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Subject:

Amnesty International Asks URGENT ACTION for Jailed Librarian

From:

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Reply-To:

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Date:

Wed, 12 Sep 2001 21:10:57 EDT

Content-Type:

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Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (132 lines)

    Amnesty International, the world's most respected human rights 
organization, has just issued an "Urgent Action Appeal" asking people to send 
messages opposing the arrest of Leonardo Bruzon Avila.  The text of the 
Amnesty appeal is appended below.   In addition to sending letters to Cuban 
officials, even faster messages can be sent by e-mail to: Foreign Minister 
Felipe Perez Roque ([log in to unmask]) and President Fidel Castro 
([log in to unmask]), with copies to Mr. Eliades Acosta 
([log in to unmask]).

       By taking action on this Amnesty appeal, we will demonstrate that the 
world will no longer tolerate acts of cruelty and repression. It is 
especially important for librarians to show solidarity when one of our 
colleagues is a victim of intolerance and censorship.  Sending an e-mail only 
takes a few moments of your time, and please be assured your message WILL 
HAVE AN IMPACT.

Thank you, 

Robert Kent
Friends of Cuban Libraries
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------      


UA 229/01       Arbitrary arrest/Fear of becoming
                a prisoner of conscience                12 September 2001

CUBA            Leonardo Bruzón Avila, independent librarian and human 
rights defender


Human rights defender Leonardo Bruzón Avila was reportedly arrested on 5 
September, after he set up an independent video library for children in 
the capital, Havana. Amnesty International fears that he may face an 
unfair trial and be jailed as a prisoner of conscience.

He is now held at a police detention centre in Havana, the Departamento 
Técnico de Investigaciones (DTI), Technical Investigations Department. As yet 
no charges are known to 
have been brought against him.

He reportedly opened the video library on 12 August, with a screening of 
the Disney film Hercules, which many children came to. Leonardo Bruzón is 
President of the Movimiento Pro Derechos Humanos 24 de Febrero, 24 February 
Human Rights Movement named for the date in 1996 on which 
two planes belonging to a Cuban exile group were shot down by the Cuban 
airforce. He named the library, in his home in Havana, "The 24 February 
Library". The authorities issued a warrant for his arrest and the eviction 
of him and his family. Leonardo Bruzón went into hiding until his arrest. 
It is not known whether the eviction order has been carried out.

Leonardo Bruzón has been repeatedly detained and harassed. In August this 
year he and other opponents of the government were arrested and briefly 
detained to prevent them taking part in a demonstration calling for the 
release of political prisoners, in which they were planning to stand with 
candles in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary in the Virgen del Camino 
park in Havana.  On 3 December 2000 he and other dissidents were detained 
to prevent them taking part in a demonstration to celebrate Human Rights 
Day. Leonardo Bruzón was not released for two months.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The media in Cuba is controlled by the state, and freedom of expression, 
association and assembly are severely limited. The first independent library 
was started in 1998 in Las Tunas by a couple 
who were reportedly motivated by comments made at a book fair by President 
Fidel Castro, who said there were no banned books in Cuba, only limited 
funds with which to buy books for public libraries. Since then many 
independent libraries have been set up, and many 
librarians have been detained, harassed and threatened with arrest if they 
continue their work, or asked to leave the country.
 
Leonardo Bruzón recently said that he had set up the 24 February library 
for "the promotion of activities of a cultural nature ... every Sunday we 
will screen films for children and young people". ("La biblioteca '24 de 
Febrero' promueve actividades de índole cultural ... 
cada domingo exhibiremos filmes para los niños y jóvenes ...").


RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, 
in Spanish, English or your own language:
- expressing concern that Leonardo Bruzón Avila has been detained;
- urging that he be released or charged with a criminal offence;
- expressing concern that he may be a prisoner of conscience, detained 
solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression; 
- urging that he be granted access to a lawyer of his choice; 
- urging that independent librarians and journalists be permitted to carry 
out their legitimate peaceful activities without interference from the 
authorities.

APPEALS TO:
Attorney-General
Dr Juan Escalona Reguera
Fiscal General de la República
Fiscalía General de la República
San Rafael 3, La Habana, Cuba
Telegrams:      Fiscal General, Havana, Cuba
Telexes:        511456 fisge
Salutation:     Sr Fiscal General / Dear Attorney General

Minister of Foreign Affairs
Sr Felipe Pérez Roque
Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores
Calzada No. 360
Vedado, La Habana, Cuba
Telegrams: Ministro Relaciones Exteriores, Havana, Cuba
Faxes:  + 53 7 333085 / 335261
Telexes:        511122 / 511464 / 512950
Salutation: Señor Ministro / Dear Minister

Minister of the Interior
General Abelardo Colomé Ibarra
Ministro de Interior
Ministerio del Interior
Plaza de la Revolución
La Habana, Cuba
Telegrams:      Ministro Interior, Havana, Cuba
Faxes: +53 7 33 5261 / 537 301566 
Salutation:     Señor Ministro / Dear Minister

COPIES TO:
Editor of Granma (daily newspaper)
Sr Jacinto Granda de Laserna, Granma, Apdo 6260, La Habana, Cuba

and to diplomatic representatives of Cuba accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or 
your section office, if 
sending appeals after 24 October 2001.

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