Statement by Cuban dissidents

Publish in PRIMA News, Moscow, April 4, 2003.

With a new spiral of repression being faced by Cubans these days from the totalitarian regime, we decided to issue another statement to draw public attention to the facts of abuse and lawlessness in the country.

  1. The country is swept by trials of arrested a couple of days ago Martha Beatriz Roque of the Assembly to Promote the Civil Society in Cuba, and human rights advocates, dissidents, independent journalists, and trade union activists. In fact, all of them are prisoners of conscience.
  2. In handling these cases, Cuban judiciary is using the so called facilitated procedure which, under articles 479 and 480 of the Law on Criminal Procedure, should be applied only in "exceptional circumstances".
  3. It is evident that the simplified procedure fits best the repressive policy pursued by the central government of the country.
  4. We have also learnt about a sudden search at the house of the wife of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, a dissident arrested several months ago, and about the transfer of this peaceful opposition activist to the headquarters of the State Security Department. It is also known that his case was incorporated with the cases against the 78 dissidents arrested in Cuba in the past few weeks. Like it happened to another non-violent oppositionist, Rogelio Menendez.
  5. Taking into account the above mentioned developments, we felt compelled to adopt this urgent declaration to denounce a new wave of unlawful actions committed by the Cuban regime and to appeal for international solidarity with all prisoners of conscience.
  6. We strongly protest against a disproportionate cut in the length of legal procedures related to the cases against our arrested fellow citizens which made them totally "defenseless" before the Cuban judiciary.
  7. To make you better understand the extent of abuse, we draw your attention to the fact that defense lawyers were given only a few hours to study the files of preliminary indictment that, judging by their volume, had been compiled for many months. In most cases, the defendants were not allowed to meet their lawyers before the trial to discuss the line of defense.
  8. Besides, it is impossible to understand what kind of "exceptional circumstances" have forced the authorities to resort to such speedy trials. Perhaps the regime is in a hurry to wrap them up before the end of the war in Iraq to minimize an international response to these politically-motivated trials.
  9. We also want to highlight an unprecedented fact that the Cuban authorities are trying to link Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet to episodes which took place when he was in prison.
  10. We respect the right of every defendant and his relatives to choose his own line of conduct towards a defense lawyer appointed by the state. But since these trials have a clear political motivation and are conducted by the totalitarian regime in the absence of basic legal safeguards, we hereby declare that should we be arrested and charged in the course of this crackdown campaign, we would refuse the legal counsel and would not appeal against arbitrary court judgements.
  11. In this critical hour for our country, we re-affirm our common position and appeal to all our fellow citizens to join our declaration.

Havana, CUBA

April 3, 2003

Signed by: Gustavo Arcos Bergnes, Felix Antonio Bonne Carcasses, Rene Gomez Manzano, Vladimiro Roca Antunez; Elizardo Sanchez Santa Cruz.