government would deny the dignitaries entry regardless of the political costs: “They will not allow it; it is not in their nature.”

In my writings, over the years, I have repeatedly made the same point when criticizing practices and policies, such as President Obama’s Cuba policy, that sought to somehow alter the behavior of the Cuban regime. These policies assume that the precept of American style economic rationality, which compares costs and benefits, applies to the Castro regime.  Such policies will not work; it is not in the Cuban government’s nature to make ideological concessions. General Raul Castro has been explicitly clear that Cuba will not change its ways. It is not in their nature.

Proponents of ending U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba, for example, claim that such a move would encourage the Cuban government to embrace more rational policies. It will not.  It is not in their nature.
They had hoped that establishing diplomatic relations would motivate General Raul Castro, whom they believed to be more pragmatic than his brother Fidel, to decrease repression and perhaps usher in democratic reforms. He has not.  It is not in his nature.

This latest demonstration of the Cuban government’s intractability should put to rest any notions that policies that seek to change the nature of the regime will succeed.  In denying entry to Secretary General Almagro and the other dignitaries, the Cuban government has incurred significant political costs among many of its most ardent supporters in Latin America. But it could not have done otherwise. It is not in their nature.

Often, our foreign policy shortcomings, particularly when dealing with regimes espousing totalitarian ideologies such as North Korea, Iran, or Cuba are rooted in our American worldview that fails to understand the nature of these regimes. We do not recognize that these regimes are sustained by their totalitarian ideologies which require an animus against freedom and the pervasive violation of the natural rights of the citizenry.

Cuba’s foreign policy is one that places its totalitarian values before its economic or political interests. It is time we recognize that they cannot change. As with the scorpion of the fable, it is not in their nature.

Please let us know if you Like Issue 119 - The Scorpion and the Frog on Facebook this article.
We welcome your feedback.
Abrazos,
 
Lily & José
 
(click on the name to email Lily or Jose)
This article was originally published in English in the Miami Herald and in Spanish in El Nuevo Herald.
 
José Azel, Ph.D.
José Azel left Cuba in 1961 as a 13 year-old political exile in what has been dubbed Operation Pedro Pan - the largest unaccompanied child refugee movement in the history of the Western Hemisphere.

He is currently dedicated to the in-depth analyses of Cuba's economic, social and political state, with a keen interest in post-Castro-Cuba strategies. Formerly, a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami, Jose Azel has published extensively on Cuba related topics.

In 2012 and 2015, Dr. Azel testified in the U.S. Congress on U.S.-Cuba Policy, and U.S. National Security.  He is a frequent speaker and commentator on these and related topics on local, national and international media.  He holds undergraduate and masters degrees in business administration and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from the University of Miami.

José along with his wife Lily are avid skiers and adventure travelers.  In recent years they have climbed Grand Teton in Wyoming, trekked Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Machu Pichu in Peru.  They have also hiked in Tibet and in the Himalayas to Mt. Everest Base Camp.

They cycled St. James Way (
El Camino de Santiago de Compostela) and cycled alongside the Danube from Germany to Hungary. They have scuba dived in the Bay Islands off the Honduran coast.

Their adventurers are normally dedicated to raise funds for causes that are dear to them. 
Watch Joe & Lily summit Kilimanjaro.

Books by Dr. José Azel
In Reflections on FreedomJosé Azel brings together a collection of his columns published in prestigious newspapers.  Each article reveals his heartfelt and personal awareness of the importance of freedom in our lives.  They are his reflections after nearly sixty years of living and learning as a Cuban outside Cuba. In what has become his stylistic trademark, Professor Azel brilliantly introduces complex topics in brief journalistic articles.
Buy Now
En Reflexiones sobre la libertad José Azel reúne una colección de sus columnas publicadas en prestigiosos periódicos. Cada artículo revela su percepción sincera y personal de la importancia de la libertad en nuestras vidas. Son sus reflexiones después de casi sesenta años viviendo y aprendiendo como cubano fuera de Cuba.  En lo que ha resultado ser característica distintiva de sus artículos, el Profesor Azel introduce con brillantez complejos temas en  breves artículos de carácter periodístico.
Compre Aqui
Mañana in Cuba is a comprehensive analysis of contemporary Cuba with an incisive perspective of the Cuban frame of mind and its relevancy for Cuba's future.
Buy now

 
Pedazos y Vacíos is a collection of poems written in by Dr. Azel in his youth. Poems are in Spanish.
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