Antonio Rodiles, the national coordinator of a civil society initiative calling on the government to ratify international human rights treaties, was released on the afternoon of 26 November having spent 19 days in detention. Charges of “resisting authority” (resistenci) against him were withdrawn. However, on his release he was ordered to pay an “administrative” fine of 800 Cuban pesos (US$30), the equivalent of nearly twice the average monthly salary in Cuba.
A few hours before his release, he was issued with an official warning (acta de advertencia), informing him that if he continued with his activism, he would face arrest and criminal charges. Antonio Rodiles refused to sign the document.
Antonio Rodiles was held at the police station in Avenida de Acosta, in the Havana municipality of 10 de Octubre. He told Amnesty International how he had been set upon by a group of about 10 men during his arrest on 7 November. He was pinned to the ground and punched and the blows continued as he was led away to a police vehicle. Antonio Rodiles said that as a result he was left with a badly bruised left eye and other bruises on his body.
Antonio Rodiles is national coordinator of Citizen Demand for Another Cuba (Demanda Ciudadana Por Otra Cuba), an initiative calling for Cuba to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which the country signed in 2008.
Amnesty International will continue to monitor his situation closely, and will take further action as appropriate.
Final update to Urgent Action 333/12.
This victory made possible by Amnesty International's Urgent Action Network. This global network responds to urgent situations involving prisoners of conscience, detainees, and other individuals whose human rights are being imminently threatened. Members of the Urgent Action Network compose and send letters, e-mails and faxes to government officials who have the power to stop the human rights violations. Join the Urgent Action Network.