Cuba: Prisoners of Conscience released
Posted: May 13, 2008
Former Cuban prisoner of conscience (POC) Pedro Pablo Alvarez Ramos speaks next to other former POCs Omar Pernet Hernandez, Jose Gabriel Ramon Castillo and Alejandro Gonzalez Raga during a press conference in Madrid, Spain, on February 19, 2008.
JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images
Cuba released four prisoners of conscience on February 16, 2008. The four men then travelled to Spain with family members.
Reporters Jose Gabriel Ramon Castillo and Alejandro Gonzalez Raga, librarian Omar Pernet Hernandez and trade unionist Pedro Pablo Alvarez Ramos had been jailed with 75 prominent figures in 2003. They were all arrested after a mass crackdown on dissent and were accused of being mercenaries in the pay of the United States.
“The release of the four Cuban prisoners of conscience is a very positive step, but we must not forget that at least 58 people remain in prisons across Cuba for the sole reason of expressing their political views,” said Kerrie Howard, deputy director of Amnesty International's Americas program.
“We hope that the recent release is a sign of change in Cuba, a further openness to improving respect for human rights, including the right to freedom of expression and association,” said Howard.
Amnesty International believes that Cuba's new leadership should seize the opportunity to make fundamental reforms to guarantee basic rights for its citizens. Amnesty is urging Cuba to allow the United Nations and other independent human rights bodies to visit the country. Reforms should begin with the release of all prisoners of conscience.