CUBA RELEASES 3 DETAINEES, PROLONGS JAILING OF 2

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 023544 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/27/2016 TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI CU SUBJECT: CUBA RELEASES 3 DETAINEES, PROLONGS JAILING OF 2 OTHERS Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(d). ¶1. (C) Summary. The Cuban Government has released from prison three more dissidents, one of whom had been convicted and two held without charges since a July 22, 2005 protest in Havana. The releases bring to at least five the number of political detainees/prisoners freed in recent weeks. Meanwhile, the GOC has quietly taken steps to keep two other dissidents behind bars; one had his conviction upheld by an appeals court, while the other, incarcerated for two years without charges, learned that a prosecutor intends to indict him and seek a three-year term. Unsurprisingly, the regime's top priority is perpetuating its control. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) The Cuban Government has released from prison three more dissidents, one of whom had been convicted and two held without charges since a July 22, 2005 protest in Havana. On November 22, we learned that the GOC had released Alberto Hernandez Suarez, of the Democratic Youth Union, from Taco Taco prison in Pinar del Rio. He had served seven months of a one-year sentence, but it was unclear what he had been convicted of; one source said it was "dangerousness," while another said it was "disrespect." News of Hernandez's release followed the freeing of two other dissidents, Oscar Mario Gonzalez Perez and Santiago Valdeolla Perez, held without charges following the July 2005 protest outside the French Embassy. ¶3. (SBU) The releases of Gonzalez and Valdeolla, in turn, came after the GOC freed two other dissidents taken into custody on July 22, 2005: Ricardo Medina Salabarria and Francisco Moure Saladrigas. Meanwhile, the GOC has quietly taken action to keep certain dissidents behind bars. On November 22, an appeals court reportedly upheld the conviction of Lorenzo Garcia, an independent librarian serving one year for laminating ID cards without GOC permission. Also on November 22, we learned that a prosecutor is seeking a three-year sentence for labor activist Lazaro Gonzalez Adan, who has been held without charge for roughly two years. ¶4. (C) Despite the recent freeing of five political detainees/prisoners, many Cuban dissidents assert that overall repression has increased in recent months, with a tangible increase in the use of citations, interrogations and vigilance. Martha Beatriz Roque of the Assembly to Promote Civil Society speculates that the regime released the detainees/prisoners because they had become a political liability, and because to hold them any longer, the regime would have had to fabricate charges against them. Another veteran dissident, the writer Jorge Olivera Castillo, says the increased repression has forced the GOC to "compensate by freeing a few political detainees," adding, "The fact that the regime has to compensate shows the regime's weakness." ¶5. (SBU) Another dissident, Camilo Cairo Falcon, recently reached the Guantanamo Bay naval base by raft, after being detained for his political activities. He was among those detained (and subsequently held without charges) on July 13, 2005 for comemmorating the 1994 sinking of the "March 13" vessel. COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (C) As Elizardo Sanchez of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation said, it is not a "trend" when a Government that incarcerates hundreds of political prisoners sets a few of them free. Although the regime is probably seeking to score some public relations points with the media, Europeans and Latin Americans, it would be a mistake to read any reformism into the releases. Priority No. 1 for the regime is, as it has been for decades, the perpetuation of state control. Reform begins when they release all of the political prisoners. PARMLY