Political activist arrested: José Daniel Ferrer García

Document – Cuba: Political activist arrested: José Daniel Ferrer García

UA: 229/12 Index: AMR 25/019/2012 Date: 1 August 2012

URGENT ACTION

POLITICAL ACTIVIST ARRESTED

Former prisoner of conscience José Daniel Ferrer García was arrested on

30 July in Cuba's eastern province of Holguín, and his whereabouts are

now unknown.

Political activist José Daniel Ferrer García has suffered a government

campaign of harassment since he was released, in March 2011. He was

arrested on the evening of 30 July in the province of Holguín, and his

whereabouts have been unknown since then. He is the coordinator of an

umbrella group of dissident organizations, based in eastern Cuba, the

Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unión Patriótica de Cuba, UNPACU). He was

travelling by car with UNPACU member Antonio Blanco and two others when

they were stopped by police. They had been travelling from their home

province of Santiago de Cuba to the city of Holguín, in neighbouring

Holguín Province. Antonio Blanco has said that they thought it was a

routine police check, but once the police realized who José Daniel

Ferrer García was, they arrested him. Antonio Blanco and the others were

returned to their homes in the province of Santiago de Cuba.

José Daniel Ferrer García was granted conditional release in March 2011,

having served eight years of his 25-year sentence. Under the terms of

his release, he could be sent back to prison to serve the remaining 16

years of his sentence. He was arrested in April 2012 and charged with

"public disorder"; he was released 27 days later and told that he was

being released on condition he give up his political activism. Amnesty

International believes his latest arrest is yet another attempt to

repress his and other UNPACU members' peaceful dissident activities in

eastern Cuba.

Please write immediately in Spanish or your own language:

Calling on the authorities to reveal the whereabouts of José Daniel

Ferrer García immediately;

Urging them to release José Daniel Ferrer García immediately if he is

detained, unless there is sufficient evidence to charge him with an

internationally recognizable criminal offence;

Urging them to cease immediately the harassment and intimidation of

members of the Patriotic Union of Cuba and all other citizens who seek

to peacefully exercise their rights to freedom of expression and

association.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 12 SEPTEMBER 2012 TO:

Head of State and Government

Raúl Castro Ruz

Presidente de la República de Cuba

La Havana, Cuba

Fax: +53 7 83 33 085 (via Foreign Ministry); +1 212 779 1697 (via Cuban

Mission to UN)

Email: (c/o Cuban Mission to UN)

Salutation: Your Excellency

Interior Minister

General Abelardo Colomé Ibarra

Ministro del Interior y Prisiones

Ministerio del Interior, Plaza de la Revolución, La Habana, Cuba

Fax: +537 85 56 621; +1 212 779 1697 (via Cuban Mission to UN)

Email:

Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:

Attorney General

Dr Darío Delgado Cura

Fiscal General de la República, Fiscalía General de la República,

Amistad 552, e/Monte y Estrella, Centro Habana

La Habana, Cuba

Salutation: Dear Attorney General

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your

country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:

Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address

Salutation Salutation

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above

date.

URGENT ACTION

POLITICAL ACTIVIST ARRESTED

ADditional Information

Prisoner of conscience José Daniel Ferrer García was granted conditional

release in March 2011, when he had been in prison for eight years. He

was one of 75 people who had been arrested and sentenced following a

crackdown on Cuban dissidents in March 2003. All 75 were adopted as

prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International, as they had acted

non-violently and were imprisoned under Cuban legislation which

illegitimately criminalizes political dissent. José Daniel Ferrer García

was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment, as he had taken part in the

Varela Project, which aimed at requesting a national referendum on

democratic reforms. Under Article 31.1.4 of the Cuban Criminal Code,

conditional release allows a prisoner to see out the remainder of their

sentence outside prison provided they demonstrate "good behaviour"

(buena conducta).

José Daniel Ferrer García was arrested on 2 April 2012 along with 42

other government critics in the province of Santiago de Cuba, most of

them UNPACU members. The others were released soon afterwards but José

Daniel Ferrer García was charged with "public disorder" (desórdenes

públicos). He was finally released 27 days later, and was told that he

was being released on the condition that he gave up his political

activism. José Daniel Ferrer García had also been arrested on 21

February 2012 in the capital, Havana, and was held for three days before

being returned to his home. During those three days, the authorities

refused to admit that he was in their custody.

The Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) is an umbrella group of dissident

organizations, based primarily in Santiago de

Cuba, but also in neighbouring provinces of eastern Cuba. UNPACU seeks

democratic change in Cuba via non-violent means.

Since UNPACU's creation in mid-2011, its members have faced constant

harassment and intimidation from the Cuban authorities, including

arbitrary detention. One of UNPACU's members, prisoner of conscience

Wilman Villar Mendoza, died in January 2012 following a hunger strike in

protest at his four-year prison sentence following a summary trial. This

repression is part of a general crackdown against dissidents in the

eastern provinces of Cuba which has gathered pace since mid-2011.

Name: José Daniel Ferrer García

Gender m/f: m

UA: 229/12 Index: AMR 25/019/2012 Issue Date: 1 August 2012

http://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR25/019/2012/en/0db589eb-a0fb-4265-9207-4f7dfbe99e3d/amr250192012en.html