News
Wilman Villar, Another Victim of the Intolerance and Repression of the Cuban Government
The intolerant and repressive policies of the Cuban government have claimed a new victim. This time it was the 31 year old dissident Wilman Villar, who joined the lines of public dissidents (mostly from the Cuban Patriotic Union) in a march on October of 2011 in Cuba’s western region.
On the 24th of November 2011 in Santiago de Cuba, Villar was sentenced to 4 years in prison for participating in a march in protest against the Cuban regime. After beginning a hunger strike in protest against the arbitrary sentence, he was sent, in the middle of very low temperatures, naked to the worst cells available. He suffered cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment. As a result, his lungs suffered, and without ever abandoning his strike, he contracted pneumonia and died.
Amnesty International has blamed the Cuban authorities for Wilman Villar’s death based on the fact that the deceased dissident “was tried and imprisoned just for exercising his human right to express himself freely.” The well-known international organization stated that “The death of a prisoner of conscience in custody after a hunger strike is a very clear reminder of the intolerance of Raul Castro’s regime.”
The Global Cuba Solidarity Movement would like put out a special call to the international community to get involved in efforts to reclaim the freedom of all the Cuban political prisoners and the respect for their human rights, as well as an end to the harassment and repression experienced by Cuban dissidents. Violence and imprisonment for the people on the Island that are different or who disagree must stop and the responsibility to bring that about rests entirely on the Castro brothers’ government.
The Global Cuba Solidarity Movement is made up of organizations and individuals around the world who support freedom for the Cuban people. The Movement aims to increase international awareness and support for Cuban civil society. Through these efforts, the Cuban people on the Island who are fighting for freedom can feel support and know that the International community believes in their cause.
For more information on the Global Cuba Solidarity Movement, please visit: www.solidaridadcuba.org or email: info@solidaridadcuba.org