Cuba: the Damos de Blanco (Ladies in white)

Hat tip Cynical Dragon who points out:
Here's a story you probably won't see in the mainstream media this week (or most political blogs).

This week the Damos de Blanco (Ladies in white) descended on the streets of Cuba. They are a group of Cuban women relatives of men who were arrested in a major crack down by Fidel’s authorities in March 2003. Many of the men arrested then for opposing Castro’s government, are still in jail. One high profile individual, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, died last month, following a long hunger strike. His mother was amongst the women on the march.

Read the rest here.

Then we have this gem EDM 982(below), a fawning cock in mouth piece of historical whitewashing by uber hoon MP Andrew Dismore. A rather strange looking MP who looks like he should be wearing an ankle tag and have an order keeping him away from local schools.

EDM 982 - link to the EDM page
That this House commends the achievements of Fidel Castro in securing first-class free healthcare and education provision for the people of Cuba despite the 44 year illegal US embargo of the Cuban economy; notes the great strides Cuba has taken during this period in many fields such as biotechnology and sport in both of which Cuba is a world leader; acknowledges the esteem in which Castro is held by the people and leaders of Africa, Asia and Latin America for leading the calls for emancipation of the world's poorest people from slavery, hunger and the denial of human rights such as the right to life, the right to shelter, the right to healthcare and basic medicines and the right to education; welcomes the EU statement that constructive engagement with Cuba at this time is the most responsible course of action; and calls upon the Government to respect Cuba's right to self-determination and resist the aggressive forces within the US Administration who are openly planning their own illegal transition in Cuba.

Colin Burgon, Jon Cruddas, Ian Gibson, Michael Clapham, George Mudie, Kelvin Hopkins, John McDonnell, Ann Cryer, Diane Abbott, David Taylor, Linda Riordan, Adam Price, Dennis Skinner, David Heyes, Brian Iddon, Lynne Jones, Elfyn Llwyd, Edward O'Hara, Ronnie Campbell, Martin Caton, Jeremy Corbyn, Andrew Dismore, Paul Flynn, Hywel Francis, David Hamilton, John Battle, Katy Clark, Jim Devine, Gordon Prentice, Ken Purchase, Jim Sheridan, Marsha Singh, Paul Holmes, Jim Hood, Lindsay Hoyle, Joan Humble, David Lepper, Denis Murphy, Albert Owen, Harry Cohen, David Crausby, Janet Dean, Jim Dobbin, David Drew, Clive Efford, Bill Etherington, John Grogan, Fabian Hamilton, John Austin, Anne Begg, Dari Taylor, Mike Wood, David Anderson, Dai Davies, Karen Buck, Richard Caborn, Colin Challen, Frank Cook, Virendra Kumar Sharma, Alan Simpson, Dai Havard,

Peter Kilfoyle, Andrew Mackinlay, Austin Mitchell, David Chaytor, Ian Davidson, George Galloway, Desmond Turner, Martin Salter, Rudi Vis, Andy Slaughter, Sian C James, Bill Olner, Richard Burden, Michael Connarty, John Cummings, Paul Truswell, Kieth Vaz, Julie Morgan, Doug Naysmith, Frank Dobson, Chris McCafferty, Eric Illsley, Anne Moffat, Ian Stewart, Emily Thornberry.

And yet no EDM or Commons mentions over the case of Mr Normando Hernández González. Another man who has fallen fowl of the sun baked tropical gulag of Cuba.

Link:http://www.newstatesman.com/200711080021
Plus: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=6917
Also: http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/912/prmID/174

A jailed Cuban journalist whose health is rapidly deteriorating in the face of prison-contracted diseases has been chosen as one of four writers to mark the Day of the Imprisoned Writer on 15 November. The special day, held on the same date each year, is organised by PEN, the writers' organisation that backs persecuted authors around the world.

Normando Hernández González was imprisoned in 2003 for reports and broadcasts on the internet and Radio Martí that were said by the government to endanger security. Hernández was found guilty of spying and threatening national security, crimes that carry a 25-year jail term. He was one of 75 journalists arrested in the Cuban government crackdown on the press in 2003 and, according to PEN, remains one of 59 still held by the regime.

He was thrown a glimmer of hope a few months ago when the government of Costa Rica effectively granted him asylum in absentia, launching a plea for his release after reports of a downward turn in his condition.

The move came about after Hernández's mother, Bianca González, appealed to Costa Rican legislators to intervene.

José Manuel Echandi, a former Defender of the Citizens in Costa Rica, answered the call and accused Cuba of torture in blocking the journalist's release.

The Cuban journalist's illness has been partly brought about by a hunger strike he began six months ago, but he has also contracted tuberculosis in prison. Hernández has spent most of the past 12 months in a maximum security prison, but was recently moved to a hospital for treatment.

At Echandi's request, Costa Rica asked Cuba to free Hernández and allow him to be transferred across the Caribbean Sea for health care attention in that country. When they received no response, Echandi wrote to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, to seek help to speed his release.

Press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders is also backing the request that Hernández should be transported to Costa Rica.

"Humanitarian concerns are clearly paramount as regards all prisoners of conscience," the organisation said.

Cuba has more journalists locked up than any other country in the world, apart from China. Those still held since March 2003 are serving sentences ranging from 14 to 27 years.

According to Reporters Without Borders, three journalists held in Cuba were arrested after Fidel Castro's brother Raú took over the running of the country last year.

Each and every MP who signed EDM 982 is an utter cunt. 

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