- Title: Amnesty International names five new political prisoners in Cuba
- Date: 27th August 2019
- Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (AUGUST 27, 2019) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF HOME WHERE ACTIVIST FOR GROUP 'PATRIOTIC UNION OF CUBA', ZAQUEO BAEZ GUERRERO, IS SITTING TOWARDS THE BACK VARIOUS OF BAEZ SPEAKING WITH JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ACTIVIST FOR GROUP 'PATRIOTIC UNION OF CUBA', ZAQUEO BAEZ GUERRERO, REFERRING TO THE LATEST LIST BY AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, SAYING: "Without a doubt it is important when you consider that in Cuba, there are more than 100 political prisoners who are not recognised by the dictatorial Castro regime as such. It is of vital importance considering that these are people who have been unjustly imprisoned on the basis of prepared statements regarding false crimes listed by the regime whether it be for disrespect, attacks, public disorder, resistance - the only measure the tyranny can use to imprison activists." MIRIAM LEYVA, FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THE LADIES IN WHITE, IN HER HOME LEYVA FLIPPING THROUGH BOOK LEYVA SPEAKING WITH JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MIRIAM LEYVA, FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THE LADIES IN WHITE, SAYING: "Amnesty International is quite possibly the world's most prestigious organisation and are very rigourous when they analyse the situation of a 'prisoner of conscience' because that would be a prisoner of opinion. In reality, they are prisoners of opinion because they visualise, so first, they (Amnesty International) recognise that situation. Second, they alert the government that they are doing it. They make it visible to the world so that what is happening is known and it is a support for the prisoner so that they may even have better conditions in prison or at the very least, they suffer less arbitrariness." VARIOUS OF BAEZ SITTING DOWN AND SPEAKING WITH HIS WIFE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ACTIVIST FOR GROUP 'PATRIOTIC UNION OF CUBA', ZAQUEO BAEZ GUERRERO, SAYING: "I have seen an increase in repression because the regime is in fear, I see that they are in a final phase, they are practically asphyxiated and the repression continues. The repression continues, without a doubt - the attacks on homes, the assaults on our homes, the unjust imprisonment of our activists, it's like a wall to contain the people from rebelling. In other words, not the reality in Cuba."
- Embargoed: 10th September 2019 22:05
- Keywords: Cuba rights Amnesty International prisoners of conscience
- Location: HAVANA, CUBA
- City: HAVANA, CUBA
- Country: Cuba
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA002ATZUYBR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Amnesty International named five new prisoners of conscience in Cuba on Monday (August 26) and said their detention underscored how the presidential handover last year from Raul Castro had not changed the country's repressive tactics.
Amnesty said there were likely many more Cubans who had been detained for peacefully expressing their views whose cases it was a challenge to document because authorities deny access to international rights groups.
All of the prisoners it listed were associated with opposition organisations in the one-party state.
Cuban authorities do not comment on police activity such as the detention of dissidents, who have limited support inside the island, and dismisses them as a tiny minority of provocateurs financed by the United States to subvert the government.
Many Cuban activists and independent journalists are complaining of growing harassment.
They say that is a sign the government is nervous because the launch of mobile internet last December has given them more of a public platform and ability to mobilise at a time of heightened political and economic tension.
Cuba, which was already struggling with a decline in Venezuelan aid in recent years, is facing more hostility and sanctions from its long-time foe, the United States.
Cuba has also undergone a leadership transition, with Castro handing the presidency over last year to his right-hand man, Miguel Diaz-Canel.
The Madrid-based non-governmental rights group Cuban Prisoners Defenders, which has links to UNPACU, estimates there are at least 70 political prisoners on the island. Amnesty said it updated its own list after reviewing some of those cases.
All of the prisoners Amnesty listed were men who had been detained since 2015 and sentenced to one to five years of prison for "public disorder," "contempt" or "dangerousness."
The latter two charges are inconsistent with international law, it said. "Dangerousness" - the possibility someone could eventually commit a crime - is a catch-all used against anyone authorities do not like, critics say.
Two of the five prisoners had been badly beaten by prison officials, Amnesty cited their relatives as saying.
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