[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 33 (Thursday, February 28, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E265]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   FREEDOM FOR JUAN BERMUDEZ TORANZO

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 28, 2008

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to 
speak about Juan Bermudez Toranzo, a political prisoner in totalitarian 
Cuba.
  Mr. Juan Bermudez Toranzo is vice president of the Cuban Foundation 
for Human Rights. On November 21, 2007, Mr. Bermudez was participating 
in a peaceful fast at his home in support of the political prisoners 
kept in repressive and inhumane conditions in Cuba's gulags. That 
evening 30 police and state security thugs stormed Mr. Bermudez's home 
and dragged him into a police car.
  According to Amnesty International the arrest of Mr. Bermudez was 
part of an increasingly arbitrary crackdown against dissidents because 
of their involvement in peaceful protests. The unjustified arrests by 
the totalitarian regime's goons were aimed at discouraging 
demonstrations against the government, particularly on December 10, 
International Human Rights Day. International Human Rights Day honors 
the day of the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and 
proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first 
global declaration of human rights.
  Just last month a sham regime court held proceedings in secret, 
``convicting'' Mr. Bermudez of ``revealing state secrets,'' and 
sentencing him to 12 years in prison. But the regime hooligans were not 
content with the 12-year prison sentence. They wanted to send a message 
to future political dissidents by first putting Mr. Bermudez in a 
punishment cell and denying him clothes and water. They also constantly 
subjected Mr. Bermudez to psychological torture.
  The inhumane conditions in the totalitarian regime's prisons took 
their toll on Mr. Bermudez and he allegedly attempted to commit 
suicide.
  This is not the first time Mr. Bermudez has faced the brutality of 
the Cuban totalitarian- gangster regime. Last March while leaving the 
Rosa Parks Independent Library at the U.S. Interests Section, the 
regime's secret police arrested Mr. Bermudez. After his release he said 
that he would continue his opposition to the dictatorship and his work 
for human rights.
  After Mr. Bermudez's arrest by regime thugs, known as the ``National 
Revolutionary Police Unit,'' between 15 and 25 human rights activists 
carried out a sit-in in front of the ``National Revolutionary Police 
Unit,'' demanding the release of Juan Bermudez Toranzo. The sit-in 
included Ms. Nery Castillo, the wife of Mr. Bermudez Toranzo. Because 
of her participation she has been subjected to harsh intimidation by 
regime goons. These goons warned her that if she did not leave the sit-
in they would take away her children.
  Madam Speaker, it is unconscionable that human beings are locked in a 
barbarously inhumane gulag because they believe that all men and women 
have a right to freedom and democracy. My colleagues, we must demand 
freedom and human rights for all people, including those who live under 
the darkness of totalitarian tyrannies. We must demand immediate and 
unconditional freedom for Juan Bermudez Toranzo and every prisoner of 
conscience in totalitarian Cuba.

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