Posted on Thu, Jan. 26, 2006Muzzling free expression in Cuba
OUR OPINION: WORLD COMMUNITY MUST SUPPORT CUBAN DISSIDENTS
Cuba has escalated its attacks on dissidents -- as if that could stifle the truth about its moral and economic bankruptcy. Yet the harassment, beatings and jailings have not deterred dissidents from calling attention to human-rights abuses and pressing for change in Cuba.
These critics simply won't back down. Their only defenses are the spotlight and international pressure that shame the regime and lessen some of the abuse. This is why Cuba's peaceful dissidents deserve the support of individuals, international groups and governments that cherish freedom.
Civil disobedience
The recent backlash against dissidents shouldn't surprise anyone. After 47 years of dictatorship, many Cubans are tired of empty promises and deprivation. They are taking to the seas in greater numbers. More than ever they are losing their fear. Nothing bothers the regime as much as a loss of control. So the regime resorts to an old method: It clamps down on uncontrolled activities, particularly any criticism of the regime.
The new wave of repression started in July when a mob attacked a dissident protest in Havana. The evictions, arrests and violence that followed were to be expected. What's new is that the measures aren't gaining popular support or stopping the protesters. Neighbors and co-workers, for example, no longer participate in the regime-organized mobs during ''acts of repudiation'' in which dissidents are insulted and often beaten -- another sign of the regime weakening. Acts of civil disobedience have nearly doubled since 2002, according to data from International Republican Institutes.
When the Ladies in White were harassed in an ''act of repudiation,'' the number of women marching to mass on Sundays more than doubled. The Ladies are relatives of political prisoners who peacefully protest for release of their kin. The Ladies landed in the international spotlight last year when the European Parliament awarded them its highest honor for human rights, the Andrei Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. When Cuba denied the group's leaders permission to accept the award in person, the regime didn't win any points in Europe.
Not a free country
Cuba has more than 300 political prisoners, a number that also increased last year. It continues to arrest and detain people for speaking their mind, a crime that exists in no free country. It accuses dissidents of being lackies for the U.S. government, a ''crime'' punishable by 20 years or more in prison.
After 47 years of Fidel Castro, it is too easy to tune out news of such abuse. But Cuba's dissidents haven't given up. Neither should the world give up on the dissidents.
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