Juan Carlos González Leiva: How is the health of Darsi Ferrer?

Dr. Darsi: First, I would like to say that I am very happy with your visit. One comes out of prison affected [by psychological issues] but I am in better spirits.

JC: According to [the regime’s] accusations [against you], you should have received a 3 year sentence. To what do you attribute your premature release?

Dr. Darsi: Many factors contributed to, and resulted in my release. In first place, [there was the] recognition of my status as a prisoner of conscience by that prestigious institution, Amnesty International, for what I will be eternally grateful. Also, [there was] the immense solidarity from the international black movement, and, of course, the solidarity of my Cuban brothers, here and in exile.

JC: What does Valle Grande prison represent to you?

Dr Darsi: This is a prison for those who are in preventive custody [not tried yet], [but] despite that it does not differ from [all] other Cuban penitentiaries. Life conditions are totally subhuman and the penal population suffers the cruelest and most inhumane treatments. For example, medical attention is almost [non-existent] because in spite of having doctors on staff, [in reality] they do not exist, neither is there equipment to perform a hemoglobin or glycemic test. Everything is a [smoke] screen [and] that is why there are inevitable deaths. Only in the past 11 months, three inmates died there for that reason. Overcrowding is terrible in the 18 galleys. They are 35 meters long by 5 meters wide, [and] there 120 inmates survive with only half a meter of vital space for each one of them. Many of them have to sleep on the floor because there are not enough beds.

Hygiene is horrible, they only run the water for a few minutes three times a day, every other day, and the heat is unbearable. Infectious diseases are very frequent, it is enough that one inmate gets sick [for the rest to be infected]. Contact with the family is limited to two hours once a month. The psychological trauma is very big. The scarce nourishment is of terrible quality and does not satisfy the needs of any human organism. As protein, they give you a tiny piece of chicken every 15 days. The rest of the food is a [disgusting mix] that is regularly [given to the prisoners] in state of decomposition. This brings lots of diseases and health problems.

The mistreatment and the horrible conditions make the inmates aggressive. There are frequent fights. Corruption is rampant. The guards are more criminals than the inmates are, and they have several inmates in their fold who control all their illicit businesses for their own personal benefit, and the most lethal are used to impose discipline. The guards are the ones that facilitate the sale of rum and the high drug use. Religious assistance and freedom of worship are not allowed. There are several disabled [inmates] [whose conditions] are incompatible with the prison system. I met blind, deaf and some in wheelchairs. In the political prisoners’ case, they survive in constant danger since the guards constantly encourage assassins to harass them and attack them. It is Hell, a nightmare that if you do not experience it, you cannot imagine how horrible the Cuban jail system is.

JC: Could it be said that Cuban jails are centers of terror?

Dr. Darsi: Prisons here make up such a gruesome picture that words cannot describe it in all of its magnitude. This is the reason why the government does not allow monitoring by the [UN’s] Rapporteur Against Torture, His Excellency Manfred Nowak. [They] have much to hide. The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners are not respected at all, and even national laws are violated daily in there.

JC: What is the number of prisoners inside Valle Grande prison right now?

Dr. Darsi: There are 18 galleys with a total penal population around 2000 inmates. It must be noted that, as I said, this is a prison for [those] awaiting trial, and it is the only one that receives those who are under [arrest awaiting trial] in all of the [province of] Ciudad de La Habana. Almost every day, around 80 to 100 new inmates are admitted, which is incredible. Of course, this does not include those already sentenced who are sent directly to other penitentiaries. In other words, the number of Cubans who are sent to prison daily is alarming. That is why I can assure [anyone] that the Cuban penal population is not 100,000 inmates as it has been said until now, but that it is well above 200,000 convicts. It is such an amazing [uncontrolled growth] that it forces the government to hide it.

JC: Could it then be stated that more than 500 people are incarcerated each week only in La Habana?

Dr. Darsi: I do not say 500 people, but a much higher number because one has to take into account the prisons for women that are 4 or 5; the juvenile prisons, and the uncountable penitentiaries in the city and province of La Habana. The Combinado del Este prison alone keeps around 5000 inmates behind bars. These are the reasons why I call on all people and institutions around the world to make an even greater effort to help humanize the Cuban jail system, alleviating the suffering of hundreds of thousands of convicts and their families.

JC: What are the race and age characteristics of the penal population at Valle Grande?

Dr. Darsi:  Around 80% are black and more than 70% of the total is not over the age of 25. It is very sad to see a country’s youth behind bars, living in cruel and deforming conditions, surviving as non-persons.

