“Only” 724 Dissident Arrests in May in Cuba

"Only" 724 Dissident Arrests in May in Cuba
June 7, 2016

HAVANA TIMES — During May at least 724 "arbitrary arrests for political
reasons", took place in Cuba, a figure which means a decrease compared
to previous months which exceeded a thousand, according to the dissident
Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN),
reported dpa news.

The "relative decline" is due to a "change of tactics" of some groups
that reduced the number of their demonstrations "that attract invariably
political repression," said the report of the organization.

Instead, the opposition is "choosing to work more with civic
communities," according to CCDHRN.

The grouping recorded during the month of May at least 37 physical
assaults, 228 acts of harassment and three acts against property,
"executed or instigated by the secret political police and vigilantes."

During 2016, the CCDHRN has posted more than 6,000 arrests for political
reasons. The totals were 1,441 in January, in February, 1,141 in March,
1416, and 1,380 in April.

The spokesman of the banned but tolerated CCDHRN, Elizardo Sanchez, also
reported raids in different homes acting as headquarters of the
opposition group Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), in which "half a
dozen computers and cell phones, cameras and documents" were seized.

The figures cannot be contrasted with data from the Cuban government,
which does not acknowledge any political prisoners or short term detentions.

Source: "Only" 724 Dissident Arrests in May in Cuba - Havana Times.org -
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=119224