Friday, January 6, 2017

Dissident Group Denounces At Least 9,940 Arbitrary Arrests In Cuba In 2016

Dissident Group Denounces At Least 9,940 Arbitrary Arrests In Cuba In
2016 / EFE,14ymedio

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 5 January 2017 — The Cuban Commission for
Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN), a dissident group,
denounced today that it had documented at least 9,940 arbitrary arrests
for "political reasons" in 2016, the highest figure of the last six years.

With a monthly average of 827 arrests, the opposition organization said
that Cuba is in "first place" in Latin America for this type of
"repressive action."

In its monthly report, the CCDHRN reports that in December there were
458 arbitrary arrests of "peaceful dissidents," up from 359 in the
previous month, but a much lower figure than in other months of last
year; data from January to April showed more than 1,000 arrests a month.

According to this organization, in December there were also 14 physical
assaults by political repression groups against peaceful opponents, 37
acts of harassment and intimidation, and two acts of repudiation, "true
civil lynchings without the loss of human lives until now."

The commission notes that the opposition groups most punished by this
harassment are the Ladies in White, who march every Sunday to demand
respect for human rights on the island, and the Cuban Patriotic Union
(UNPACU), which has suffered "vandalism and robbery by the police" at
its headquarters in Santiago de Cuba and at the homes of some of its
activists.

The CCDHRN also expressed concern over the situation of two political
prisoners imprisoned since November: Eduado Cardet, coordinator of the
Christian Liberation Movement, and Danilo Maldonado, the graffiti artist
known as "El Sexto," who is considered a prisoner of conscience by
Amnesty International.

"El Sexto" has been detained since the early hours of November 26 for
painting "He's gone" in a central place in Havana on the occasion of the
death of Cuban leader Fidel Castro. He is being held in a maximum
security prison without trial.

The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, led
by the well-known dissident Elizardo Sánchez, is the only group to
record and report the numbers of these incidents in Cuba.

The Cuban government considers dissidents "counterrevolutionaries" and
"mercenaries."

Source: Dissident Group Denounces At Least 9,940 Arbitrary Arrests In
Cuba In 2016 / EFE,14ymedio – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/dissident-group-denounces-at-least-9940-arbitrary-arrests-in-cuba-in-2016-efe14ymedio/

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