[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 26 (Tuesday, March 8, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E376]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 FREEDOM FOR JOSE DANIEL FERRER GARCIA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 8, 2005

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
speak about Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, a political prisoner in 
totalitarian Cuba.
  Mr. Ferrer Garcia is the regional coordinator for the Christian 
Liberation Movement in the province of Santiago. He is a peaceful pro-
democracy activist who believes in the cause of freedom for the men and 
women of Cuba. Because of his steadfast belief in human liberty, and 
his constant work to bring freedom to an island enslaved by the 
nightmare that is the Castro regime, Mr. Ferrer Garcia has been a 
constant target of the dictatorship.
  According to Amnesty International, Mr. Ferrer Garcia has been 
harassed and detained numerous times for his pro-democracy activism. In 
January 2002, he was forced from a bus and beaten by the tyrant's thugs 
because of his activities and ideals. In March 2003, as part of 
Castro's heinous crackdown on peaceful pro-democracy activists, Mr. 
Ferrer Garcia was arrested. Subsequently, in a sham trial, he was 
sentenced to 25 years in the totalitarian gulag.
  While confined in the inhuman horror of Castro's gulag, Mr. Ferrer 
Garcia has been the constant target of abuse. According to the 
Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 
2004:

       On January 1, Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia reported serving 45 
     days in a punishment cell for protesting the suspension of 
     correspondence and the delivery of food and medical supplies 
     from his family. He did not receive food or water during the 
     first 3 days of his confinement and slept on a cement floor. 
     Authorities confiscated his Bible and prohibited any contact 
     with other prisoners.

  The same Country Report describes the true horrors of a punishment 
cell: ``Prisoners sometimes were held in `punishment cells,' which 
usually were located in the basement of a prison, with continuous semi 
dark conditions, no available water, and a hole for a toilet.'' This is 
in addition to the grotesque depravity of the gulag that also includes 
beatings, isolation, denial of medical treatment to detainees and 
sexual abuse.
  Mr. Ferrer Garcia is a brilliant example of the heroism of the Cuban 
people. No matter how intense the repression, no matter how 
horrifically brutal the consequences of a dignified struggle for 
liberty, the totalitarian gulags are full of men and women of all 
backgrounds and ages who represent the best of the Cuban nation. 
Thousands languish in the gulag because, like Mr. Ferrer Garcia, they 
refuse to accept the tyrannical dictatorship in Cuba today.
  Mr. Speaker, we must speak out and act against this abominable 
disregard for human rights, human dignity, and human freedom just 90 
miles from our shore. My Colleagues, we must demand the immediate and 
unconditional release of Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia and every political 
prisoner in totalitarian Cuba.

                          ____________________