On June 26, the U.S. asked Cuba to release two men whom Amnesty International has called “prisoners of conscience.”[1]
According to the U.S. State Department, Dr. Eduardo Cardet Concepción “is serving a three-year sentence for allegedly criticizing former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. In May, Cuban authorities told his family they would not be allowed to visit him in jail for six months as punishment for his family’s efforts to raise awareness of his case internationally.”
The other man, Dr. Ariel Ruiz Urquiola, last month was “sentenced to a year in prison for allegedly disrespecting government authority. Cuban government officials have harassed Dr. Ruiz Urquiola for years for speaking out on environmental issues. We are deeply troubled by reports that he is currently on a hunger strike and in a critical medical condition.”
These two men “are just two examples of how the Cuban government continues to silence the peaceful opposition of its own citizens.” Therefore, the U.S. calls “on the Government of Cuba to release all political prisoners immediately and to stop its arbitrary detention of Cuban activists and independent thinkers who criticize their government through peaceful means. We also call on the Cuban government to cease reprisals against the family members of these activists.”
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[1] U.S. State Dep’t, Press Statement: Release of Political Prisoners (June 26, 2018); Reuters, United States Urges Cuba to Release Two ‘Prisoners of Conscience,’ N.Y. Times (June 26, 2018); Amnesty Int’l, Cuba: Environmental Activist Imprisoned: Dr. Ariel Ruiz Urquiola (June 12, 2018); Amnesty Int’l, Cuba: Demand Release of Human Rights Defender: Dr. Eduardo Cardet Concepción (Jan. 31, 2017); Amnesty Int’l, Cuba:Further Information: Defender sentenced after criticizing Castro: Dr. Eduardo Cardet Concepción (Mar. 27, 2017); Amnesty Int’l, Cuba: Further Information: Human Rights Defender’s Sentence Upheld: Dr. Eduardo Cardet Concepción (May 25, 2017); Amnesty Int’l, Cuba: Further Information: Prisoner of Conscience Attacked in Prison: Dr. Eduardo Cardet Concepción (Jan. 22, 2018); Amnesty Int’l, Cuba: Family of Prisoner of Conscience Denied Visits (June 7, 2018).