Cuba: Second raid and siege at home of human rights defenders Mr Jorge Luís García Pérez and Ms Yris Pérez Aguilera Front Line Defenders February 13, 2014
Raid at home of Jorge Luís García Pérez and Yris Pérez Aguilera
On 11 February 2014, the home of human rights defenders Mr Jorge Luís “Antúnez” García Pérez and Ms Yris Pérez Aguilera was raided for a second time, following an earlier raid on 5 February 2014.
The house has been under siege since 24 January 2014 by the National Revolutionary Police despite the fact that Yris Pérez Aguilera is in need of medical attention.
Antúnez is the national secretary of the Frente Nacional de Resistencia Cívica Orlando Zapata Tamayo - Frente OZT (Orlando Zapata Tamayo National Front for Civic Resistance). Yris Pérez Aguilera is a member of the Movimiento Feminista por los Derechos Civiles Rosa Parks (Rosa Parks Feminist Movement for Civil Rights). The Frente OZT is a national grouping of regional coalitions of the Cuban opposition, which organises protests and non-violent civil resistance. Antúnez had recently returned from a trip to Europe to raise awareness of the situation in Cuba.
At 6am on 11 February 2014, members of the National Revolutionary Police broke down the doors of the human rights defenders' home and took them from their beds before arresting them. Human rights defenders Messrs Yunier Santana Hernández and Leodanis Rico Herrera, who were also present in the house at the time, were also arrested. Yunier Santana Hernández was reportedly beaten while he was arrested and taken to the city of Santa Clara. Whilst the human rights defenders were held at the police station, the house was reportedly ransacked and items such as mobile phones were taken. All four human rights defenders were later released. Since the incident, National Revolutionary Police have not allowed food or supplies into the home of the human rights defenders, and have not allowed Yris Pérez Aguilera to see a doctor.
Since 24 January 2014, there has been a permanent security cordon maintained by state security forces around the home of Antúnez and Yris Pérez Aguilera. The house was raided by state security forces on 5 February 2014. On 10 February 2014, Antúnez, together with Yunier Santana Hernández and Leodanis Rico Herrera, went on hunger strike to protest against the cordon and demand the return of belongings taken on 5 February 2014. There are reports that other activists in Cuba have begun a hunger strike in solidarity with them.
Front Line Defenders is concerned that both raids and the security cordon around the home of the Antúnez and Yris Pérez Aguilera are directly related to their peaceful and legitimate work for human rights and democracy in Cuba.
_____________________
|