Political activist arrested: José Daniel Ferrer García

Document - Cuba: Political activist arrested: José Daniel Ferrer García

UA: 229/12 Index: AMR 25/019/2012 Date: 1 August 2012

URGENT ACTION

POLITICAL ACTIVIST ARRESTED

Former prisoner of conscience José Daniel Ferrer García was arrested on
30 July in Cuba's eastern province of Holguín, and his whereabouts are
now unknown.

Political activist José Daniel Ferrer García has suffered a government
campaign of harassment since he was released, in March 2011. He was
arrested on the evening of 30 July in the province of Holguín, and his
whereabouts have been unknown since then. He is the coordinator of an
umbrella group of dissident organizations, based in eastern Cuba, the
Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unión Patriótica de Cuba, UNPACU). He was
travelling by car with UNPACU member Antonio Blanco and two others when
they were stopped by police. They had been travelling from their home
province of Santiago de Cuba to the city of Holguín, in neighbouring
Holguín Province. Antonio Blanco has said that they thought it was a
routine police check, but once the police realized who José Daniel
Ferrer García was, they arrested him. Antonio Blanco and the others were
returned to their homes in the province of Santiago de Cuba.

José Daniel Ferrer García was granted conditional release in March 2011,
having served eight years of his 25-year sentence. Under the terms of
his release, he could be sent back to prison to serve the remaining 16
years of his sentence. He was arrested in April 2012 and charged with
"public disorder"; he was released 27 days later and told that he was
being released on condition he give up his political activism. Amnesty
International believes his latest arrest is yet another attempt to
repress his and other UNPACU members' peaceful dissident activities in
eastern Cuba.

Please write immediately in Spanish or your own language:

Calling on the authorities to reveal the whereabouts of José Daniel
Ferrer García immediately;

Urging them to release José Daniel Ferrer García immediately if he is
detained, unless there is sufficient evidence to charge him with an
internationally recognizable criminal offence;

Urging them to cease immediately the harassment and intimidation of
members of the Patriotic Union of Cuba and all other citizens who seek
to peacefully exercise their rights to freedom of expression and
association.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 12 SEPTEMBER 2012 TO:



Head of State and Government

Raúl Castro Ruz

Presidente de la República de Cuba

La Havana, Cuba

Fax: +53 7 83 33 085 (via Foreign Ministry); +1 212 779 1697 (via Cuban
Mission to UN)

Email: cuba@un.int (c/o Cuban Mission to UN)

Salutation: Your Excellency

Interior Minister

General Abelardo Colomé Ibarra

Ministro del Interior y Prisiones

Ministerio del Interior, Plaza de la Revolución, La Habana, Cuba

Fax: +537 85 56 621; +1 212 779 1697 (via Cuban Mission to UN)

Email: correominint@mn.mn.co.cu

Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:

Attorney General

Dr Darío Delgado Cura

Fiscal General de la República, Fiscalía General de la República,
Amistad 552, e/Monte y Estrella, Centro Habana

La Habana, Cuba

Salutation: Dear Attorney General



Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your
country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:

Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address
Salutation Salutation

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above
date.



URGENT ACTION

POLITICAL ACTIVIST ARRESTED
ADditional Information

Prisoner of conscience José Daniel Ferrer García was granted conditional
release in March 2011, when he had been in prison for eight years. He
was one of 75 people who had been arrested and sentenced following a
crackdown on Cuban dissidents in March 2003. All 75 were adopted as
prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International, as they had acted
non-violently and were imprisoned under Cuban legislation which
illegitimately criminalizes political dissent. José Daniel Ferrer García
was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment, as he had taken part in the
Varela Project, which aimed at requesting a national referendum on
democratic reforms. Under Article 31.1.4 of the Cuban Criminal Code,
conditional release allows a prisoner to see out the remainder of their
sentence outside prison provided they demonstrate "good behaviour"
(buena conducta).

José Daniel Ferrer García was arrested on 2 April 2012 along with 42
other government critics in the province of Santiago de Cuba, most of
them UNPACU members. The others were released soon afterwards but José
Daniel Ferrer García was charged with "public disorder" (desórdenes
públicos). He was finally released 27 days later, and was told that he
was being released on the condition that he gave up his political
activism. José Daniel Ferrer García had also been arrested on 21
February 2012 in the capital, Havana, and was held for three days before
being returned to his home. During those three days, the authorities
refused to admit that he was in their custody.

The Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) is an umbrella group of dissident
organizations, based primarily in Santiago de

Cuba, but also in neighbouring provinces of eastern Cuba. UNPACU seeks
democratic change in Cuba via non-violent means.

Since UNPACU's creation in mid-2011, its members have faced constant
harassment and intimidation from the Cuban authorities, including
arbitrary detention. One of UNPACU's members, prisoner of conscience
Wilman Villar Mendoza, died in January 2012 following a hunger strike in
protest at his four-year prison sentence following a summary trial. This
repression is part of a general crackdown against dissidents in the
eastern provinces of Cuba which has gathered pace since mid-2011.

Name: José Daniel Ferrer García



Gender m/f: m

UA: 229/12 Index: AMR 25/019/2012 Issue Date: 1 August 2012

http://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR25/019/2012/en/0db589eb-a0fb-4265-9207-4f7dfbe99e3d/amr250192012en.html