Number Of Political Arrests In Cuba Doubles From Dec. 2014

Number Of Political Arrests In Cuba Doubles From Dec. 2014 / 14ymedio
Posted on January 4, 2016

14ymedio, Havana, 4 January 2015 — The number of political arrests in
the month of December in Cuba was almost twice that of December 2014,
from 489 increasing to 930, according to the monthly report issued by
the Cuban the National Commission for Human Rights and National
Reconciliation (CCDHRN).

The number represents a significant decrease from November, when there
were at least 1,447 arrests. However, that figure was the highest in
years, according to information from the CCDHRN, which reported December
was the third worst month of the year, after the two months preceding it
(there were 1,093 political arrests in October).

The CCDHRN is particularly concerned because five former political
prisoners – released as a part of the negotiations between the Cuban and
United States governments that led to the reestablishment of relations –
were newly arrested and being held in high security prisons. These
prisoners are

Wilfredo Parada Milian, Jorge Ramirez Calderon, Carlos Manuel Figueroa,
Aracelio Ribeaux Noa and Vladimir Morera Bacallao, who was on a hunger
strike between 9 October and the end of the year. The five have been
imprisoned in "rigged processes without due process," according to the
organization led by Elizardo Sanchez.

Once again, the groups most affected by repression, the report
denounced, are the Ladies in White and the Patriotic Union of Cuba
(UNPACU), who "apart from physical violence and all kinds of
humiliations" suffered "acts of vandalism and the extrajudicial
confiscation of toys intended to be distributed to poor children,
computers, cellphones and other work tools acquired legally, as well as
cash taken from many of the opponents who were arrested."

The CCDHRN expressed despair because despite the expectations created by
the restoration of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the US,
"political repression increased steadily throughout 2015." In addition,
the report denounced that poverty has continued to grow, which has
motivated, in the opinion of the organization, the migratory crisis of
those "trying to escape Cuba by any means, including illegal emigration
at the price of human suffering."

Source: Number Of Political Arrests In Cuba Doubles From Dec. 2014 /
14ymedio | Translating Cuba -
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