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This News Service is posted by the
International Secretariat of Amnesty International,
1 Easton Street, London WC1X 8DJ
(Tel +44-71-413-5500, Fax +44-71-956-1157)
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News Service 34/96
AI INDEX: AMR 25/07/96
22 FEBRUARY 1996


CUBA: TRIALS SET TO BEGIN AS ARRESTS OF MEMBERS OF CONCILIO
CUBANO CONTINUE

As the wave of arrests of members of the non-governmental
coalition, Concilio Cubano, Cuban Concilium -- which began
last week -- continues across the country, Amnesty
International calls on the Cuban authorities to immediately
release any members detained solely for their peaceful
activities.

      ~The government seems intent on trying to intimidate
all those involved in Concilio Cubano into giving up their
activities which to our knowledge have been entirely
peaceful,~ Amnesty International said today.
      The arrests started on 15 February in what appeared to
be an attempt to prevent Concilio Cubano from holding a
national conference this weekend. Even though the group~s
leaders have now agreed not to go ahead with the planned
meeting, arrests and intimidation continue. Trials also
appear to be imminent. Indeed, the trial of one of the
national organizers, Lazaro Gonzalez Valdes, was reportedly
set for today.

      Amnesty International has received the names of some 60
activists belonging to groups that make up the Concilium who
have been taken into police custody since 15 February.  While
some were released after a few hours or days with warnings of
further imprisonment, others remain in detention.  Many
others have been kept under heavy police surveillance or have
had their homes searched.  Up-to-date details on each case
are hard to obtain because many telephone links have been cut
off by the authorities.

      Of the five-person national leadership of the
Concilium, three remain in custody. Dr Leonel Morejon Almagro
and Lazaro Gonzalez Valdes, both arrested on 15 February, are
currently held at the headquarters of the Department of
Technical Investigations. While the place of detention of
Reinaldo Cosano Alen, arrested on 21 February, remains
unknown.

      A fourth member, Mercedes Parada Antunez, remains under
police guard in a Havana hospital and has been told she will
face various charges. The fifth member, Hector Palacios Ruiz,
arrested on 15 February, was released on 20 February.  It is
not clear whether any charges are pending against him.
      The Cuban authorities have not provided any public
information about the arrests.  However, on 21 February, the
family of Lazaro Gonzalez Valdes were informed that he would
be tried this morning in the People~s Municipal Court of La
Palma in the municipality of Arroyo Naranjo, Havana, on a
charge of ~disrespect~ and possibly others.  The other four
have reportedly been threatened with charges such as
spreading ~enemy propaganda~, holding illegal meetings,
~dangerousness~ and so-called ~economic crimes~.

      Most have been arrested on several occasions in the
past few months and have received official warnings about
their activities.  Once a person accumulates three official
warnings, it is customary for charges to be brought.  The
charge of ~disrespect~ carries a maximum sentence of three
years~ imprisonment. Normally, municipal courts can only
impose sentences of up to one year~s imprisonment.
      Lazaro Gonzalez Valdes is unlikely to have had access
to a lawyer while in detention and it is feared that his
access of adequate defence counsel will be severely limited.

      Amnesty International believes that if they remain
imprisoned, Lazaro Gonzalez Valdes, Dr Leonel Morejon Almagro
and Reinaldo Cosano Alen will be prisoners of conscience.ENDS\

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Indice de AI: AMR

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