CUBA HUMAN RIGHTS ROUNDUP AUGUST 11, 2006

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 016023 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/11/2016 TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI CU SUBJECT: CUBA HUMAN RIGHTS ROUNDUP AUGUST 11, 2006 HAVANA 00016023 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Cuba's "Ladies in White" expressed concern that their weekly march outside Havana's Santa Rita church on Sunday, April 13, will be their most dangerous ever, as it coincides with the 80th birthday of Fidel Castro and could prompt a counter-protest by regime supporters. Elsewhere in Havana, Oswaldo Paya passed on a "credible" rumor that Fidel had undergone a colostomy. With Poloff in attendance, members of the Marti Youth Coalition in a meeting and agreed that most Cubans oppose the elevation of Raul. Communist militants held an "act of repudiation" against Lady in White Katia Martin. A police officer threatened to beat up independent journalist Carlos Serpa Maceira. State Security searched the home of labor leader Aurelio Bachiller without a warrant. A crackdown on watchers of US television is underway. End Summary. ¶2. (C) A leading member of Cuba's "Ladies in White" - relatives of political prisoners -- expressed concern that their weekly march outside Santa Rita church on August 13 could spark a counter-protest, as it falls on Fidel Castro's 80th birthday. Laura Pollan, wife of political prisoner Hector Maseda Gutierrez, told Poloff August 11 that she had heard from a number of Ladies in outlying areas that the GOC is taking steps to prevent them from entering the capital to take part in the march. Pollan noted that the GOC has, in the past, mobilized female regime supporters to confront the Ladies, and feared that this might be the case for the coming march. FIDEL COLOSTOMY RUMORED -------------- ¶3. (C) Oswaldo Paya of the Christian Liberation Movement told Poloff August 11 that he had received "credible" information from someone "very close to the operating room" that Fidel Castro's operation had been a colostomy, carried out at Havana's CIMEQ hospital. Paya said this was suggestive of colon cancer, adding that the dictator's long-term health prospects did not look good. Paya also addressed what he called the "power vaccuum" with Fidel off his feet. "Raul doesn't have sufficient support within the government, and this means danger." He added: "The regime knows it has no future, and now is not the time to provoke it." Paya added that in due time, he will "present our program to the people." ¶4. (C) In Havana's inland Boyeros neighborhood, around 12 members of the Marti Youth Coalition -- a democratic counterpart to the Union of Young Communists -- held a 90-minute meeting August 11 with Poloff in attendance. The participants expressed their rejection of Raul Castro as Cuba's leader and stated their determination to push forward with peaceful democratic activity, even in the face of reprisals. One participant said militants were gathering near her house for an "act of repudiation" in the evening. Another said local militants rousted him out of bed for laughs on August 7. "DOWN WITH IMPERIALISM!" -------------- ¶5. (C) Around 50 Communist militants staged an "act of repudiation" August 9 in front of the Havana home of Lady in White Katia Martin, whose husband, Orthodox priest Ricardo Medina Salabarria, has been held for more than a year without formal charges. The act was nonviolent and featured a sound system and predictable chants: "Down with Imperialism!" "Long Live the Revolution!" Earlier in the day, Martin and her twin daughters visited Salabarria at Taco Taco prison in Pinar del Rio, where Martin said celebrations broke out after the July 31 succession announcement was made on TV. Salabarria's attorney said the prosecution's dossier indicates that her client will be charged with "Law 88": acts against the state's independence or territorial integrity. The sentence carries a term of two to 20 years. POLICE OFFICER THREATENS BEATING -------------- ¶6. (C) A police officer outside of USINT Havana approached independent journalist and frequent USINT visitor Carlos Serpa Maceira August 4 and told him that if he continued to visit the Interests Section, he would be kicked in the head. Serpa, of Lux Info Press, responded August 7 to a summons by the Civil Registry, where he was told that he was staying in Havana illegally and could be fined 3,000 pesos ($125). Serpa conceded to Poloff that he did not have official permission to reside in the capital, but asked, "How can you HAVANA 00016023 002.2 OF 002 be illegal in your own homeland?" Serpa speculated that the move was intended to disrupt his dissident activities. WARRANT-LESS SEARCH OF DISSIDENT'S HOUSE -------------- ¶7. (C) Without a warrant, State Security officials on August 10 carried out a search at the home of Aurelio Bachiller, Secretary General of the National Confederation of SIPDIS Independent Workers of Cuba (CONIC). The officials told Bachiller they knew he was planning to hold a dissident event; Bachiller told us he had no such plans. The officials left without confiscating anything. SATELLITE TV CRACKDOWN -------------- ¶8. (C) The GOC's August 9 announcement of a crackdown on those who watch US satellite TV programming generated concern. Novelist and freed 75er Jorge Olivera told Poloff that many of his neighbors have expressed uneasiness over the announcement and its provision of up to three years in jail for those connect to a satellite receiver. Olivera added that the neighborhood should be OK, because one of the residents has a relative in the police would will tip him off ahead of any raids. Olivera also said the crackdown could be a distraction from developments in the political arena. COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) Human rights abusers have not taken a vacation because of the July 31 announcement of Fidel Castro's incapacitation. Even if Raul Castro is temporarily wearing his big brother's hat as head of regime, he still wears his old hat as Minister of Defense, in charge of Interior Ministry State Security elements as well. There is nothing in Raul's biography or experiences as Defense Minister that would lead us to believe that he would oversee a softening of regime pressure on dissidents. PARMLY