NEW YORK (November 10, 2009) – Cuban bloggers Yoani Sánchez and Orlando Luís Pardo were abducted and battered by plainclothes state security agents on Friday, November 6. At the time, they were en route to an anti-violence march in downtown Havana with fellow blogger Claudia Cadelo and a female friend. Cadelo and their friend were taken to a police station while Sánchez and Pardo were forced into a different car and beaten.

“This is a blatant attempt by the Cuban government to silence independent thought and speech and should be condemned by human rights groups and governments across the globe,” stated Thor Halvorssen, president of the Human Rights Foundation (HRF). “These bloggers were attacked for peacefully expressing their opinions. Does the Cuban government realize the preposterous irony of violently assaulting citizens who were on their way to protest violence?” asked Halvorssen.

Sánchez and Pardo were forcefully apprehended by three men in civilian clothes who pushed them into a car. The agents warded off concerned bystanders with the warning: “Don’t get involved, these two are counter-revolutionaries.” The attackers then proceeded to beat the bloggers – one agent held Pardo immobilized while another used his knee to pin down Sánchez while she was repeatedly punched in the back and told that her “time was up.” The agents did not present Sánchez or Pardo with an arrest warrant or take them to a police station, instead disposing of them on the street after the attack.

The Cuban government routinely harasses and assaults human rights defenders, independent journalists, and anyone who dares to express discontent with its policies. Dozens of journalists are currently jailed in the country. The 65th General Assembly of the Inter-American Press Association, held in Buenos Aires this month, characterized the freedom of the press situation in Cuba as “devastating” and bleak. Just last December, the government arrested and beat activists who were planning to celebrate the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Although it signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in late February of 2008, the Cuban government has yet to ratify the agreement, continuing instead to violate the guarantees contained in the document.

HRF is an international nonpartisan organization devoted to defending human rights in the Americas. It centers its work on the twin concepts of freedom of self-determination and freedom from tyranny. These ideals include the belief that all human beings have the rights to speak freely, to associate with those of like mind, and to leave and enter their countries. Individuals in a free society must be accorded equal treatment and due process under law, and must have the opportunity to participate in the governments of their countries; HRF’s ideals likewise find expression in the conviction that all human beings have the right to be free from arbitrary detainment or exile and from interference and coercion in matters of conscience. HRF does not support nor condone violence. HRF’s International Council includes former prisoners of conscience Vladimir Bukovsky, Palden Gyatso, Ramón J. Velásquez, Elie Wiesel, and Harry Wu.

Contact:
Sarah Wasserman, Human Rights Foundation, (212) 246.8486, info@thehrf.org

To read an account of the event in Sánchez’s blog, please click here.