JC: Marxism books state that criminality is a leftover from capitalism; however, Cuban convicts are in their vast majority young and black, born after the revolution. How can this be explained?

Dr. Darsi: The lack of opportunities, the arbitrariness, the injustices…I would say that they [affect] all the same. What happens is that for cultural and economic reasons, blacks were behind [everyone else] when the revolution triumphed, in other words, blacks were behind, and blacks were left much further behind later. Today are blacks the one who live in “solares” [tenements], those who are barred from hotels and those who are not [represented] in the [highest] political [levels]. It is enough to say that in a country where surviving is hard for everyone, those issues are tenfold for blacks. All of this forces blacks to be linked to issues like the black market. They go beyond what is tolerated by the authorities and remain in [extreme poverty] being much more alienated, discriminated against and displaced than whites. This is a grave problem because this is not a [mainly] Caucasian society. Cuba is a country where he who does not have Congo [blood] has [that] of Carabalis. We are a racial “ajiaco” [stew], despite the government’s efforts to reinforce the idea that black is negative. This is why blacks in prison receive the worst treatment and contempt from the guards. I can conclude by stating that blacks have been thrown by the so-called revolution into the lowest sectors of [Cuban] public life.

JC: What is the explanation for the use of drugs and alcohol at Valle Grande?

Dr. Darsi: The average salary of the guards is extremely low. They live in misery as well, that is why most of the practice corruption. Inside of the prisons, corruption is huge. It is precisely the guards who own this business of alcohol and prescription drugs sales. It is they who bring those noxious substances to the penitentiaries around the country. It is incredible and scandalous, but tremendously real. These are the direct causes of the frequent fights and murders. Furthermore, under the influence of alcohol and drugs, the inmates mutilate themselves or inject [themselves with the] AIDS [virus] with syringes supplied by the guards. One day, I saw the guards bringing six AIDS patients into my galley and left them to live with us. Some had bleeding wound since they had hurt themselves. Logically we were all [exposed] to the risk [of infection].

JC: What treatment receive those who are physically and mentally disabled at Valle Grande?


Dr. Darsi: They are victims of the worst treatments because since they are sick, they do things that irritate the guards.

JC: How would you describe your trial?


Dr. Darsi: I was tried behind closed doors by the Municipal Tribunal of Diez de Octubre [a municipality in La Habana] this past 22 June, and sentenced to 1 year and 3 months of prison. [During the trial] Security of State cordoned off the area [surrounding the tribunal] and subjected me to a biased process, lacking any [due process]. They tried me 11 months after my arrest, and they sentenced me after I had already served the time, on the trumped up charges of “Sabotage and receipt [of stolen merchandise]” that implies that I must serve another three months in this sort of house arrest. I do not accept this condition, and I am ready to be sent back to prison whenever the political police would want because I am innocent and my trial was nothing but a circus. My family, friends and neighbors could attend.

JC: Do you continue to have the same dreams?

Dr. Darsi: Cuba continues to be a large jail, and our people still lives the same drama of the destruction of all their freedoms and rights. This is what motivates me to continue fighting for democracy and [the rule of law]. I am 40 years old, and I do not know freedom. I move forward with even more emphasis so that soon Cuba becomes a place of happiness, prosperity and opportunities for all.

BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com

A Cuban court sentenced dissident Darsi Ferrer to 15 months in prison but sent him home Tuesday in what activists saw as a government decision to end his status as a political prisoner. Ferrer, a doctor jailed for 11 months while awaiting trial on charges of illegal possession of building materials and attacking a neighbor, will serve the next four months under house arrest.

But Ferrer said he would not accept the sentence and vowed to continue his dissident activities even if it landed him back in jail.

``Today my compromise with the Cuban people is higher than when they sent me to prison,'' he told El Nuevo Herald in a telephone interview from Havana. ``I know that many [dissident] brothers and thousands of other Cubans remain in prison in sub-human conditions.''

The decision to let him serve the rest of the sentence outside prison was nevertheless seen by other activists as a positive gesture.

``The government took advantage of the trial to close the case because . . . [returning him to prison] would have meant a step back in its effort to show a friendlier face on prisoners of conscience,'' said human-rights activist Elizardo Sánchez.

Ferrer, 40, was named a ``prisoner of conscience'' by Amnesty International in February and received an honorable mention in the 2009 ``Defenders of Freedom'' prize awarded by the U.S. State Department.

