On May 8, Amnesty International launched an urgent action demanding the immediate and unconditional release of opposition leaders and prisoners of conscience José Daniel Ferrer García and Félix Navarro, and all those unjustly imprisoned for merely exercising their human rights in Cuba.
On April 29, the Cuban authorities announced that they had revoked the conditional release of José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro. Both were released from prison last January in a process marred by irregularities. Since then, they have been threatened, harassed, and arbitrarily detained multiple times for their political activism, their denunciation of human rights violations and even for their humanitarian work. “José Daniel and Félix have once again been jailed unjustly and arbitrarily. Like thousands of others in recent decades, they have been victims of the Cuban authorities’ repressive pattern of using conditional release for surveillance and political control,” said Ana Piquer, Amnesty International’s Americas director.
Félix Navarro was detained in the early hours of April 29 at his home as he was getting ready to visit his daughter, Saylí Navarro, who is also a prisoner of conscience. Relatives and neighbors reported a major surveillance operation with no warrant during the arrest. Until May 2, there was no certainty as to Felix’s whereabouts or legal status, meaning that he was subjected to enforced disappearance for more than 72 hours.
Simultaneously, a large police contingent also detained José Daniel Ferrer, his wife, his five-year-old son, and five other associates inside his home. José Daniel’s wife and son were released hours later, and the activists were released later in the week. His relatives and neighbors confirmed that the police used violence in the assault on his house, which is also the headquarters of the Unión Patriótica de Cuba, an organization led by Ferrer, and that his property was looted. José Daniel remains forcibly disappeared. Although his family has received unofficial word that he is being held at the Mar Verde prison, they have received no official communication about his whereabouts or legal status. His family has had no direct contact with him and has serious concerns about his health and physical integrity, since he has twice been denied visits with his wife.
The Vice-President of the People’s Supreme Court issued a press release to inform international press agencies and media of the decision to revoke both men’s conditional release. The release confirms that the provincial courts revoked their conditional release and ordered that they be imprisoned again.
The press release’s allegations reveal the political motives for the imprisonment, referencing José Daniel and Félix’s decades of political activism and struggle for human rights. The authorities again used the official media to discredit them, stigmatize their activism and make an example of them to intimidate other activists and human rights defenders.
“The Cuban government has used these releases as bargaining chips in geopolitical games and in doing so has toyed with the desires and rights of these people and thousands of their relatives. It has offered no guarantees of justice, non-repetition or reparation for the victims,” said Ana Piquer.
Since the January releases were announced, human rights organizations have denounced a lack of transparency in how they were carried out, excessive restrictions for those who were released, a tendency by the Cuban government to use people as pawns for political negotiation, and a constant risk of being arbitrarily sent back to prison. The reincarceration of José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro confirms these organizations’ fears and points to the persistence of a highly repressive context where all forms of dissidence are systematically criminalized.
Amnesty International calls on the Cuban authorities to provide official, accurate and timely information on the legal status, physical integrity and place of detention of José Daniel and Félix, as well as to immediately guarantee their access to legal assistance, medicines and family visits.
The organization demands the immediate and unconditional release of prisoners of conscience José Daniel Ferrer, Félix Navarro, Loreto Hernández, Roberto Pérez Fonseca, Saylí Navarro, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo, as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all who have been imprisoned for simply exercising their human rights in Cuba.
“The Cuban authorities must cease to threaten, harass, arbitrarily arrest and forcibly disappear activists, human rights defenders and journalists in Cuba. They must also immediately repeal any laws and regulations that enable the state to criminalize dissent and peaceful protest and thwart efforts to defend human rights,” said Ana Piquer.
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