Cuba: Protests in front of Havanna´s capitol knocked down

Havana/ Frankfurt am Main (07th of August 2012) - As the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) reports, there were heavy protests against the Castro regime in front of  the convention center in the historic district of Havana last Sunday. Pedestrians and tourists showed their solidarity and mingled under the protesters until the police came and battered them  brutally and finally arrested six dissidents. "Instead of taking the legitimate demands for social justice and respect for human rights finally seriously, Raúl Castro again had silenced them violently", says ISHR.

As the ISHR explains, the demonstrations have been organized by members of the dissident movement "el Frente de Línea Dura y Boicot Orlando Zapata Tamayo" ("Hard Line and Boycott Front - Orlando Zapata Tamayo"). The dissidents demonstrated against the Castro dictatorship, the massive social injustice in the country and for the release of all political prisoners and for the respect of human rights in Cuba with banners which had titles like "freedom for the Cubans", "down with dictatorship", "freedom for political prisoners" and "long live human rights".

Among the six arrested people, whose disposition is still unknown, was the former political prisoner Wilfredo Piloto who had been given amnesty on the occasion of the visit of the Pope. Hugo Damián Prieto Blanco, Spokesperson of the "Hard Line and Boycott Front" had already been arrested last Friday and is still in jail.
Increasing repression in August.

Elizardo Sánchez Santa Cruz, head of the dissident "Cuban commission for human rights and national reconciliation", listed in his monthly report at least 406 political motivated arrests in last July. So that the number of political arrests almost doubled. At the moment there are 66 political prisoners in Cuba, says Sánchez Santa Cruz.