Prosecutors asked for a three-year sentence, said his wife, Yusnaimy Jorge. But Raúl Castro's government has been negotiating with Catholic church leaders for the release of some political prisoners and the transfer of others to institutions closer to their homes.

Although Ferrer was charged with common crimes, he and his supporters have steadfastly maintained that the government was trying to silence his political activism.

He is director of the nongovernment Health and Human Rights Center Juan Bruno Zayas and has organized the annual marches in central Havana making World Human Rights day on Dec. 10.

Reporters Sans Frontières, the international NGO that defends the freedom of journalists and of expression, had this to say about Dr. Darsi Ferrer's release:

“We are obviously relieved by Ferrer’s release even if he was finally given a jail sentence to match the time he already had spent behind bars,” Reporters Without Borders said. “No one is fooled about the real reason for his detention as this is a country in which the authorities tolerate no public expression of dissenting views. His release was not in any way an act of clemency or, even less so, a sign of an improvement in respect for basis rights and freedoms.”

Cuba still has approximately 200 prisoners of conscience, who include 24 journalists. One of them is the Reporters Without Borders correspondent Ricardo González Alfonso, who has been held since the “Black Spring” crackdown of March 2003.

Dissidents continue to be the target of harassment, repression and hate campaigns by the authorities and their supporters. Hablemos Press, a small independent news agency, reported that two more journalists, José Manuel Caraballo Bravo and Raúl Arias Márquez of the Agencia de Prensa Libre Avileña (APLA), were arrested on 21 June.

Reporters Without Borders reiterates its appeal to the community of Latin American countries to intercede on behalf of Cuba’s imprisoned journalists and dissidents, some of whom have fallen seriously ill since their arrest

By WILL WEISSERT - Associated Press Writer

A Cuban court found prominent opposition leader Darsy Ferrer guilty of purchasing black-market cement on Tuesday, but he was released on time served since it took nearly a year for his case to go to trial.

Human rights officials say that Ferrer was arrested for a common crime officials usually overlook - or punish with a simple fine - in an attempt to silence his criticism of the government.

Ferrer's trial was closed to the media and most of the public, but his wife, Yusnaimy Jorge Soca, said he was found guilty of purchasing black-market building materials and was ordered released. He is supposed to serve the roughly four months remaining on his 15-month sentence at the couple's Havana home.

"I think what happened inside was the fair outcome. It's what we've waited for since the beginning," Jorge told reporters outside the courthouse in the Cuban capital's 10 de Octubre district. "We only wanted to repair our home."

Ferrer was taken to a police station for processing, but was expected to head home soon.

While other prisoners arrived at court together in a van, Ferrer was brought in a police car with two Ministry of Interior agents wearing green uniforms.

Jorge and about 30 relatives and supporters, many of them self-described dissidents, waited outside the courthouse for about two hours, occasionally shouting "Liberty!" and anti-government slogans. Jorge was allowed to enter when her husband's trial started.

Diplomats from the United States, Britain and a few other nations stood in the shade of nearby trees, but they made no comment and left before the verdict was announced. Cuban state security agents in plain clothes watched from surrounding street corners.

A physician, Ferrer is among Cuba's most prominent dissidents. Like most of those, however, he is better known abroad than in his own country, where the state-run media almost never mentions him.

In years past, he organized tiny street demonstrations to mark International Human Rights Day in December, but he has been in prison since July 21, 2009.

The state controls nearly all construction under Cuba's communist system and many people turn to private sources for quicker repairs. Cement and scores of other building materials supplied that way are often pilfered from state stocks.

Ferrer and his wife said they obtained the cement to repair a collapsing wall in their home, and didn't expect it to become a political issue.

Ferrer's release after being held without trial for 11 months could add to signs Cuba's government is softening its stance toward organized dissent.

The government of Raul Castro recently promised Roman Catholic Church leaders to move political prisoners to facilities closer to home, and to give better access to medical care for inmates who need it.

So far, 12 prisoners have been transferred and one, Ariel Sigler, was released for health reasons. Sigler was a boxer when he entered prison seven years ago, but is now confined to a wheelchair.

He was one of 75 leading community organizers, opposition activists and independent journalists arrested in March 2003 during a crackdown on dissent and charged with conspiring with Washington to destabilize Cuba's government - charges both those arrested and U.S. authorities denied.

Elizardo Sanchez, head of the independent, Havana-based, National Commission on Human Rights and Reconciliation, says Cuba holds 180 political prisoners, a list that had included Ferrer.

