By Rick Jervis, USA TODAY
Dissidents are going on hunger strikes in Cuba after the death of a
prisoner of conscience in an attempt to bring global attention to the
oppression of the Castro regime, dissidents and rights groups say.
"If they allow me to die, it will demonstrate to the world that there
have been political executions here in Cuba from 1959 until the present
day," said Guillermo Fariñas, referring to the more than 50 years that
Cuba has been under communist control.
Fariñas, 48, went on a hunger strike Feb. 24, a day after the death of
Orlando Zapata Tamayo. Tamayo, 42, died after refusing food and water
for 82 days.
Two other prisoners — Luis Enrique Ferrer Garcia and Evan Hernandez
Carrillos — have also announced hunger strikes, according to the
Miami-based Cuban Democratic Directorate, which tracks opposition
figures in Cuba.
Fariñas, who spoke last week from his home in Santa Clara, has since
been taken to a hospital by relatives. He said Tamayo's death has
energized Cuba's dissident movement.
"It has really touched the opposition," Fariñas said. "Everyone wants to
show support."
The movement comes as the United States and Europe have been softening
their stances toward Cuba. The Obama administration lifted restrictions
on travel to the island by Cuban Americans and toned down the language
on Cuba in the annual State Department terrorism report.
In Congress, bills have been filed to ease restrictions further. The
European Union lifted diplomatic sanctions, and Cuba's suspension from
the Organization of American States has been ended as well.
Some Cuba experts see the hunger strikes as a gamble as a way of trying
to prompt change.
"Once these people lose their life, it does not help the opposition
movement," said Juan del Aguila, an associate professor at Emory
University in Atlanta who has studied the Cuban opposition. "It is
clearly a sign of desperation, no question about it."
About 200 Cubans have been imprisoned for crimes such as criticizing the
government's economic policies to passing out pamphlets against abortion
or on the United Nations Bill of Rights.
As many as 5,000 Cubans served sentences for "dangerousness," without
being charged with any specific crime, according to the State
Department. Prisoners are beaten on a near-daily basis in cells infested
with vermin and lacking water, according to the department's human
rights report.
The International Committee of the Red Cross regularly visits prisons to
check on conditions, including the U.S. facility for terrorism suspects
at Guantanamo Bay. It has been refused access to Cuba's prisons. "It's
been a long time since we've been able to visit Cuban prisons," says
Marçal Izard, an ICRC spokesman.
There was hope things would change when Fidel Castro ceded power to his
brother Raúl, but Human Rights Watch says Raúl Castro has locked up
scores of people for exercising their fundamental freedoms. The group
says Raúl Castro has used the courts to silence free speech, quash labor
rights and criminalize dissent. Human rights defenders, journalists and
others have been given sham trials and imprisoned for lengthy terms, the
group says.
Tamayo had been imprisoned since 2003 on charges that include
"disrespecting authority." Government media denounced him as a "common
prisoner."
Fariñas' first arrest came as a journalist for reporting on hospital
corruption. He has since served 11 years for a variety of offenses. On
Monday, Cuba denounced him in the Gramma newspaper and said it "will not
accept pressure or blackmail."
Fariñas said he recognizes that he is in a showdown and that Raúl Castro
is not likely to give in.
"I don't plan on giving up, either," Fariñas said.
Dissident's death spurs new protests in Cuba - USATODAY.com (8 March 2010)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-03-08-cuba-protest_N.htm
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