DISSIDENTS ARRESTED IN CUBA; ROQUE'S WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN
Sociedad Jose Marti
------ Original Message ------
Received: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 07:34:44 PM CDT
From: "NFC@NetforCuba.org"
To: "NetforCubaNetwork"
Subject: CUBA: URGENT! / FOUR DISSIDENTS ARRESTED IN CUBA; ROQUE'S WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN (AFP)
FOUR DISSIDENTS ARRESTED IN CUBA; ROQUE'S WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN
Received Friday, 22 July 2005 23:10:00 GMT
"Thursday, Roque said by telephone that the decision to demonstrate in front of the French Embassy was to show dissidents ' displeasure with the normalization of relations between Paris and Havana, which took place exactly one week ago today."
HAVANA, July 22 (AFP) - Fidel Castro's government in Cuba appeared to be launching a new crackdown on political dissidents Friday, with the arrest of 17 activists, opposition figures said.
Among those arrested were Rene Gomez Manzano and engineer Felix Bonne Carcaces, leading figures of the Assembly for the Promotion of Civil Society, the group which had organized a protest Friday in front of the French Embassy in Havana.
Meanwhile the whereabouts of Marta Beatriz Roque, the president of the assembly and one of Cuba's best-known dissidents, remained unknown, people close to her said.
"We had counted 16 dissidents detained. Bonne they took this morning in a house where he was staying in central Havana -- that makes 17," Vladimiro Roca, of the illegal but tolerated opposition group "Todos Unidos," told AFP.
"They arrived at the house, knocked and presented themselves as security agents... they told him he had to come with them," Gomez's brother, Jorge Gomez, told AFP.
Roque, a 59-year-old economist, left home at 8:30 am (1230 GMT) to go to the demonstration but never arrived, people close to her said.
Roque was the only woman arrested in 2003 in a crack-down that landed 75 dissidents in Cuban prisons.
She was sentenced to 20 years in prison but released for health reasons exactly one year ago, on July 22, 2004, suffering from diabetes, hypertension and partial paralysis of the face.
She had already spent three years in jail between 1997 and 2000.
"We have indications that there were other arrests, but we are in the process of trying to verify the information. In most cases, authorities prevented dissidents from leaving their homes," Marco Lopez of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation said earlier.
Friday morning, about 15 Cuban dissidents and relatives of political prisoners gathered at around 10:00 am (1400 GMT) in front of the French Embassy to demand the release of detained dissidents.
About 30 people were arrested July 13 in Havana, according to the opposition, during a demonstration commemorating the drowning death in 1994 of 41 Cubans trying to flee Cuba by boat.
Six of the 30 are still behind bars, the source said.
Thursday, Roque said by telephone that the decision to demonstrate in front of the French Embassy was to show dissidents' displeasure with the normalization of relations between Paris and Havana, which took place exactly one week ago today.
"We will demand the liberation of the detainees and we will show to the European Union what happens with dialogue (with the Cuban government)," said Roque.
The EU sanctioned Cuba after Castro's regime cracked down on dissidents in 2003, but in January the EU temporarily suspended the sanctions and in June it ratified re-establishment of political dialogue with Havana.
It also ordered a suspension of its practice of inviting Cuban dissidents to national celebrations, saying that instead a parallel dialogue should be established with the opposition.
France went on step further last week by inviting Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque to the French embassy's July 14 Bastille Day celebration.
http://www.ttc.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Juntarse, es la palabra de orden"
José Martí
_______________________________________________
NetforCuba.org authorize the reproduction and distribution of this E-Mail as long as the source is credited. /
NetforCuba.org autoriza la reproduccion y redistribucion de este correo, mientras nuestra fuente (www.netforcuba.org) sea citada.
NetforCuba International
http://www.netforcuba.org/
Para NetforCuba en español, favor de visitar:
http://www.netforcubaenespanol.org
------ Original Message ------
Received: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 07:34:44 PM CDT
From: "NFC@NetforCuba.org"
To: "NetforCubaNetwork"
Subject: CUBA: URGENT! / FOUR DISSIDENTS ARRESTED IN CUBA; ROQUE'S WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN (AFP)
FOUR DISSIDENTS ARRESTED IN CUBA; ROQUE'S WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN
Received Friday, 22 July 2005 23:10:00 GMT
"Thursday, Roque said by telephone that the decision to demonstrate in front of the French Embassy was to show dissidents ' displeasure with the normalization of relations between Paris and Havana, which took place exactly one week ago today."
HAVANA, July 22 (AFP) - Fidel Castro's government in Cuba appeared to be launching a new crackdown on political dissidents Friday, with the arrest of 17 activists, opposition figures said.
Among those arrested were Rene Gomez Manzano and engineer Felix Bonne Carcaces, leading figures of the Assembly for the Promotion of Civil Society, the group which had organized a protest Friday in front of the French Embassy in Havana.
Meanwhile the whereabouts of Marta Beatriz Roque, the president of the assembly and one of Cuba's best-known dissidents, remained unknown, people close to her said.
"We had counted 16 dissidents detained. Bonne they took this morning in a house where he was staying in central Havana -- that makes 17," Vladimiro Roca, of the illegal but tolerated opposition group "Todos Unidos," told AFP.
"They arrived at the house, knocked and presented themselves as security agents... they told him he had to come with them," Gomez's brother, Jorge Gomez, told AFP.
Roque, a 59-year-old economist, left home at 8:30 am (1230 GMT) to go to the demonstration but never arrived, people close to her said.
Roque was the only woman arrested in 2003 in a crack-down that landed 75 dissidents in Cuban prisons.
She was sentenced to 20 years in prison but released for health reasons exactly one year ago, on July 22, 2004, suffering from diabetes, hypertension and partial paralysis of the face.
She had already spent three years in jail between 1997 and 2000.
"We have indications that there were other arrests, but we are in the process of trying to verify the information. In most cases, authorities prevented dissidents from leaving their homes," Marco Lopez of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation said earlier.
Friday morning, about 15 Cuban dissidents and relatives of political prisoners gathered at around 10:00 am (1400 GMT) in front of the French Embassy to demand the release of detained dissidents.
About 30 people were arrested July 13 in Havana, according to the opposition, during a demonstration commemorating the drowning death in 1994 of 41 Cubans trying to flee Cuba by boat.
Six of the 30 are still behind bars, the source said.
Thursday, Roque said by telephone that the decision to demonstrate in front of the French Embassy was to show dissidents' displeasure with the normalization of relations between Paris and Havana, which took place exactly one week ago today.
"We will demand the liberation of the detainees and we will show to the European Union what happens with dialogue (with the Cuban government)," said Roque.
The EU sanctioned Cuba after Castro's regime cracked down on dissidents in 2003, but in January the EU temporarily suspended the sanctions and in June it ratified re-establishment of political dialogue with Havana.
It also ordered a suspension of its practice of inviting Cuban dissidents to national celebrations, saying that instead a parallel dialogue should be established with the opposition.
France went on step further last week by inviting Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque to the French embassy's July 14 Bastille Day celebration.
http://www.ttc.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Juntarse, es la palabra de orden"
José Martí
_______________________________________________
NetforCuba.org authorize the reproduction and distribution of this E-Mail as long as the source is credited. /
NetforCuba.org autoriza la reproduccion y redistribucion de este correo, mientras nuestra fuente (www.netforcuba.org) sea citada.
NetforCuba International
http://www.netforcuba.org/
Para NetforCuba en español, favor de visitar:
http://www.netforcubaenespanol.org
posted by Lillian Martinez at
7:49 p.m.
0 Comentarios:
Publicar un comentario
<< Home