Rosa María Payá: “Nothing can compensate us, but now we are closer to justice”

MIAMI, United States. — Rosa María Payá, daughter of the late Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, reacted this Monday to the report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on the responsibility of the Cuban regime in the death of the opposition leader and fellow activist Harold Cepero.

“IACHR Decision: Cuban State is responsible for the murder of my father, Oswaldo Payá, and Harold Cepero. Nothing will be able to compensate us, but now we are closer to the justice that will come for all Cubans when your dream of freedom is fulfilled, dad,” he said in Twitter the founder of Cuba Decides.

The citizen initiative was also pronounced after the IACHR ruling, which it described as “historic”.

“We celebrate the historic decision of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which finally held the Government of Cuba responsible for the murders of the leaders Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero.”

The Robert F. Kennedy Foundation for Human Rightsthrough its president, Kerry Kennedy, also echoed the “important victory.”

“Today, we are celebrating an important victory that is more than ten years in the making. Thanks to the IACHR for its determination and resolution in this case and to the brave family of Oswaldo Payá”.

The IACHR’s conclusion was included in Report on Admissibility and Merits No. 83/23 of Case 14,196, which establishes that “the Cuban State violated the rights to life, honor, and freedom of expression of both persons.”

The IACHR document not only identified “serious and sufficient evidence to conclude that state agents participated in the deaths of Payá and Cepero,” but also determined that “what happened to the victims was framed in the context of persecution and state repression against political dissidents and defenders in Cuba, with the aim of hindering or paralyzing the work of defending and promoting human rights.”