Harsh Police Operation Against the Patriotic Union of Cuba

Harsh Police Operation Against the Patriotic Union of Cuba / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 18 December 2016 – Beginning at 6:00 AM on Sunday
morning, Cuban State Security forces attacked nine homes of members of
the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU); six in Santiago de Cuba, two in
Palma Soriano, and one in Palmarito de Cauto. More details are expected
in the coming hours; currently most of the activists' telephones have
been cut off.

Jose Daniel Ferrer, leader of the organizations, explained to 14ymedio
that the "justification" for the harsh repressive operation was a call
made by UNPACU for people to come into the streets in protest, in Havana
and Santiago de Cuba. The objective of the opposition organization was
"to demand the release of the political prisoners and the end to
increasingly severe repression against independent civil society
groups," Ferrer said.

The homes simultaneously attacked were those of Leonardo Pérez Franco,
Ovidio Martín Castellanos and Damaris Rodríguez. At the home of Iriades
Hernández, who is currently abroad, the police entered and took two
laptops. The police also broke into UNPACU's working headquarters and
the home of Jose Daniel Ferrer.

In Palma Soriano the homes of Yenisei Jiménez, wife of political
prisoner Geordanis Muñoz, and that of Yeroslandi Calderín, coordinator
of the March 18 Cell and a replacement for Víctor Campa who is currently
a political prisoner. In Palmarito de Cauto, so far it has only been
possible to report an attack on the home of Yasmani Diaz, but it is
presumed that there may be other cases.


Assaults, thefts, detentions against member of #UNPACU, Today
families won't eat because their sustenance was stolen.
Among the possessions seized were printed material, discs, audiovisual
materials, hard drives, four laptops and several cellphones. In the home
of Jose Daniel Ferrer they seized 370 dollars intended to feed a
pregnant woman and to buy supplies for her unborn child. As a part of
the operation, more than 50 activists in the province of Santiago de
Cuba and 10 in Havana had been detained by 1:30 this afternoon.

Some ten of those arrested have been released, among them Jose Daniel
Ferrer, who reported the following: "A lieutenant colonel who refused to
give me his name showed me a warning notice where it said that our call
gave rise to the crimes of public disorder, contempt, attack and
espionage. They also warned me that they had been disturbed by my
statements about the late Fidel Castro on our website and my modest
interpretation or translation of his concept of Revolution."

Source: Harsh Police Operation Against the Patriotic Union of Cuba /
14ymedio – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/harsh-police-operation-against-the-patriotic-union-of-cuba-14ymedio/