Dissidents, US denounce Cuba on man's beating

Posted on Tuesday, 06.12.12

Dissidents, US denounce Cuba on man's beating
By PAUL HAVEN
Associated Press

HAVANA -- U.S. officials and an island human rights advocate have
condemned the alleged beating and detention of a Cuban dissident days
after he testified by video conference before a Senate subcommittee
about harassment of the opposition in his homeland.

Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the Senate's
Foreign Relations Committee, denounced the apparent beating of Jorge
Luis Garcia Perez on Saturday, and accused Cuba of targeting him in
retaliation for his testimony two days earlier.

"I want to be crystal clear that I strongly condemn any efforts to
intimidate Mr. Perez or any other Cuban citizen into silence," Kerry
said. "I echo the calls of my Senate colleagues, demanding an end to
repression in Cuba and urging international observers to conduct an
investigation into his detention."

Cuban authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The government considers all dissidents to be mercenaries and common
criminals paid by Washington to stir up trouble, and claims their
grievances are amplified by exiles and Cuban-American politicians in a
coordinated media smear campaign.

Garcia Perez, known by his nickname "Antunez," spent 17 years in jail
for his activities and has used hunger strikes to protest the treatment
of political prisoners in Cuba. His wife, Yris Tamara Perez, says he was
beaten and arrested by police in the central Cuban town of Placetas on
Saturday afternoon. A half an hour later, when she and several friends
set out to find him at the police station, she too was arrested and held
overnight.

At the holding cell, there was more trouble, including the use of tear
gas, she said in a statement sent by a Cuban exile group. As of Tuesday,
Garcia Perez had not been released and his wife was unable to talk to
him by phone.

"I am very worried about what could happen to my husband," she said,
adding that he had heart trouble and other ailments.

Garcia Perez had testified before the Senate subcommittee via a video
hookup from the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, which Washington
maintains instead of an embassy. He told the panel that Cuban
authorities have turned increasingly to short-term detentions and other
harassment of dissidents since releasing dozens of political prisoners
in 2010.

Elizardo Sanchez, a human rights advocate on the island and de facto
spokesperson for Cuba's small opposition, confirmed the arrest and
supposed beating, adding that he felt it was a direct result of Garcia
Perez's Senate testimony. Sanchez said he had also received word that a
man who gained renown when he was dragged away while shouting
anti-government slogans at a Mass celebrated in Santiago by Pope
Benedict XVI in March had also been arrested. The man Andres Carrion
Alvarez, has been in and out of detention since the incident.

Sanchez said he was "worried" about both cases. "Each of these arrests
are arbitrary, and that is unacceptable."

The U.S. State Department also voiced concern about Garcia Perez's fate
and called for his immediate release.

"These actions once again highlight the repressive nature of the Cuban
government, particularly with regard to Cuban citizens peacefully
expressing opposing views," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria
Nuland.

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