[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 16 (Wednesday, February 1, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S264-S266]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 366--HONORING THE LIFE OF DISSIDENT AND DEMOCRACY 
ACTIVIST WILMAN VILLAR MENDOZA AND CONDEMNING THE CASTRO REGIME FOR THE 
                     DEATH OF WILMAN VILLAR MENDOZA

  Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Nelson of Florida, and Mr. 
Casey) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 
agreed to:

                              S. Res. 366

       Whereas, on Thursday, January 19, 2012, 31-year-old Cuban 
     dissident Wilman Villar Mendoza died, following a 56-day 
     hunger strike to highlight his arbitrary arrest and the 
     repression of basic human and civil rights in Cuba by the 
     Castro regime;
       Whereas, on November 2, 2011, Wilman Villar Mendoza was 
     detained by security forces of the Government of Cuba for 
     participating in a peaceful demonstration in Cuba calling for 
     greater political freedom and respect for human rights;
       Whereas Wilman Villar Mendoza was sentenced to 4 years in 
     prison after a hearing that lasted less than 1 hour and 
     during which Wilman Villar Mendoza was neither represented by 
     counsel nor given the opportunity to speak in his defense;
       Whereas, on November 25, 2011, Wilman Villar Mendoza was 
     placed in solitary confinement after initiating a hunger 
     strike to protest his unjust trial and imprisonment;
       Whereas Wilman Villar Mendoza was a member of the Union 
     Patriotica de Cuba, a dissident group the Cuban regime 
     considers illegitimate because members express views critical 
     of the regime;
       Whereas security forces of the Government of Cuba have 
     harassed Maritza Pelegrino Cabrales, the wife of Villar 
     Mendoza and a member of the Ladies in White (Damas de 
     Blanco), and have threatened to take away her children if she 
     continues to work with the Ladies in White;
       Whereas Human Rights Watch, which documented the case of 
     Wilman Villar Mendoza, stated, ``Arbitrary arrests, sham 
     trials, inhumane imprisonment, and harassment of dissidents' 
     families--these are the tactics used to silence critics.'';
       Whereas Amnesty International stated, ``The responsibility 
     for Wilman Villar Mendoza's death in custody lies squarely 
     with the Cuban authorities, who summarily judged and jailed 
     him for exercising his right to freedom of expression.'';
       Whereas Orlando Zapata Tamayo, another prisoner of 
     conscience jailed after the ``Black Spring'' crackdown on 
     opposition groups in March 2003, died in prison on February 
     23, 2010, after a 90-day hunger strike;
       Whereas, according to the Cuban Commission on Human Rights, 
     the unrelenting tyranny of the Castro regime has led to more 
     than 4,000 political detentions and arrests in 2011; and

[[Page S266]]

       Whereas Cuba is a member of the United Nations Human Rights 
     Council despite numerous documented violations of human 
     rights every year in Cuba: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) condemns the Cuban regime for the death of Wilman 
     Villar Mendoza on January 19, 2011, following a hunger strike 
     to protest his incarceration for participating in a peaceful 
     protest and to highlight the plight of the Cuban people;
       (2) condemns the repression of basic human and civil rights 
     by the Castro regime in Cuba that resulted in more than 4,000 
     detentions and arrests of activists in 2011;
       (3) honors the life of Wilman Villar Mendoza and his 
     sacrifice on behalf of the cause of freedom in Cuba;
       (4) extends condolences to Maritza Pelegrino Cabrales, the 
     wife of Wilman Villar Mendoza, and their children;
       (5) urges the United Nations Human Rights Council to 
     suspend Cuba from its position on the Council;
       (6) urges the General Assembly of the United Nations to 
     vote to suspend the rights of membership of Cuba to the Human 
     Rights Council;
       (7) urges the international community to condemn the 
     harassment and repression of peaceful activists by the Cuban 
     regime; and
       (8) calls on the governments of all democratic countries to 
     insist on the release of all political prisoners and the 
     cessation of violence, arbitrary arrests, and threats against 
     peaceful demonstrators in Cuba, including threats against 
     Maritza Pelegrino Cabrales and members of the Ladies in White 
     (Damas de Blanco).

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