Prize-winning Cuban dissident pleads for rights abuses not to be forgotten

by Carlos Batista

Friday, January 30, 2004

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): Leading Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya, who won Europe's Sakharov Prize for human rights last year, on Thursday congratulated UN chief Kofi Annan on winning the same honor, and urged the international community not to forget massive violations of human rights here.

Paya, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee last year, asked that the world "not abandon the Cuban people now" in a letter to the president of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.

The European Parliament in Brussels conferred the prize on Annan and in honor of UN staff killed in international peacekeeping efforts.

Paya, who was invited to attend the Brussels ceremony, said, "I cannot attend because the government refuses to allow me to travel." 

His has been the most active, highest-profile campaign to try to press the only communist government in the Americas for democratic and economic reforms.

Paya charged that President Fidel Castro's government "systematically and massively violates those and all basic human rights."

He said the award given him last year supported "the right of Cubans to all human rights."

Paya has spearheaded the Varela Project, collecting 25,000 signatures seeking a referendum on political and economic reforms, and called for the release of all political prisoners. Cuba has rejected the request.

"Do not abandon the Cuban people now," Paya pleaded, "now that they need the solidarity of parliaments, political and social organizations, governments and people to achieve change peacefully." Paya was nominated for a 2003 Nobel Peace Prize.

On January 21, the United States accused Cuba of "systematically persecuting" scores of dissidents it detained last year in a nationwide crackdown on the opposition, alleging jailhouse mistreatment and abuse.

The State Department renewed US calls for the immediate release of the 75 dissidents -- journalists, librarians and human rights activists -- who it said had been convicted of trumped-up charges by Castro's government and sentenced to grossly unfair prison sentences of up to 20 years.

Last month, Paya unveiled a "working document" in Havana that seeks political reform and a transition to democratic rule.

Paya, head of the opposition Christian Liberation Movement, called on all Cubans -- including Cuban exiles -- to participate in a national dialogue calling for democracy.

"The final goal is to achieve a democratic government elected by the people and with a program defined by the people," Paya said at the time.

Paya's 70-page, nine-chapter road map lays out "a path of reconciliation" toward democracy.

The document foresees a democratic government being installed under a presidential college composed of three members.

Its members, who would have to reside in Cuba, would be charged with overseeing a transition to democracy, according to the document.

Paya has said his political group will be organizing debates across Cuba to showcase the document and its goals. 

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