In what seems to be a season of intensifying repression in Cuba, members
of the group "Damas de Blanco" (Ladies in White) were assaulted by
police and paramilitary forces after attending church services in El
Cobre on July 17th.
Belkis Cantillo Ramirez was shot in the arm, while others were brutally
beaten with batons, stones and other objects. In the midst of the
violence, Tania Montoya and Rodaisa Corrioso were arrested by the
authorities. Aside from these two brave women, thirteen members of this
organization, including Belkis Cantillo Ramirez, are receiving medical
care at a local hospital.
Las Damas de Blanco are human rights advocates who refuse to be bound by
the 'rule of silence' enforced by the Communist Party's thugs. Many
members are female relatives of political prisoners - the mothers,
daughters, sisters and wives of dissidents whose only crime may have
been speaking out against government policy or having an Internet
connection. As a form of protest, the Ladies in White frequently attend
Mass on Sundays, dressed in white, and subsequently walk silently
through the streets. The colour white was specifically chosen to
symbolize peace.
These true patriots have been recognized for their outstanding work by
many institutions within the international community. In 2005, the
European Parliament awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to
the group.
The International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) condemns these
attacks in the strongest terms. Las Damas de Blanco is a strictly
peaceful movement. To respond to such non-violent resistance with such
brutal repression colours the Castro regime as tyrannical at best. If
these attacks were not sanctioned by the authorities, then an
investigation must be immediately initiated and given far-reaching
jurisdiction.
Even so, public confidence and trust can only be established now through
the development of an independent judiciary, as well as a legislature
that is not the purview of a single party but instead consists of
representatives chosen by the Cuban people themselves through free and
fair multi-party elections.
Now is not the time for another Black Spring. Now is the time for a
national re-birth as a successful and prosperous democracy.
IFLRY wishes a speedy and full recovery for all those who were injured
in the July 17th attacks in El Cobre. Furthermore, Tania Montoya and
Rodaisa Corrioso must be immediately and unconditionally released.
http://iflry.org/blogs/mos/archive/2011/07/18/Condemnation-of-Cuba_2700_s-Continuing-Crackdown.aspx
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