CUBA TO SIGN UN ACCORDS AS DEMONSTRATIONS MARK

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HAVANA 001145

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CCA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2017
TAGS: CU PGOV PHUM PINR PREL
SUBJECT: CUBA TO SIGN UN ACCORDS AS DEMONSTRATIONS MARK
HUMAN RIGHTS DAY


Classified By: COM: Michael E. Parmly: For reasons 1.4 b/d


1. (C) SUMMARY: Human Rights Day in Cuba saw a wide
variety of activity. The Damas de Blanco held two well
attended marches on Sunday and Monday to mark the Day.
Although state security forces monitored these activities
closely, the authorities avoided any significant
confrontation. In contrast, a crowd of 100 people shouting
pro-government slogans broke up a small demonstration in a
Havana park organized by Dr. Darsi Ferrer. More than 200
people, representing a broad cross section of Cuban civil
society, attended a reception on 10 June at COM residence to
commemorate Human Rights Day. Meanwhile, on 10 June on the
occasion of International Human Rights Day Cuban Foreign
Minister Felipe Perez Roque announced that Cuba will sign the
UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as
well as the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
He also announced that Cuba will allow more special
rapporteurs from the newly reconstituted UN Human Rights
Council to visit the island. End Summary.



2. (C) On 9 December the Damas de Blanco, an organization
of wives and supporters of political prisoners, held their
weekly walk following mass at St. Rita. Sixty people
participated in the march. Additionally, after mass, a group
of fifteen women visiting from Spain, Bosnia and Peru
unfurled banners in front of the church that read "Democracy"
and "Peace and Liberty". On this occasion the Damas decided
to march for four blocks to the National Assembly. Damas de
Blanco leader Laura Pollan stated that on the way they
encountered three "actos de repudio" by persons shouting
insults, but these were very small and none of the groups
consisted of more than four or five people. On the positive
side, Pollan stated that she had never seen such a high level
of public support. She stated that many passers-by and
people in cars frequently waved and called out words of
encouragement. Laura Pollan said that a state security
officer gave her an open hand slap to the back of the head.
She was not seriously injured and there were no further
reports of violence. Pollan said that when she and other
marchers were returning on a bus, a man and a woman started
shouting insults at them, but quieted down as soon as other
passengers told the couple to leave the Damas alone.


3. (C) Police detained opposition leader Jorge Luis Garcia
Perez Antunez and three others while they were leaving after
the march. They were held for about three hours and
released. Antunez was sent back to his home town of
Placetas. The Cuban government quickly deported eight of the
Spanish women who had unfurled the banners. The women
reportedly were members of the Catalan political
organization, Convergencia i Unio (CiU). Several independent
journalists stated that on 9 December police had confiscated
the identity cards of an opposition leader in Matanzas and
one in Isla de la Juventud to prevent them from attending
protest activities in Havana. Noted dissident Elizardo
Sanchez reported fifty two detentions in Cuba on 9 and 10
December. All of these were released after several hours and
several, such as Carlos Milares Falcon, President of the
Independent Democratic Front, attended the reception at the
COM residence on the afternoon of 10 December.


4. (U) The Damas de Blanco on 10 December held another
protest in Park Villalon in front of a statue of Martin
Luther King. Laura Pollan gave a speech demanding the
release of political prisoners. Pollan and other Damas
stated that they were surrounded by state security but none
of the authorities attempted to interfere in any way with the
protest. Pollan offered a branch of gladiolas to a state
security officer who accepted it politely.


5. (C) Also, on 10 December Dr. Darsi Ferrer and eleven
others staged a protest in a Havana park demanding an end to
the preferential treatment of foreigners over Cubans in

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health care centers and tourist facilities. His group was
quickly confronted by a crowd of 100 people shouting
pro-government slogans. Pol officer and a diplomat from the
Embassy of the Netherlands witnessed Ferrer's group run
around the block four times with the crowd pursuing them
flanked by many news cameramen. The streets were full of
people in plain clothes speaking into walkee talkees. Pol
officer did not observe any violence, but Dr. Ferrer stated
that several members of his group were pushed roughly and
struck in the head and body. The protesters were shoved into
unmarked cars, driven away from the scene and dropped off.
There were no arrests as the result of the incident.


6. (C) More than 200 people attended an afternoon reception
at the COM residence. They represented a broad cross section
of civil society, the diplomatic corps, and the international
press. On 11 December the Portuguese ambassador informed COM
that at a December 6 meeting of the EU ambassadors it was
decided to send no one above the rank of DCM to this event.
Nevertheless the ambassadors of Hungary and the Czech
Republic attended, as did the Ambassadors of Lebanon, Japan
and Nigeria. The crowd reacted very positively to COM's
speech on the historic and continuing relevance of the
Declaration of Human Rights. There was a heavy presence of
state security in front going to the PAO residence filming
the people arriving for the transportation USINT was
providing to the event. The state owned newspaper Granma ran
a story on 11 December on USINT using the event to recruit
"mercenaries". In an unusual turn, the story mentioned the
protests by Damas de Blanco. State media normally is
completely silent about protests by Cubans.


7. (C) Although he used most of the time demanding the end
of the US trade embargo and the closing of the base at
Guantanamo, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque made a
public statement for International Human Rights Day, in which
he announced that Cuba will sign the UN International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as the
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. He also
stated that Cuba will allow the visits of more special
rapporteurs from the newly reconstituted UN Human Rights
Council to follow on the recent visit of Special Rapporteur
for Food, Jean Ziegler. Dissidents by and large were baffled
by the announcement since none of them believed that the GOC
actually intended to improve the human rights situation.
They commented that the announcement, coming on the heels of
efforts to break up Human Rights Day events, was ironic at
best.


8. (U) On a separate but related note, a common topic among
Cubans on Monday was the sold out screening over the weekend
of the German film "The Lives of Others" as part of the
twenty-ninth Festival of New Latin-American Cinema in Havana.
People were amazed that the government had allowed the
showing of a film about the activity of the Stasi in
conducting surveillance of the population during the former
East German regime. The leading role of the Stasi in
training the Cuban Security forces is widely known. People
who had been present at the showing of the movie said that at
the end the audience wildly applauded the film but the
applause stopped abruptly once the lights were turned on.


9. Comment: The Cuban opposition is very energized since
they perceive a growing consensus for the need for change.
It is significant that Laura Pollan commented that she has
never before seen so many members of the public expressing
support during a Damas de Blanco demonstration. Most Cubans
remain puzzled at what they see as a schizophrenic response
by the GOC. In some incidents the GOC cracks down on
protests with brutal force. In the case of others, they let
the activity take place without any response. The
announcement of the signing of the UN Human rights agreements
had Cubans asking openly: "Just who is in charge?". While it
is a brazen example of regime cynicism, that is a question
Cubans probably have not asked themselves in the last 50

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years.
PARMLY