Oswaldo Payá

 MESSAGE TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTWe ask: Will we have to wait until next year for the European Union to address again its relations with Cuba? In the meantime, what will be the European approach? Can we expect that the ratification of the Common Position imply that every member of the European Union will conduct its affairs in a manner that corresponds with that Position?

 

It is necessary to remind Cubans, the world and also Europeans that that Common Position does not consist of aggression against Cuba, nor isolation of Cuba, and not even imposing by force conditions on the people of Cuba, but in fact the contrary. The European Common Position is the demand that the Cuban government respect fundamental rights—the human rights of Cubans in their own country.

 

We will never ask for, nor will we accept, sanctions or policies towards Cuba that cause harm or suffering for Cubans or deny the sovereign right of our people to free self-determination and national independence. That is why we do not, will not, and never will accept embargos, interventions or interference of any type. But it is the order without rights and without democracy imposed in Cuba—with its intrinsic denial of personal liberty and its denial of human rights both in law and in practice—that is the primary cause that harms people and families, inflicts sustained suffering on the Cuban people, and denies in practice and through law mechanisms the right to sovereignty of the people of Cuba.

 

For promoting and defending these rights, for proposing peaceful changes and national reconciliation—as we have done through the Varela Project campaign—and for denouncing violations of peoples’ rights, the Prisoners of the Cuban Spring and other Cuban political prisoners are in jail.

 

The cruel and degrading prison conditions of so many Cuban defenders of human rights, the harassment of the families of prisoners—especially the Ladies in White, and the harassment and persecution of those who struggle for democracy should not be interpreted solely as repression by the Cuban government against those whom it considers to be its political adversaries.

 

 

 

These unjust imprisonments, and the repression against those Cubans, are the visible evidence of the general repression that is felt by all Cuban people.  Such acts are a means of intimidation against all citizens, and they are a confirmation that the doors to a future democracy remain closed and have not even begun to open.  They confirm the government’s resistance to the popular will and its denial of the people’s desire for a different life.  No one should doubt that the different life that Cubans desire is based on liberty.  

(See the Declaration of Liberty of the Cuban People, at www.oswaldopaya.org).

       

The European Union should promote and support the proposed resolution to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations.  This resolution asks the government of Cuba to release all those who have been unjustly imprisoned for having promoted, defended, and exercised their universally-recognized human rights.

 

The release of all those who have been imprisoned for promoting, defending, and exercising their human rights would be an act of justice not only for these individuals, but also for the entire Cuban people.  This release would be an authentic sign of the beginning of a new age for Cuba as it opens paths toward the respect of the rights of all, toward reconciliation, and toward the peaceful changes desired in all spheres of life.  

 

Only Cubans can bring about these peaceful changes in society through dialogue and through democratic participation supported by the institutionalization of rights.  Cubans will know how to preserve and improve upon the successes of the people and how to change that which should be changed for the good of all.  We firmly believe that such a transformation is possible.  The civic Cuban Forum Campaign (CFC), even in the face of repression, intensifies the peaceful path of the Varela Project among the people as the first step toward these changes.

 

There has been much speculation and many predictions about the changes taking place in Cuba. There has even been a virtual scenario of supposed changes created, with expectations that cannot even rest on the promises of the Cuban government, as they have not carried out these changes. Regardless, many insist on accepting and even promoting a vote of confidence for some changes undertaken by the government—those which we all desire—but also for those changes that are neither compromises nor signs of things to come but instead are acts of arrogance and intolerance, and forms of repression against even the safety and security of the families of human rights defenders.

 

We do not seek to cast aspersions on those currently in power as possible catalysts of joint change. It is they themselves who expressly—and with their status quo policy of totalitarianism—cast aspersions on these changes, and stigmatize and persecute those who make proposals or call for change. Changes in Cuba are coming through the peaceful and civic path of this Campaign that calls for legal reforms to respect the rights of Cubans.

 

 

 

The game of creating this virtual scenario, apart from offending the intelligence and dignity of Cubans, has promoted intransigence and stimulated repression and intolerance. Our call and challenge to those who see change when they see imaginary processes—or modifications to make a closed system more effective and efficient—is this: and why not rights?

 

We must recall once more: “We Cubans are human beings, and we have a right to all rights.”

 

Last December 18^th, we presented the Law of National Reconciliation to the National Assembly of the People’s Power. This bill declares the right of Cubans to leave and enter the island freely and puts an end to the discriminations and humiliations that Cubans suffer in our own land.

 

Unfortunately, the National Assembly has neither considered this bill nor submitted it to public scrutiny or decision. The National Assembly gave the same treatment to the Varela Project, which we will continue to pursue because it demands fundamental rights for Cubans.

 

The latest declaration by the European Council, calling for the release of political prisoners in Cuba and stressing the need to improve the human rights situation on the island, is of much consequence. The European Parliament has constantly stood in solidarity with the Cuban people on these issues. We now hope that the member countries, the institutions, and the citizens of the European Union will be firm in demanding the respect of the rights of Cubans regardless of the relationship they propose regarding Cuba.

 

These demands should serve as priorities in the dialogue with the Cuban authorities. These demands will always serve as priorities in the dialogue between Europeans and defenders of human rights in Cuba.

 

Instead of presenting a list of petitions, we will simply call for solidarity with the people of Cuba in these direct and fair terms: the true respect for the sovereignty and self-determination of the Cuban people, and the expression of good will and the contribution to the overall process and to peace for Cubans on behalf of the European Union—from whatever state or group of states, institutions and individuals—should draw from and sustain itself on the support for the legitimate aspirations of the Cuban people to have all of their human rights respected in our own country.

 

 

Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas

Havana

July 14, 2008

Christian Liberation Movement (Movimiento Cristiano Liberación ( MCL)