The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, demanded that the Cuban government immediately release all detained opponents, highlighting the situation of José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the most active dissident organization.
“The OAS General Secretariat demands once again the immediate release of all political prisoners who are arbitrarily imprisoned“He said in a statement.
The statement stated “the special concern for integrity“By Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu),”whose health appears to have deteriorated rapidly in recent weeks”.
Ferrer, detained on July 11 during the historic anti-government demonstrations in several cities on the island, is in a small cell, isolated and without natural light, Almagro’s office said.
“His reported breathing problems, loss of vision and others have been attributed to the inhumane conditions where he is detained for exercising his legitimate civil and political rights.“, he pointed.
The OAS General Secretariat urged the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel to allow a visit to Cuba by a humanitarian mission of the universal or inter-American human rights system to assess the status of prisoners for political reasons.
In Cuba, where all opposition is illegal, the government accuses dissidents of being financed by the United States and alleges that they are being held for criminal offenses.
On December 5, the opposition Council for the Democratic Transition of Cuba sent a letter to the UN Committee against Torture to intercede with Havana for an amnesty for the more than 600 political prisoners on the island. The letter highlighted Ferrer’s poor conditions.
The OAS excluded Cuba from the inter-American system in 1962 due to its adherence to the Soviet communist bloc and its confrontation with Washington after the revolution led by Fidel Castro in 1959. That decision was annulled in 2009, but Cuba has not requested its reinstatement. The OAS considers Cuba a non-active member.
US Senator Rick Scott, former Republican governor of Florida, said Wednesday that he asked Almagro, as well as the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, and the White House advisor for the Americas, Juan González, to act to “save the lives of jailed freedom activists in Cuba”.
“The gruesome reality is that José Daniel and other innocent people are dying“, He said.
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