Freedom for the Ferrer Garcia Brothers

This is an international petition to urge the Cuban government to free José Daniel Ferrer García, 34 and Luis Enrique Ferrer García, 31 who are unjustly held in a Cuban prison. Both are Amnesty International Prisoners of conscience:

José Daniel Ferrer García, 34
Local coordinator of the Varela Project, independent journalist
Sentence: 25 years
Date of arrest: 19 March 2003
Home town: Santiago de Cuba
Prison: Combinado del Este Prison, Havana

Luis Enrique Ferrer García, 31
Local coordinator of the Varela Project
Sentence: 28 years
Date of arrest: 19 March 2003
Home town: Puerto Padre, Las Tunas province
Prison: Carlos J. Finlay Hospital, Havana

Background

As Coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement (Movimento Cristiano Liberación-MCL) in the province of Las Tunas, Luis Enrique Ferrer organized groups of people who were able to collect hundreds of signatures for the Varela Project. As a result of the work that put organizers like Luis Enrique Ferrer and his older brother, independent journalist José Daniel Ferrer at great personal risk, over 11,020 signatures were collected and presented to the National Assembly in May 2002. Luis Enrique Ferrer personally presented copies of the signatures to visiting foreign legislators.

Luis Enrique Ferrer received the longest sentence of all of those arrested in the recent crackdown. He was sentenced to 28 years’ imprisonment and is currently being held at the prison Combinado del Este in Havana. It is unclear why Mr. Ferrer received such a particularly long sentence. His prison conditions are harsh. In a dark cell, no larger than 8 by 4 feet, with nowhere to sleep but a concrete platform, Luis Enrique Ferrer is reported to be suffering from severe vomiting and diarrhea. Mr. Ferrer is being held in solitary confinement and is being subjected to additional punishment as a result of his refusal to wear prison uniform.

José Daniel Ferrer, sentenced to 25 years, is reported to be in similar conditions in a prison in Pinar del Rio. He is being held in solitary confinement in a cell reported to be approximately nine by three feet and completely dark. The cell has no water supply, José Daniel only has access to water when it is brought to him by the guards.

Luis Enrique Ferrer, born August 27, 1976, in the province of Santiago de Cuba, is a man of humble origins. As a fisherman, he had his first confrontation with the regime when officials confiscated the fish that he had caught to feed his family. He and his brother, José Daniel Ferrer, age 32, have played an active role in the young, but growing, human rights and democracy movement within the island.

According to other activists who have worked with Luis Enrique in Cuba, before being imprisoned, he was a pioneer in organizing seminars and workshops on human rights and civic education for Santiago de Cuba. José Daniel Ferrer, apart from collecting signatures for the Varela Project, is an independent journalist whose work often deals with human rights issues.

http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/defenders/hrd_cuba/hrd_cuba_garcia.htm

In October 2004, Luis Enrique Ferrer García, the youngest of the 75 dissidents arrested in March 2003, was reportedly stripped and beaten by prison guards and officials in the Youth Prison of Santa Clara.

http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR250022005?open&of=ENG-CUB