(Freedom House/IFEX) – The following is a 13 December 2004 Freedom House press release: EUROPEAN UNION SHOULD NOT REWARD CUBA NEW YORK, December 13, 2004 — When the European Union meets tomorrow to review its Cuba policy, it should not reward the Castro government for releasing political prisoners who were unjustly jailed, Freedom House said […]
(Freedom House/IFEX) – The following is a 13 December 2004 Freedom House press release:
EUROPEAN UNION SHOULD NOT REWARD CUBA
NEW YORK, December 13, 2004 — When the European Union meets tomorrow to review its Cuba policy, it should not reward the Castro government for releasing political prisoners who were unjustly jailed, Freedom House said today.
Some of those recently set free were part of a group of 75 dissidents, journalists, and independent librarians rounded up in a broad March 2003 crackdown by the Cuban government. Hundreds of other peaceful dissidents remain jailed in Cuba.
The dissidents were not set free as part of a general amnesty or political reform program. The Cuban government has also noted that the releases are reversible parole licenses granted on health and medical grounds. Those released suffer from disease and other medical ailments, often caused by poor prison conditions. The EU should therefore not be quick to reward Cuba for selectively releasing peaceful democratic activists who were wrongfully persecuted and summarily jailed in the first place, especially while many others remain behind bars, Freedom House said.
“We are especially concerned with the Spanish government’s recent suggestions that Europe’s diplomatic corps should reduce contact with Cuban dissidents in order to foster a more open relationship with Cuba’s government,” said Freedom House Executive Director Jennifer Windsor. “This approach will only disempower Cuba’s democracy advocates and lend legitimacy to the government’s ongoing crackdown against them.”
Even as these selective releases occur, other dissidents have been arrested and jailed. In one case, Hugo Damian Prieto — an organizer of the Varela Project, a grass-roots petition drive demanding a referendum on political reform — was arrested November 30 and sentenced to 4 years in jail after a rushed trial. He was not allowed to inform his family of the trial or to choose a lawyer for his defense. Some other dissidents have been forced to emigrate.
A well-known dissident, Oswaldo Paya, recently stated that any political dialogue between the EU and Cuba should be restricted to obtaining the release of political prisoners in the short term and then democratic reforms.
The EU must not be charmed by Cuba’s seeming turn about, said Ms. Windsor. The release of a handful of ill prisoners is not indicative of any meaningful changes the government has undertaken with respect to human rights or to the demands of pro-democracy advocates.
More background on Cuba is available on the Freedom House website:
Freedom in the World 2004:
http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/freeworld/2004/countryratings/cuba.htm
Freedom of the Press 2004:
http://www.freedomhouse.org/pfs2004/pfs2004.pdf
