Washington, D.C., July 13, 2010—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) welcomes the decision by the government of Cuba to release seven persons who had been deprived of their liberty since 2003. According to the information received, those released were taken to Spain, and others reportedly may be released as well.

In October 2006, the IACHR adopted its Report on the Merits in Case 12.476, in which it recommended that the State of Cuba immediately and unconditionally release 75 dissidents, members of the opposition, human rights activists, and independent journalists who had been arrested in March 2003 for exercising their right to freedom of expression. All the dissidents who were released are victims named in that Report on the Merits.

The IACHR encourages the State of Cuba to continue with the process of release of all political prisoners. Likewise, the Commission reiterates that, as it recommended in the Merits Report in Case 12.476, Cuba must overturn their convictions and bring its procedural norms in line with applicable international standards for due process, so that persons who turn to the courts to determine their rights and responsibilities can count on the minimum legal guarantees to exercise their defense.

The IACHR calls upon the State to undertake all necessary reforms in accordance with its international human rights obligations and to implement a process of democratic normalization. The IACHR remains at the disposal of the State of Cuba to assist in this process.

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who act in a personal capacity, without representing a particular country, and who are elected by the OAS General Assembly.

Useful links
Press Release 33/10: IACHR Concerned about Situation of Guillermo Fariñas in Cuba
Press Release 22/10: IACHR Condemns Death of Orlando Zapata in Cuba
Merits Report, Case No. 12.476, Cuba
IACHR Press Office
IACHR Web site


(Source: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights).

• The letter, signed by Reina Luisa Tamayo Dánger, has been delivered to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)
• Accompanying the letter is a dossier on the case.

April 28th, 2010. Reina Luisa Tamayo Dánger, mother of late Cuban opposition activist Orlando Zapata Tamayo — who died from a prolonged hunger strike in jail— has presented a formal accusation of the “illegitimate regime of Fidel Castro Ruz and Raúl Castro Ruz” before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The document is also accompanied by a detailed dossier on the case.

In the letter, Tamayo Dánger bases her accusation on the “legislated, systematic, programmed, formalized and executed violation of all basic and universally recognized rights and freedoms committed against my son Orlando Zapata Tamayo, and the rest of our family”

This is the second formal accusation against the castroite regime presented before the IACHR. A similar one from activist Guillermo Fariñas —who is on the second month of a hunger strike initiated to force the regime to free all political prisoners— was delivered to the Commission several weeks ago. His accusation was recently designated as “proceeding” by the Commission.

Contact information for Reina Luisa Tamayo Dánger:
Reina Luisa Tamayo Danger
Carretera Embarcadero #6,
Mariana Grajales, La Güira, Banes, Holguín, Cuba
Mobile phone: +53 52 39 51 69

Translation of the letter’s text:

Through this letter, I, Reina Luisa Tamayo Dánger, Cuban born, and in perfect command of all my mental faculties; present before this Commission my formal accusation against the illegitimate regime of Fidel Castro Ruz and Raúl Castro Ruz for the legislated, systematic, programmed, formalized and executed violation of all basic and universally recognized rights and freedoms committed against my son Orlando Zapata Tamayo, and the rest of our family.

The attached documentation shall be delivered to the Commission by Cuban born Alina Brouwer Guerra —individual recognized as a political refugee by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1993, who was granted political asylum in Spain in 1997, and who now resides in the US— and by Professor Ricardo Bofill Pagés, political refugee, residing n the US, and a founding member of the Cuban Pro-Human Rights Committee.

Reina Luisa Tamayo Dánger.

For further information, please contact:
Alina Brouwer Guerra,
Cuban Pro-Human Rights Committee
Tel: +1-305-469-9949

CNN reports that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in its 2009 report, has ranked Cuba and Venezuela as the worst countries in the Americas regarding the respect of human rights.

"Venezuela has moved decidedly backward by the decisions of Chavez and, in many ways, is the most-serious case in the Americas," [Robert] Pastor [Latin America national security adviser for President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s] said.

"Cuba has pretty much stayed the same, which is bad," he said.

The Commission recently received and accepted a formal complaint against the Cuban regime by opposition activist Guillermo Fariñas who is on the 6th week of a hunger strike protesting the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo and for the liberation of 26 sick political prisoners.