Cuban officials say they hold no political prisoners and have the right to jail traitors.

The #OZT I accuse the Cuban government Campaign has learned from Yoani Sanchez that Dr. Darsi Ferrer has received a 1 year and 2 months sentence.

The tribunal acknowledged Dr. Ferrer’s time served without a trial, and has apparently sent him home to serve the rest of his sentence (three months) under house arrest.

Cuban prisoner of conscience set to face trial

22 June 2010

Cuban President Raúl Castro must release a prisoner of conscience set to face trial on Tuesday on spurious charges after he organised a protest against the authorities, Amnesty International has said.


Darsi Ferrer, an independent journalist and Director of the Juan Bruno Zayas Health and Human Rights Centre in Havana, has been detained since his arrest in July 2009, just hours before a protest he had organised against repression in Cuba.

He was later charged with receiving illegally obtained goods and "violence or intimidation against a state official", charges that appear completely baseless.

“The Cuban authorities must drop these trumped up charges against Darsi Ferrer and release him immediately“, said Kerrie Howard, Americas deputy director at Amnesty International.

“He has been detained solely for his work promoting freedom of expression in Cuba”.

Darsi Ferrer has been held at a maximum security prison in the capital intended for inmates convicted of violent crimes. Ordinarily, an individual accused of these crimes would be bailed awaiting trial. However, Darsi Ferrer has been refused bail four times.

In February 2010, Amnesty International adopted him as a prisoner of conscience.

On 9 July 2009, Darsi Ferrer and his wife, Yusnaimy Jorge Soca, were detained by state security officials and police officers just before the protest was about to begin.

Darsi Ferrer was handcuffed and beaten by more than eight police officers. He and Yusnaimy were released without charge a few hours later.

When they arrived home, they noticed that two bags of cement, some iron girders and two window frames, which had been on their property for a few months, were missing. According to neighbours, police officers had confiscated them.

On 21 July, four police officers took Darsi Ferrer in for questioning about the materials. Once at the police station he was detained and driven to a maximum security prison on the outskirts of Havana.

The other charge of "violence or intimidation against a state official" apparently relates to comments Darsi Ferrer was overheard making - that an injustice was being committed and sooner or later things would change in Cuba.

Darsi Ferrer has previously been detained and prevented from leading and participating in human rights events.

Every year since 2006, he has been detained or summoned to a police station on or around 10 December (International Human Rights Day), apparently to prevent him from participating in activities celebrating the day.

The right to a fair trial is limited in Cuba, with courts and prosecutors under government control.

Cuba’s National Assembly elects the President, Vice-President and the other judges of the Peoples’ Supreme Court, as well as the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General.

In addition, all courts are subordinate to the National Assembly and the Council of State, raising concerns over internationally recognised standards for fair trial and the right to trial by an independent and impartial tribunal.

The right to a fair and proper defence is also unlikely to be fully respected, as lawyers are employed by the Cuban government and as such may be reluctant to challenge prosecutors or evidence presented by the state intelligence services.

Dear Sir:

My name is Marc R. Masferrer. I am a journalist and blogger. I am an American. And I am Cuban.

I am writing to inform you that with the knowledge and experience that comes with being all of the above, I will be watching closely on Tuesday as your government takes to trial Dr. Darsi Ferrer Ramírez.

I know that Dr. Ferrer is innocent of the pending charges, and that the proceedings today will be nothing but a farce. I know this, and so does anyone in the world with a reasonable assessment of your government and what it has done to Cuba for more than 51 years.

I know that Dr. Ferrer is being prosecuted and persecuted solely because of his advocacy for a free and democratic Cuba, a Cuba that Fidel Castro promised before he took power in 1959, a Cuba that he, his government and the communist party have betrayed for more than 51 years.

I know that any libels or slanders launched by the regime and its agents against Dr. Ferrer are nothing but lies.

You may choose to ignore to what I have written; you may not even open this e-mail.

Just know I will be watching. And as I have done for almost 5 years on my blog, I will be holding you and your government to account what it does on Tuesday to Dr. Ferrer. And so will many others around the world.

You may silence Dr. Ferrer, if only temporarily. But you will never silence me and others around the world who admire and support this brave man.

Just know, you will not get away with what you are about to do to Dr. Ferrer.

Still, there is time to save yourself embarrassment and to do the right thing:

FREE DARSI FERRER NOW!

Respectfully,


Marc R. Masferrer