[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 72 (Thursday, May 26, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   FREEDOM FOR OMAR PERNET HERNANDEZ

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 26, 2005

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak 
about Omar Pernet Hernandez a political prisoner in totalitarian Cuba.
  Mr. Pernet Hernandez is the leader of the National Movement for Human 
Rights. As a peaceful advocate for freedom, democracy and human rights, 
he has been a constant target of the totalitarian tyranny.
  In March 2003, as part of Castro's condemnable crackdown on peaceful 
pro-democracy activists, Mr. Pernet Hernandez was arrested. In a sham 
trial, he was sentenced 25 years in the totalitarian gulag.
  Despite being confined in the abhorrent, subhuman conditions of the 
gulag, Mr. Pernet Hernandez continues to advocate for human rights for 
all Cubans, including participating in a hunger strike to demand the 
humane treatment of political prisoners. According to Amnesty 
International, he is suffering from lung problems, a chronic gastric 
ulcer, and high blood pressure. Let us be very clear, Mr. Pernet 
Hernandez is languishing in the gulag because of his belief in human 
rights.
  According to the Department of State's Country Reports on Human 
Rights Practices for 2004:

       Prison conditions continued to be harsh and life 
     threatening, and conditions in detention facilities also were 
     harsh . . . Police and prison officials beat, neglected, 
     isolated, and denied medical treatment to detainees and 
     prisoners, including those convicted of political crimes or 
     those who persisted in expressing their views. Political 
     prisoners in particular often were held at facilities 
     hundreds of miles from their families, placing an undue 
     hardship on many families' time and financial resources.

  Mr. Pernet Hernandez is representative of the Cuban people's desire 
for liberty; despite constant harassment, despite incarceration in a 
grotesque gulag, he continues to fight for the inalienable human rights 
of the Cuban people. It is a crime against humanity that Castro's 
totalitarian dungeons are full of men and women, like Mr. Pernet 
Hernandez, who represent the best of the Cuban nation.
  Mr. Speaker, it is totally unacceptable that brave men and women are 
locked in dungeons because they believe in freedom, human rights, and 
the rule of law. My Colleagues, we must demand the immediate and 
unconditional release of Omar Pernet Hernandez and every political 
prisoner in totalitarian Cuba.

                          ____________________