Thirteen significant women from Czech political, cultural and civic life have demonstrated their support for the wives and mothers of Cuban political prisoners in the Women in White movement (Damas de blanco). By signing a petition, these women have joined their Cuban counterparts in demanding that the Cuban government grant universal amnesty for the political prisoners. At the same time, they call on democratic countries to promote the respect of human rights and democracy in Cuba.

This international initiative, also running in other European and Latin American countries, has been signed in the Czech Republic by the following women: Dana Bérová, Minister of Informatics; Taťána Fischerová, actress and Member of Parliament; Aňa Geislerová, actress; Dagmar Havlová, actress and wife of Václav Havel; Jana Hybášková, Member of the European Parliament; Helena Illnerová, former president of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic; Renata Kalenská, journalist; Yvonne Sanchez, singer; Olga Sommerová, documentary film-maker; Markéta Stivínová, musician; Jiřina Šiklová, sociologist and publicist; Petruška Šustrová, journalist; Pavlína Wolfová-Bubeníková, journalist and wife of Castro’s former prisoner Jan Bubeník.

The petition was coordinated by the Czech organization People in Need as part of its public campaign in support of Cuban dissidents and their families. A similar petition was organized in Slovakia in October by the Pontis Foundation and the People in Peril civic organization. The petition was signed by fourteen significant women, including Monika Beňová and Anna Záborská, Members of the European Parliament; Iveta Radičová, Minister of Social Affaires; and Emília Kováčová, wife of the former president.

Women in White (Damas de blanco) is a non-political gathering of mothers and wives, whose family members were imprisoned during a crackdown on the Cuban democratic opposition in the spring of 2003. The 75 prisoners are people who fight for freedom of expression and democracy in Cuba, including independent journalists, librarians and supporters of the Varela Project (similar to the Czechoslovak Charter 77 project). The main demand of Women in White is the amnesty of the political prisoners.

Since 2003, these women have gathered every Sunday in the church of Santa Rita in the quarter of Miramar in Havana. Dressed in white, they form a protest march on 5th Avenue demanding the release of their husbands and sons. They also call attention to the bad conditions in Cuban prisons, the lack of medical care and bad quality of food and water. Many of these women have lost their jobs due to the political activities of their family members and are watched or harassed by state security.

The European Parliament has awarded the Women in White this year’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The prize is annually awarded to persons, groups or organizations that, according to European Parliamentarians, have contributed significantly to the defence of human rights; the rights of minorities; the promotion of international cooperation, democracy, rule of law and freedom of thought.

Five representatives of this movement have been invited to the European Parliament in Strasbourg 12th-15th December 2005 to receive the Sakharov prize. As yet, they have not received official permission to leave the country, a condition for all Cuban citizens to travel abroad.

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People in Need, the Pontis Foundation and People in Peril call for the Castro regime to allow these representatives to travel to Strasbourg and thus respect Article 13.2 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”

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Text of the petition PETITION FOR THE GENERAL AMNESTY OF POLITICAL PRISONERS IN CUBA
In Cuba, hundreds of men are imprisoned due to their peaceful disapproval of the Cuban government. Mothers and wives of these prisoners, gathered together in “Damas de blanco”, have decided to face this reality together. Every Sunday, they meet in Havana in the church of Santa Rita and peacefully demand general amnesty for their close family.

We, women in significant positions in the political, cultural, civic and entrepreneurial life of the Czech Republic, stand together with these Cuban women and with our signatures demand that the Cuban government grant amnesty for political prisoners. At the same time, we call upon democratic states to support human rights and democracy in Cuba. This solidarity is our contribution to the efforts of a peaceful transition to democracy in this country.