Darsi Ferrer Ramírez
Dr. Darsi Ferrer Ramírez, physician, human rights activist and journalist, on Friday was adopted by Amnesty International as its 55th prisoner of conscience. AI marked the occasion by demanding that the murdering Castro dictatorship immediately release him.
What is the importance of this?
It means that perhaps most recognizable human rights organization in the world has elevated the status of a man jailed not for anything he did or for any law he might have broken, but because of his ideals, because of his courage in confronting a dictatorship and its lies, and demanding, CAMBIO!
A man of Ferrer's humility and patriotism might disagree with that assessment, that it's only about him. Instead, Ferrer might tell you that Amnesty's recognition of his plight is rather an acknowledgment that Cuba today is not free, that it is country where any man can be targeted, arrested and jailed indefinitely only because the government feels threatened by them. He might tell you that he only is a vessel for a nation in bondage.
Ferrer has been in jail since July 2009, ostensibly for illegally possessing some construction materials.
No one, including Amnesty International, believes that:
Darsi Ferrer, Director of the Juan Bruno Zayas Health and Human Rights Centre in Havana, has been detained since July 2009 on spurious charges of receiving illegally obtained goods, an offence usually immediately bailed.
He has not been brought to trial and he’s being held in a maximum security prison in Havana intended for inmates who have been convicted of violent crimes.
“The accusation against Darsi Ferrer is clearly a pretext. We believe he was detained as a punishment for his work to promote freedom of expression in Cuba,” said Gerardo Ducos, Cuba researcher at Amnesty International.
Although the offense with which Darsi Ferrer is charged would normally be reviewed by a local magistrate, his case is being handled by the General Prosecutors Office, fueling the argument that this case is politically motivated. The activist has been detained many times before in connection with his protest activities.
“Anyone charged with this crime would normally be awaiting trial on bail, not held in a maximum security prison. This is yet another attempt by the Cuban authorities to hinder the work of human rights activist in Cuba,” said Gerardo Ducos
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Any other week, the Amnesty designation might be the most significant event in the Cuban opposition movement. Properly exploited — in the best sense of the word — it would offer a wonderful opportunity to spread the message about the struggle for freedom in Cuba and the plight of those unjustly imprisoned by the Castro dictatorship.
This week, though, belongs to Orlando Zapata Tamayo, an AI-designated prisoner of conscience who died Tuesday after more than 80 days on hunger strike demanding that his human rights be respected.
Zapata's murder ensures that he forever will be in the highest pantheon of Cuban heroes, so maybe, to AI's thinking, not just any prisoner could take his spot in the roster of Cuban prisoners of conscience.
Darsi Ferrer is not just any prisoner.
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Darsi Ferrer is not just another prisoner for me to profile on this blog — which I have done numerous times over the years.
Darsi Ferrer, I dare say, is my brother, is my friend.
That bond was melded in September 2006 when I interviewed him via e-mail for a column I wrote for this blog, after a prior arrest because of his pro-freedom activities.
My questions were: 1) When you are arrested, did you worry that this time you would be tried and sentenced to prison? 2) Are you concerned that the regime may be about to launch a new wave of oppression against the opposition? 3) How receptive are the Cuban people to your calls for change ?4) What can people in the United States do to help you and the cause for freedom?
These were his answers:
Dear Brother,
Pardon my tardiness in answering you but it’s been a while since I have been able to come here to the internet room of the office of the US Interest Section, the only place from where they give us access to the service a few hours as week.
I share your assessment. I am one of those who thinks that we must stop the succession of power at all cost through acts of disobedience that reach the population and achieve the transition to democracy at the same time.
With respect to the questions:
1) The goal of State Police is to incarcerate me in order to silence my voice. Its intention is to destroy the work that we are carrying out in the Center of Health and Human Rights that puts an end to the boastful myth about the successes of the government in the field of health. Therefore, when the arrest me, there is always the possibility that I will be sent to prison.
2) In fact, since the days prior to the beginning of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit that is taking place in Havana, repression against all society, especially against those persons that take a dissident stance has increased dramatically. This demonstrates the immorality and anti-democratic character of this totalitarian and decadent regime.
3) The immense majority of Cubans long for a change, including many of those that are currently in different levels within the power structure. We’ve had more than four decades of resistance to change, and the Cuban government has demonstrated its filthiness and failure in political, economic, and social arenas with the destruction of everything. If it still currently maintains our nation in submission, it is due to the mechanisms of terror that it has implemented. But, in the conscience of Cubans, it is now time to put an end to all the suffering; that’s what the change urges. Cubans desire to live in freedom with democracy and to have the opportunity to move ahead.
4) The cause of freedom for Cuba requires a lot of support and solidarity. Those of us on the island who are members of the opposition are victims of all the hatred and cruelty of the Cuban government. We are defenseless against the repressive mechanism of the regime. We are armed only with our conscience and good will. The people of the United States and other countries of the international democratic community would help us a lot by not recognizing and legitimizing a succession of power in our country that perpetuates totalitarianism, by condemning in whatever possible way the repression and abuses of the Cuban government, and by demanding, along with us, freedom for our country.
I seek no recognition for what Amnesty International has done, but I wonder if the designation would have come if not for efforts like this one.
A message from an acquaintance this evening suggested I deserve some credit, but more than anything, I am grateful for those who have helped me spread the word about my friend, about my brother.
And I am proud that he is getting the attention he deserves.
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For more than his graciousness with a fellow journalist, a fellow Cuban, I am most proud to call Darsi Ferrer friend and brother because of how he inspired a group of school children here in Florida who following the example he set, made their own a cause dear to his heart: Commemorating each year, International Human Rights Day and demanding CAMBIO, or "change," for Cuba and for the world.
When I think of Darsi Ferrer, I think not of Amnesty International's recognition.
Instead, I think of this picture:
For information on how you can help Amnesty International, including by donating money, go here.
These Cubans are also prisoners of conscience.
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