[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 12, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S193]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 489--COMMENDING THE ACTIONS OF CUBAN HUMAN RIGHTS AND 
DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST JOSE DANIEL FERRER GARCIA, AND ALL PRO-DEMOCRACY AND 
  HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS, IN DEMANDING FUNDAMENTAL CIVIL LIBERTIES IN 
  CUBA AND SPEAKING OUT AGAINST CUBA'S BRUTAL, TOTALITARIAN COMMUNIST 
                                 REGIME

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

                              S. Res. 489

       Whereas on July 11, 2021, protestors in more than 40 cities 
     marched in the streets of Cuba to exercise their fundamental 
     right to peacefully assemble and express their opposition to 
     the Cuban regime, resulting in the largest anti-government 
     demonstration on the island in decades;
       Whereas the Cuban protestors, in a clear message--
       (1) called for an end to communism, censorship, and 
     oppression in Cuba; and
       (2) demanded basic human rights and their God-given 
     freedom;
       Whereas during the July 2021 protests, in a crude and 
     savage effort to silence the Cuban people, the Communist 
     party--
       (1) deployed a wave of terror throughout Cuba by unleashing 
     its secret police and military forces on the peaceful 
     protestors;
       (2) harassed and threatened men, women, and children, some 
     of whom were in their homes;
       (3) abducted and tortured civil society leaders; and
       (4) detained more than 1,300 Cubans, according to media 
     reports;
       Whereas Felix Navarro Rodriguez, a renowned pro-democracy 
     activist who was arrested during the ``Black Spring'' of 
     2003, is the President of the Pedro Luis Boitel Abraham 
     Democracy Party, and is a member of the Executive Secretariat 
     of the Democratic Action Unity Table (MUAD), was arrested, 
     then charged with the alleged crime of ``attack and public 
     disorder'', after merely appearing at a police unit in Cuba 
     to inquire about the status of members of his group who were 
     detained during the July 11 protest;
       Whereas in August 2021, Felix Navarro Rodriguez, in protest 
     of his unlawful arrest, the terrible conditions in which he 
     was being held and the cruelty he suffered in prison, went on 
     a hunger strike for 30 days, remains isolated, is in a 
     delicate state of health, and is restricted from 
     communicating with his family;
       Whereas Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, leader of the Patriotic 
     Union of Cuba (UNPACU), is a Cuban human rights and democracy 
     activist, who has worked incessantly to promote fundamental 
     civil liberties for the Cuban people;
       Whereas Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, who was born in Santiago 
     de Cuba on July 29, 1970, has dedicated most of his adult 
     life in peaceful protest against Cuba's brutal and 
     totalitarian Communist dictatorship to ensure that Cubans are 
     allowed to have a voice in matters concerning their own 
     country;
       Whereas Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia was among the hundreds of 
     activists who were unlawfully detained by the Cuban regime 
     and has been unjustly imprisoned in isolation for nearly 180 
     days, where he has been subjected to physical and 
     psychological torture by the brutal Communist Cuban regime;
       Whereas according to Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia's family, 
     his health is dire, he is suffering from severe headaches, 
     mouth bleeding, malnutrition, bouts of coughing, and the 
     inability to sleep, all of which was caused by the cruel 
     torture and inhumane treatment he received from the Cuban 
     regime;
       Whereas a host of other pro-democracy activists have been 
     imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising their rights to 
     freedom of expression, including Ciro Alexis Casanovas Perez, 
     Loreto Hernandez Garcia and wife, Donaida Perez Paseiro, 
     Didier Eduardo Almagro Toledo, Nidia Bienes Paseiro, Demis 
     Valdes Sarduy, Misael Diaz Paseiro, Arianna Lopez Roque, twin 
     sisters Lisdani Rodriguez Isaac and Lisdiani Rodriguez Isaac, 
     and Ivan Hernandez Carrillo;
       Whereas during the week of Christmas 2021, many of these 
     peaceful demonstrators were convicted on charges of sedition 
     and sentenced to decades in prison just for demanding basic 
     human rights; and
       Whereas the totalitarian regime is terrified of brave and 
     courageous leaders who stand resolute in fighting for a free 
     Cuba, and will persecute, kidnap, torture, or kill anyone who 
     stands up against their tyranny:
       Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) condemns the repression of Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia 
     and all brave Cuban activists, and demands their immediate 
     and unconditional release from prison;
       (2) condemns the brutal torture and inhumane treatment of 
     Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia by the Cuban regime and calls for 
     an immediate humanitarian medical visit by an independent 
     human rights organization to him and to all political 
     prisoners who have been unjustly and illegally detained by 
     the Cuban regime since July 11, 2021;
       (3) condemns Cuba's brutal totalitarian Communist 
     dictatorship and demands an end to the suffering of the Cuban 
     people and the impunity of the Cuban regime's human rights 
     abusers;
       (4) calls for the international community to stand with the 
     Cuban people and against Cuba's totalitarian Communist regime 
     for infringing on the freedom of thought, will, expression, 
     assembly, and prosperity of the Cuban people; and
       (5) commends the courage of the pro-democracy movement and 
     all freedom activists in Cuba for risking everything to bring 
     freedom to the Cuban people.

                          ____________________