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Join the Ladies in White in Calling for Human Rights in Cuba

Click Here to Take Action:

http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/SixthAnniversary/

It has now been six years since 75 human rights defenders were imprisoned in Cuba for nothing more than peacefully demanding fundamental rights.

In March 2003, activists throughout the country were arrested by the Cuban government and summarily tried and sentenced to as many as 28 years in prison. Today, 54 of them remain in jail, many with severe illnesses they've developed from poor prison conditions.

Their wives, sisters, daughters, and loved ones have formed the Damas de Blanco, or Ladies in White, who march every Sunday through the streets of Havana to demand the release of their family members and to promote human rights in the face of constant harassment. This year, they held six days of religious services, peaceful marches, and assemblies in front of government offices to mark the anniversary. Their events were repeatedly broken up by government-organized mobs. On March 8, their commemoration of International Women's Day was also interrupted. On both occasions, members of the organization who live outside Havana were reportedly prevented from traveling to attend the events, a violation of their rights to movement and peaceful assembly.

In a recent report to the UN Human Rights Council, the Cuban government claimed that all Cubans "fully and universally enjoy all human rights." The unjust jailing of 75 human rights defenders, and the continued harassment of peaceful activists such as the Ladies in White, undermines such a claim and violates fundamental human rights.

Please call on the Cuban government to end the imprisonment of the 54 human rights activists jailed six years ago, and to respect the efforts of the Ladies in White to promote human rights.

Click Here to Take Action:

http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/SixthAnniversary/

For more information, read Human Rights First's submission to the UN Human Rights Council on Cuban defenders here.

Alert Date: March 26, 2009

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