In June 2008, Amnesty International will campaign worldwide to end the use of torture and other ill-treatment.
On the 5th anniversary of the largest crackdown against political opponents in Cuba, Amnesty International today called on the new Cuban authorities to immediately release the 58 dissidents still being held in jails across the country.
Cuba signed two major human rights treaties at the UN in New York on Thursday.
Amnesty International today welcomed Cuba’s signing of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and called on the country to ratify both treaties without reservation.
In reaction to Fidel Castro’s announcement that he will not return to the presidency, Amnesty International said: “The new Cuban leadership must take advantage of this change to introduce much needed reforms to guarantee the protection of human rights.”
Amnesty International has called on the new Cuban government to allow UN human rights bodies and independent human rights organizations to visit the country.
The Cuban authorities released four activists from prison over the weekend. The four were arrested in a political crackdown in March 2003, which imprisoned 75 dissidents.
Amnesty International today welcomed the release of four Cuban activists but urged Raul Castro to urgently release the 58 remaining incarcerated prisoners of conscience and to guarantee the right to freedom of expression on the island.
Amnesty International today welcomed the announcement made by Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs that the country will soon ratify key human rights treaties but added that this move will only be meaningful if matched by change in Cuba’s policies of intimidation and arbitrary arrests of political dissidents.
Cuba's longest serving prisoner of conscience has been conditionally released following more than 13 years in jail.
