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José Daniel Ferrer García, leader of the unofficial political opposition group “Patriotic Union of Cuba,” was arrested on 11 July 2021 in the context of island-wide protests and has been imprisoned ever since. He is now being held incommunicado, according to his family. He is a prisoner of conscience who must be released immediately and unconditionally.
José Daniel Ferrer García was last able to communicate with his family by telephone on 4 June 2022, and on 30 June authorities denied visits from his wife, according to his family. Detention without access to the outside world – incommunicado detention – facilitates torture or other ill-treatment and enforced disappearance. In some circumstances, it can itself constitute torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
On 7 July 2022, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances informed NGO Prisoners Defenders that it had written to the government asking it to provide information about the fate and whereabouts of José Daniel to his family and lawyers, and to provide the Committee with detailed information about his current access to communication with the outside world. The concealment of a prisoner’s fate or whereabouts may amount to an enforced disappearance for the purposes of Article 2 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, to which Cuba is a state party.
Detained on 11 July 2021, before he reached island-wide mass protests, José Daniel Ferrer García, is a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned solely for his consciously held beliefs.
Write to the President urging him to:
- immediately release José Daniel Ferrer García and pending that, allow his family immediate access to communicate with him
Write to:
Miguel Díaz-Canel
President of Cuba
Hidalgo Esq. 6, Plaza de La Revolución
CP 10400
La Habana
Cuba
Email: despacho@presidencia.gob.cu
Salutation: Dear Mr. President:
And Copy:
His Excellency Hector Igarza Cabrera
Ambassador
Embassy of the Republic of Cuba
388 Main Street
Ottawa, ON K1S 1E3
Fax: 613 563 0068
Email: cuba@embacubacanada.net
Additional Information
José Daniel Ferrer García is an activist and leader of the unofficial political opposition group “Patriotic Union of Cuba”. He was detained on 11 July 2021, in the context of island-wide protests, and has been imprisoned ever since.
On 11 July, José Daniel tried to attend the country-wide demonstrations in Santiago de Cuba with his son. He left his house and walked past the state security officials who constantly monitor him, but other law enforcement officials stopped him a few meters ahead.
José Daniel Ferrer García and his son were detained together and initially following his detention there was no formal record of José Daniel’s whereabouts, and the authorities did not allow his family to see or communicate with him. Amnesty International believes that the concealment of his whereabouts amounted to an enforced disappearance for the purposes of Article 2 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, to which Cuba is a state party.
For his attempt to join the protests, José Daniel Ferrer García was charged with “public disorder,” however, a year after his arrest he has not received a trial and remains in prison. In 2020, following a different trial tainted by irregularities, José Daniel was convicted to four and a half years of house arrest. According to documents seen by Amnesty International, due to the new charges of “public disorder” a Provincial Tribunal in Santiago revoked his house arrest in August 2021, obliging him to pass that previous sentence in prison.
On 4 June 2022, a Provincial Tribunal in Santiago denied a habeas corpus request submitted by his family.
On 7 July 2022, the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances informed NGO Prisoners Defenders that it had written to Cuba asking the state to provide information about the fate and whereabouts of José Daniel to his family and lawyers, and to provide the Committee with detailed information about his current access to communication with the outside world.
Prior to his detention on 11 July, José Daniel Ferrer García endured constant threats and harassment. José Daniel Ferrer García has long reported suffering health problems, related to his previous long-term detentions in prison, including, among other things, serious gastric problems, and chronic headaches.
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If you want Updates on this case, send your request to urgentaction@amnesty.ca with “Keep me updated on UA 67/22” in the subject line.
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