Berlin, March 18: Rally in front of the Cuban embassy

Frankfurt am Main (26th of March 2008) - A church service before Easter of the Trinity church community in the Cuban Santa Clara was the cause to commemorate the arbitrary arrest of 75 dissidents in March 2003. This was reported by the famous civil rights activist Guillermo Farinas Hernandez from the independent Cuban news agency Cubanacan Press. Concerning Hernandez' statements the ovations of the Baptist community that lasted for minutes were a reaction of the call of the former political prisoner and the head of the national civil movement Idalberto Gonzalez Gomez not to forget the victims of the so called "Black spring". Martin Lessenthin, Speaker of the Board of the ISHR, speaks about a "brave sign of solidarity with the victims and of the protest against the injustice regime which the ISHR is assenting."

Gomez remembered the injustice which came over the political prisoners and their families five years ago. While he was supported by pastor Homero Gonzales Carbonella he pointed out the peaceful attitude and the fair tendencies of the prisoners of conscience in front of 200 people. The participants were members of dissident groups as the Democratic Movement and the Christian Democratic Movement. During the meditation around 60 members of the Cuban security were patrolling in front of the church building.

The Cuban regime had arrested 75 dissidents on the 17th and 18th of March 2003 and had condemned them within few days to sentences up to 25 years in prison. Victims of the wave of arrests were physicians, critical journalists and librarians and members of independent trade unions who stood up for the improvement of the situation of the population. The ISHR is criticizing that important juristic standards were ignored during the trials. The ISHR also pointed to the catastrophic situation of the imprisoned political prisoners several times. The majority of the victims of the wave of arrests that is still in jail is suffering under arbitrary violence of guards and other prisoners and under the bad hygienic conditions.

On the anniversary of the arrests of the 75 dissidents in Cuba civil rights and human rights activists were holding pickets in a lot of cities in the world. Together with the movement 'For Cuba's Liberation' by a rally and with the association 'Cuba: Democratic Future' by a demonstration, both on the 18th of March in front of the Cuban embassy in Berlin, the ISHR also protested against the permanent arrest of political prisoners.