Violence against dissidents up

Posted on Fri, Feb. 10, 2006

CUBA
Violence against dissidents up

BY VANESSA ARRINGTON
Associated Press

HAVANA - Aggression against Cuban dissidents by government supporters is
on the rise and becoming more violent, according to a report released
Thursday by a veteran human rights activist.

Elizardo Sánchez, who heads the non-governmental Cuban Commission on
Human Rights and National Reconciliation, lists nearly 30 apparently
organized acts of harassment against dissidents, including verbal abuse,
physical assault and illegal entry to homes.

The acts, which took place in several provinces across the island,
occurred from Jan. 12 to Feb. 7, the report said.

''This is about a repressive, large-scale operation executed in response
to a central government decision,'' the report said.

''Particularly worrisome is the level of physical and verbal violence,
without precedent in recent years,'' it said.

There was no immediate reaction by Cuba's communist government.

In some cases, gangs of government supporters kept activists from
leaving their homes for several days, according to the report. One
dissident in the eastern province of Santiago was attacked by two men
with steel bars, while a woman in the central region of Santa Clara had
her finger dislocated in an assault, the report said.

Pro-government militants have broken into several dissidents' homes, the
report said, taking items that included books and a fax machine.

The Havana-based commission called on the government to stop the acts,
saying it was ``totally irresponsible and immoral to artificially create
a climate of political violence.''

Earlier in the week, wives of political prisoners known as the ''Ladies
in White'' also issued a statement condemning recent harassment.

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