Madrid Spain.- Seventeen non-governmental organizations, media and institutions presented this June 17 a joint statement to demand the release of the Cuban artivists and political prisoners Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara (LMOA) and Maykel Castillo (Maykel Osorbo), for whom the prosecution asks for seven and ten years of deprivation of liberty, respectively.
Cuba: Organizations demand immediate freedom for artists Luis Manuel Otero and Maykel Castillo https://t.co/twFbPWPoa5
— Cubalex (@CubalexDDHH) June 17, 2022
through the document the signatories “strongly condemned” the charges for alleged contempt, defamation and public disorder brought against the opponents and demanded that the Cuban State release them immediately; as well as the “cessation of the endless campaign of intimidation and persecution against these two talented and brave artists and activists.”
The letter highlights that a conviction without evidence against Luis Manuel Otero and Maykel Osorbo would constitute a clear violation of their exercise of free expression and would confirm the criminalization of their artistic expressions.
The text also recalls that both were recognized as Prisoners of Conscience by Amnesty International and were awarded the Prize for Freedom by Freedom House.
“The Cuban State must comply with its international commitments in terms of human rights, especially those contracted for its role as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, dropping all charges against Maykel Castillo Pérez and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, and putting them released,” the statement insists.
The NGOs, in turn, urged the embassies with a presence in Cuba, the European Union, the UN Special Procedures, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and the entire international community to speak publicly “in front of to this clear violation of human rights and promote by all possible means the immediate release of LMOA and Maykel Castillo.”
The 17 signatory organizations are: ARTICLE 19, Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), PEN America, Association for Press Freedom, CADAL, Civil Rights Defenders, Cubalex, Democratic Culture, DemoAmlat, Diario de Cuba, Government and Political Analysis AC, IFEX -ALC, Hannah Arendt Institute of Artivism (INSTAR), International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights, PEN Cuba in Exile, PEN International, PROMEDEHUM and Network in Defense of Human Rights (RDDHCuba).
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