Cuba appeal for Human Rights Day 2008

[Steve Marquardt]

See below for the sample letter appealing for release of the imprisoned independent library workers of Cuba. 

Please take a few minutes to send an appeal, on your professional letterhead if possible. Airmail of each two-page letter to Cuba costs 94 cents.

I thank you for your participation in support of the freedom to read in Cuba and the freedom of those who attempt to serve readers.

--
Steve Marquardt, Ph.D.
South Dakota State University Dean of Libraries Emeritus
Amnesty International Legislative Coordinator for Minnesota
9383 123rd Avenue SE
Lake Lillian, Minnesota 56253-4700
(320) 664-4231
http://groups.google.com/group/Cuba451Letters

December 10, 2008

Raúl Castro Ruz, Presidente
Los Consejos de Estado y de Ministros
La Habana, Cuba

Su Excelencia:

As a librarian, on the occasion of today's 60th anniversary of the United Nations' adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I wish to call your attention to Article 19 of the Declaration:

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Therefore I join with the American Library Association, which on January 13, 2004, adopted a resolution that expresses
deep concern over the arrest and long prison terms of political dissidents in Cuba in spring 2003 and urges the Cuban Government to respect, defend and promote the basic human rights defined in Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

As a librarian, I fully support this call for the government of Cuba to respect human rights. I am especially concerned for the following persons who remain in prison following their arrest in March 2003 for their attempts "to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers," by collecting library materials and sharing and discussing those materials with their fellow Cubans:

Ricardo Severino Gonzales Alfonso, Jorge Mañach Library (Havana)
José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández, Sebastián Arcos Library (Havana Province)
Ariel Sigler Amaya & Guido Sigler Amaya, Gen. Pedro Betancourt Library (Matanzas)
Victor Rolando Arroyo Carmona, Reyes Magos Library (Pinar del Río)
José Luis García Paneque, Carlos J. Finlay Library (Las Tunas)
Leonel Grave de Peralta, Bartolomé Masó Library (Santiago de Cuba)
Lester Gonzalez Pentón, Jorge Mas Canosa Independent Library (Santa Clara)
Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva (house arrest), Ignacio Agramonte Library (Ciego de Avila)
Iván Hernández Carrillo, Juan Gualberto Gómez Library, Branch II (Matanzas)
Luis Milán Fernández, 11th of September Library (Santiago de Cuba)
Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodríguez, 20th of May Library (Sancti Spiritus)
Fidel Suárez Cruz, St. Paul Library (Pinar del Río)

I join with Amnesty International – which considers as prisoners of conscience all 55 of the individuals remaining in prison following the March 2003 arrests of 75 dissidents – in calling for the immediate and unconditional release of these persons. 
Until such time as they are released, these prisoners should receive necessary medical attention, access to legal and medical resources, and visits by members of their families.

I thank you for your attention to these matters of intellectual freedom.

Sincerely and respectfully yours,

NAME
TITLE

Copy to: Sr. Eduardo Torres Cuevas, Director, Biblioteca Nacional "José Martí", Avenida Independencia y 20 de Mayo, Plaza de la Revolución, Apartado Postal 6881, La Habana, Cuba