Cuba: free the imprisoned dissident Guido Sigler

Cuban dissident groups say the government has already released the prisoner Guido Sigler. It
released the first group of 52-to which the authorities promised to release, which rejected exile
in Spain.

His release was announced hours earlier by the Cuban Catholic Church, who said he will be released Angel
Moya, who refused to leave Cuba if it was released.

Gurp both belong to the 75 imprisoned in the so-called Black Spring of 2002. Cuba's government pledged
in July to release before November 2010 to 52 members of that group who were still imprisoned.

However, after the release of Sigler, there are still ten other members of that group in Cuban jails, who
refused to leave the country.

The island's government has always maintained that jailed dissidents are mercenaries paid by the United States.

Only Cuba in Latin America that represses political dissent (HRW)

BRUSSELS - Cuba is the only country in Latin America that represses nearly all political dissent, a situation
that keeps the government of Raul Castro since he took over from his brother Fidel Castro in 2006, according to
the annual report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) released Monday.

"Cuba remains the only country in Latin America that represses nearly all forms of political dissent" and in
2010 the government "continues to enforce political conformity using criminal prosecutions, beatings,
harassment, denial of employment and travel restrictions" to Opponents said HRW.

After the death of political prisoner Orlando Zapata by a hunger strike in February 2010 and a fast 135 days of
the psychologist opponent Guillermo Fariñas, the government pledged in an unprecedented dialogue with the
Catholic Church to release the 52 dissidents, but "forcing the majority to go into exile," he said.

A total of 41 of the 52 were released since last July, 40 of which came out of prison for Madrid, one remained
in Cuba and 11 who refuse to travel to Spain are still in prison.

"Many journalists, human rights defenders and dissidents remain behind bars, while the government
increasingly used arbitarias temporary detention to punish its critics" and "intimidate the individual exercise of
fundamental rights," the report said .

HRW cited the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation "documented 325 arbitrary
arrests by security forces in 2007" and "from January to September 2010 recorded more than 1220."

Havana opponents branded "mercenaries", accused of serving international media campaign against the
revolution, and points out that Washington supported with millions of dollars to the dissident groups.

About freedom of expression, HRW reports that it is "practically nonexistent," as the government maintains a
monopoly on the media.

The report said the Cuban government imposed travel restrictions on Cubans with the requirement of official
permission to leave the country, denying opponents as the blogger Yoani Sánchez.

Human Rights Watch reports increased repression in Cuba

Cuba is the only Latin American country where nearly suffocate all forms of political dissent through harassment, beatings and pre-
criminal complaints, among other forms of repression, said Monday the organization Human Rights Watch (HRW).
"A lot of people have been sentenced to one to four years in prison for his participation in 'dangerous', and provide copies of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to organize peaceful demonstrations, writing articles critical content and try to organize
independent unions,''said the report in its section on Cuba.
In the analysis of 649 pages of HRW, based in New York, Cuba corresponds to one of the toughest sections for its violations of human
rights.
The Americas director of HRW, José Miguel Vivanco, observed from Washington, DC, the need for Cuba to advance in the field of
fundamental freedoms.
"While the game still intact, the stakes are obviously very high that this does not lead to permanent changes in human rights,''he said.
In turn, the executive director of HRW, Kenneth Roth, said he would ask the European Union a policy of multilateral pressure for
change,''he said.
In particular, HRW condemned the failure to monitor the situation in prisons and detention mechanisms and the subordination of the
courts to the executive.
"Raul Castro's government increasingly has relied on a provision of [the state of dangerousness...] That allows jailing people before
they have committed a crime, on the suspicion that they may commit in the future'' , added the report of the 21st. annual edition.
He also mentioned two hunger strikes in 2010 moved to the international public opinion. The Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who died to
demand better prison conditions on 23 February, and that of Guillermo Fariñas, who demanded freedom for 135 days a dozen
dissidents.
Despite the recent process of releases on the island, HRW said that many "who are still in prison,''whose health conditions" conducive
to malnutrition and disease.''
From Villa Clara, in the center of the island, Fariñas approved the report and said the government has gone beyond its repressive
system more sophisticated.
"The terror of the population towards the government remains intact,''he said.
Berta Soler, a spokeswoman for the Ladies in White, said the government repression intensified during the past year. The organization
is made up of mothers and wives of political prisoners are often brutally repressed by security forces and pro-government mobs.
''Nothing has changed,''said Soler. "The only principle is bullying and this year we will increase.''
The findings highlighted the restrictions on freedom of movement for Cuban civil society and the refusal to recognize a legal status for
opposition organizations. In addition, regretted that the authorities do not take their commitment to international agreements
guaranteeing the independence and fundamental rights of citizens.
Cuba is co-manager and a signatory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a founding member of the Human Rights Council of
the United Nations (UN), and since February 2008 signing of the Covenants on Human Rights UN still pending ratification.
As usual, the report also presents an assessment of the impact of the economic embargo on the island.
"The embargo continues to impose indiscriminate hardship on the Cuban people,''he said." And he has done nothing to improve the
human rights situation in the country.''