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