Amnesty International has issued an Urgent Action Appeal prompted by
fears for the safety of members of the Damas en Blanco -- the Ladies
in White who have been walking every Sunday to protest the
imprisonment of their husbands (who have been adopted as political
prisoners by Amnesty International).
Below is a reproduction of this Urgent Action Appeal, followed by a
sample letter that you can plagiarize, change if you wish, and send.
Note that a print-friendly original version of this Urgent Action (in
PDF) is available from Amnesty International at
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa09810.pdf.
Steve Marquardt
Amnesty International Legislative Director for Minnesota
South Dakota State University Dean of Libraries Emeritus
9383 123rd Avenue SE
Lake Lillian, MN 56253-4700
(320) 664-4231
# # # # # #
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go
to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa09810.pdf
29 April 2010 UA 98/10 - Fear for safety
CUBA Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White)
Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White), a group of women relatives
and friends of prisoners detained during a major crackdown on
government critics in March 2003, plan to protest on 2 May through the
streets of the Cuban capital, Havana to call for the release of their
relatives. Amnesty International believes they are at risk of
harassment and intimidation.
Damas de Blanco have carried out a weekly march every Sunday
since they formed in 2003. The group march through the streets of
Havana, starting at the Santa Rita Church, where they attend mass.
Although the group reported harassment and intimidation in the past,
they have stated that during the last few weeks, harassment by
government supporters, the police and state security officials has
increased. During their weekly marches, government supporters have
amassed to shout insults and police and state security officials have
broken up some marches by force.
At the beginning of April, state security officials visited
around 30 members of Damas de Blanco at their homes in Havana to
inform them of new regulations applying to their Sunday marches. They
are now required to apply for authorization from the police at least
72 hours before each march. The marches must be limited to only five
blocks within Havana and there are restrictions on the number of
supporters allowed to march in solidarity with them. This was the
first time Damas de Blanco were made aware of such regulations and the
officials failed to notify them in writing of the regulations. Damas
de Blanco have rejected the legitimacy of these restrictions and
refuse to comply with them as they see them as unreasonable and an
attempt by the authorities to prevent them from expressing their views
and continuing with their peaceful activities.
Following the imposition of these new regulations, it has
become increasingly difficult for the Damas de Blanco to march on
Sundays. On Sunday 25 April, only six members of Damas de Blanco were
allowed through a police check point to reach the Santa Rita Church.
When they started to march after the mass they were confronted by two
police officers and a state security official who reminded them of the
new regulations and their lack of a permit to march. The Damas de
Blanco ignored this warning and continued with their march. They were
soon surrounded by dozens of government supporters who started to
intimidate them by shouting insults and making noise with cooking pots
and banging hoes. The Damas de Blanco were penned in and not able to
move for almost eight hours until police officials intervened and took
them home.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In 2003, over several days, the Cuban authorities arrested 75 men and
women for their peaceful expression of critical opinions of the
government. They were subjected to summary trials and were sentenced
to long prison terms of up to 28 years. Amnesty International declared
the 75 convicted dissidents to be prisoners of conscience, 53 of them
remain in prison.
Damas de Blanco organize peaceful marches where they
distribute flowers and call for the release of their relatives and
friends. In 2005, Damas de Blanco was awarded The Sakharov Prize for
Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament.
In March 2010 Damas de Blanco organized a daily march for a
week to mark the seventh anniversary of the arrest of their relatives.
On 17 of March 2010, their march was forcibly broken up by Cuban
police, who briefly detained several women. Some of the women claimed
that they were beaten by the police. They included Reyna Tamayo,
mother of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a prisoner of conscience who died on
22 February 2010, having spent several weeks on hunger strike whilst
in prison.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly
as possible:
- calling on the authorities to cease immediately the harassment and
intimidation of the Damas de Blanco and any other citizens who seek to
peacefully exercise their right to freedom of expression, assembly and
association.
- Calling on the authorities to permit the Damas de Blanco to
march peacefully on Sundays without unreasonable restrictions.
APPEALS TO:
Head of State and Government
Raul Castro Ruz, Presidente
La Habana, CUBA
Fax: 011 53 7 8333085 (via Foreign Ministry)
1 212 779 1697 (via Cuban Mission to UN)
Email: c...@un.int (c/o Cuban Mission to UN)
Salutation: Su Excelencia/Your Excellency
Interior Minister
General Abelardo Coloma Ibarra
Ministro del Interior y Prisiones
Ministerio del Interior, Plaza de la Revolución, La Habana, CUBA
Fax: 011 53 7 8333085 (via Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
1 2127791697 (via Cuban Mission to UN)
Salutation: Su Excelencia/Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Cuba has no embassy in the US at present. To contact its
interest in the US, write to:
Embassy of Switzerland
Cuban Interests Section
2639 16th Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20009
Fax: 202 797 8521
Email: cubasecc...@igc.apc.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals
after 10 June 2010.
----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to
the date a case is issued.
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that
promotes and defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including
contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you
for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: u...@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------
SAMPLE LETTER
May 1, 2010
General Abelardo Coloma Ibarra
Ministro del Interior y Prisiones
Ministerio del Interior
Plaza de la Revolución
La Habana, CUBA
Su Excelencia:
I write to respectfully request Cuban government authorities to
immediately stop the harassment and intimidation of the Damas de
Blanco and any other citizens who seek to peacefully exercise their
right to freedom of expression, assembly and association.
These women relatives and friends of prisoners detained during a major
crackdown on government critics in March 2003, plan to protest
tomorrow by walking through the streets of Havana to call for the
release of their relatives. Amnesty International believes they are at
risk of harassment and intimidation. Indeed, it seems to me that they
have repeatedly experienced these actions.
Damas de Blanco have carried out a weekly march every Sunday since
they formed in 2003. The group march through the streets of Havana,
starting at the Santa Rita Church, where they attend mass. Although
the group reported harassment and intimidation in the past, recent
reports have described increased harassment by government supporters,
the police and state security officials during the last few weeks.
During their weekly marches, government supporters have amassed to
shout insults and police and state security officials have broken up
some marches by force.
In March 2010, Damas de Blanco organized a daily march for a week to
mark the seventh anniversary of the arrest of their relatives. On
March 17, 2010, Cuban police forcibly broke up their march and briefly
detained several women. Some of the women claimed that they were
beaten by the police. They included Reyna Tamayo, mother of Orlando
Zapata Tamayo, a prisoner of conscience who died on February 22, 2010,
having spent several weeks on hunger strike whilst in prison.
On Sunday April 25, only six members of Damas de Blanco to march after
the mass at Santa Rita Church. They were soon surrounded by dozens of
government supporters who started to intimidate them by shouting
insults and making noise by banging with cooking pots. The Damas de
Blanco were penned in and not able to move for almost eight hours
until police officials intervened and took them home.
I ask the your government to allow the Damas de Blanco to march
peacefully on Sundays without unreasonable restrictions.
Sincerely and respectfully yours,
Copy to: Cuban Interests Section, Embassy of Switzerland, Washington,
DC, USA.
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