Human Rights

Time to tighten the screws on Cuban dictator

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The article begins, “HAVANA – Cuba on Monday strongly criticized foreign press coverage of a dissident hunger striker as part of a campaign to discredit the island’s political system.”  Really, could any sane right thinking person come up with something positive that would credit the failed illegitimate totalitarian regime ruling Cuba?

You know, they can try to deflect blame, they can do their best to propagandize the hunger strikes away, but nothing they can say, no lie can cover up the fact that there are Cubans starving themselves, Cubans starving themselves to death as a last resort act of defiance against an omnipresent repressive dictatorship.

It is the dictator who denied Orlando Zapata Tamayo water; it is the dictator who is responsible for the torture he suffered, and for his death.  And, it is the dictator who is responsible for the lack of human rights and repression from which all Cubans suffer.

There is no link between the regimes imposed denial of human rights, a withheld water ration, and the US embargo.

Do Americans really want to subsidize these mass murdering thugs?  I don’t think so, and if the MSM would just do its job and inform them of the truth about Cuba, I believe that Americans would demand that Washington do something, just as they did in the campaign against apartheid in South Africa and other international human rights crisis.

This AP article, flawed though it may be is a step in the right direction, I’m not holding my breath, but I pray there are more, minus the inclusion of the “official” statement.

Where’s the international campaign to free Cuba?

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You’d think that 51 years of barbaric tyranny would be enough to capture world opinion. I came across these powerful words written to free Mandela; change a few of them and they more than apply to Cuba, except of course that there is NO international campaign to free Cuba’s political prisoners, or to liberate the Cuban people from the repression, terror and aggression with which the regime sustains itself.

“For 25 51 years, the South African Cuban people and the world community have demanded the release of Nelson Mandela (choose from the very long list of Cuban political prisoners), and other political prisoners as the first essential step toward freedom and peace in South Africa Cuba. This account gives only some highlights of the campaign in numerous countries and communities that ignore the barbaric treatment Cuba’s prisoners are subjected to.

Resisting these demands and keeping Mandela Oscar Biscet, Darsi Ferrer, etc. in prison, the racist regime has tried to perpetuate white domination at the cost of enormous suffering to the people. Thousands of people have been killed, injured and tortured, tens of thousands have been detained. The resources of the country have been squandered to build the military machine and to carry on an unceasing war against the people of South Africa, Cuba, Namibia and the neighbouring independent African States and to export “revolution” to vulnerable spots around the world.

The “Free Mandela” much wanted Free Cuba’s Political Prisoners campaign is would be a call to stop this carnage and the drift to disaster. The racist regime is not only unwilling, but has proved incapable, of leading the country out of the morass. It is a criminal regime, devoid of any legitimacy, while Mandela the political prisoners represent the ideals cherished by humanity and has inspired the world many even from prison. The campaign must not only continue with greater determination, but must be backed by all sanctions on the Botha castro regime to force it to heed reason.

Forty Fifty-one years of apartheid – and of the escalating repression, terror and aggression with which it sustains itself – are more than humanity can afford to tolerate.”

Read all of it here.

Petition to release Orlando Zapata Tamayo

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Please sign this petition by clicking HERE:

I would like to bring to your attention the case of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, an imprisoned Cuban and human rights advocate. On a hunger strike since December 3, 2009, for purely requesting some of his most basic human rights, it appears Zapata Tamayo is on the brink of death, and we are requesting he receive the best medical attention possible immediately.

I am deeply concerned by recent reports of the substandard conditions of medical attention that Zapata Tamayo has received, as well as the conditions of his detention. He was reportedly deprived of water for 16 days by prison officials.

I strongly urge you to order the release of Orlando Zapata Tamayo and all other individuals who have been arrested and convicted on the basis of their peaceful political activities and their efforts to promote and protect basic human rights in Cuba.

According to the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which Cuba actively participated in drafting and passing, all persons have the right to effective access to participation in the government of their country and in the conduct of public affairs. The Declaration also provides that everyone has the right “freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms.” The important work of Cuban human rights defenders should be recognized by the government and they should be supported rather than persecuted.

While they remain in detention, I urge you to ensure that Orlando Zapata Tamayo is not subjected to further abuse and that his conditions of detention meet basic international standards. International human rights law requires that all persons held in detention are treated with humanity and dignity and that they are not subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The Cuban government should ensure the application of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of all Persons Under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, which further elaborate the basic standards to be achieved in ensuring respect for the rights of detainees.

I will continue to monitor these cases closely and appreciate your immediate attention to this important matter.

Petition:

We, CAUSA: Cubans United for a Free Cuba, call on the Cuban government to release Orlando Zapata Tamayo from prison.

Read more about Orlando Tamayo here, and in español here.

Petition to nominate Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet for the Nobel Peace Prize

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I can’t think of any one more deserving to win, or who would do more to restore the status of the prize.

To wit:

To:  The United Nations, the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the Organization of American States (OAS, OEA), the European Union, the US Congress, and the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates

We, the undersigned, would like to nominate Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet for the Nobel Peace Prize. But, as you all know, this Petition can only come from members of academies, university professors, scientists from numerous countries, previous Nobel Laureates, members of parliamentary assemblies and “others”, but not from “regular citizens”; this is the reason we contact you for this matter. We hope you can help us by submitting this candidate, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, for the Nobel Peace Prize for the coming year.

Read the rest of the petition and sign it here.