Cuban dissident artist circumvents internet cut-off to submit testimony of abuses

GENEVA, June 8, 2021 — Despite government efforts to silence her, a Cuban dissident artist has managed to submit testimony about the regime’s gross and systematic abuses to an annual human rights assembly of activists and former political prisoners, in which she expresses concern over “the potential consequences that I will have to confront for participating in events like this one”.

Tania Bruguera, a Cuban political performance artist, has been repeatedly detained, interrogated and put under house arrest for her artwork and activism critical of the regime.

She was scheduled to deliver video testimony yesterday at the opening of the two-day virtual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, organized by a cross-regional coalition of 25 human rights groups, which brings together dissidents and former political prisoners who have been oppressed by some of the world’s worst human rights abusers.

However, the conference announced that she was unable to speak yesterday because government forces repeatedly cut off her internet.

Today, Bruguera managed to circumvent restraints on her communications and was able to submit an audio message, in both Spanish and English, to the Geneva Summit.

In her powerful testimony (click here for audio and text), Bruguera describes harrowing abuses committed by the regime’s “military dictatorship” in Cuba, including impunity for killings and rape committed by police.

Cuba is “an island-prison” where “laws are created to protect those in power” and “the only thing that operates efficiently is the department of state security.”

The dissident artist reports that her country is a place where “independent journalists are persecuted, where citizens’ access to independent media via internet is blocked, where citizen journalism is penalized to such an extent that if you post a statement on Facebook that is critical of the government, you will be sought out and fined more than your monthly salary.”

Bruguera’s testimony sheds light on Cuba’s 170 political prisoners who are arbitrarily detained, publicly smeared by the regime, and refused “real legal protection because your appointed attorney works under direct orders from the government. Cuban lawyers may represent their defendants, but they work in the interest of the State”.

Informed by her personal experience and fellow artists and dissidents, Bruguera says that “people you know are afraid to lend you the phone line under their name for you to use because they know that electronic surveillance is one of the priorities of the Cuban government,” with the authorities leaving homes with “no telephone or internet for months”.

Activists “are treated as non-persons” by the regime, which “does not solve its problems, it simply expels those who keep reminding them there are problems to solve”.

Bruguera knows that she is taking grave personal risks by submitting her testimony. “While I was recording this presentation, I was thinking about my fellow activists in prison, about the potential consequences that I will have to confront for participating in events like this one, the vulnerability that we feel daily. But I take strength in joining with others the words ‘Patria y Vida’.”

Click here for audio and testimony

Related

Human Rights

Speaking out against ISIS with Abdalaziz Alhamza

Abdalaziz Alhamza, award-winning journalist and co-founder of Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, which exposes the atrocities committed by the Assad regime and ISIS, addresses the 11th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On becoming a citizen journalist: “The local

Authoritarianism

Authoritarianism in Cuba with Regis Iglesias Ramirez

Regis Iglesias Ramirez, Cuban activist, former prisoner of conscience, and member the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL), addresses the 5th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks.   Full remarks in Spanish. See below for English   En Mayo de 2002 por primera vez desde

Political Prisoners

Imprisoned For An Idea with Hamlet Lavastida

Co-Founder of the Cuban dissident San Isidro Movement and recently released political prisoner, Hamlet Lavastida, speaks at the 14th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On speaking out: “I agreed that I’d stay silent, that I wouldn’t talk about the

The Zimbabwe Peace Protest with Jestina Mukoko

Jestina Mukoko, Zimbabwean human rights activist and Director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, addresses the 4th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks.   Full remarks   Jestina Mukoko: Good morning ladies and gentlemen. It gives me great pleasure to stand before you and

Political Prisoners

Held Hostage in Iran with Richard Ratcliffe

Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of imprisoned British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe who was arrested in Iran almost three years ago while on holiday with her infant daughter, addresses the 11th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks.  On the arrest and

Tibet

Authoritarianism in Tibet with Dicki Chhoyang

Dicki Chhoyang, Minister for Development and International Relations for the Central Tibetan Administration, addresses the 5th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks.   Full remarks   Dicki Chhoyang: Thank you for the very nice introduction. I want to start speaking about

Corruption

Being a Banker to North Korea with Kim Kwang-Jin

Kim Kwang-Jin, a former banker to the North Korea regime, addresses the 9th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On the emergence and operations of North Korea’s alternate economy: “Following the collapse of the global socialist market, an unexpected thing

United Nations

Does Maduro Belong on the UNHRC? with María-Alejandra Aristeguieta-Álvarez

Maria-Alejandra Aristeguieta-Alvarez, Ambassador-designate in Switzerland of Venezuelan interim President Juan Guaido, addresses the 12th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy — see quotes below, followed by the full prepared remarks. On the failings of the UN: “The Universal HR system has been documenting and underlining the increasing deterioration of

Tibet

Risking Everything for Tibet with Golog Jigme

Golog Jigme, Tibetan monk and human rights activist jailed and tortured by China for making 2008 documentary “Leaving Fear Behind,” addresses the 10th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On being tortured: “It isn’t possible to share all the torture

Women's Rights

Taking on ISIS, Fighting for Women’s Rights with Sohrab Ahmari

Sohrab Ahmari, Editorial Writer for The Wall Street Journal, addresses the 8th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.  Full Remarks Well ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for being here, for staying with us. I’m Sohrab Ahmari, I’m an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal and I have the honor

Terrorism

Kidnapped by Boko Haram and ISIS with Emmanuel Ogebe, Tom Gross, Saa

A panel including international human rights lawyer and advocate for the Chibok Girls, Emmanuel Ogebe; one of the hundreds of girls kidnapped by Boko Haram who is speaking under the pseudonym Saa; and journalist specializing in the Middle East and human rights, Tom Gross, at the 7th Annual Geneva Summit for Human

Tibet

Tortured by China with Golog Jigme

Golog Jigme, a Buddhist monk and human rights activist who was jailed and tortured for making the documentary “Leaving Fear Behind”, addresses the 8th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On being tortured by China: “Why did they torture me?

Democracy

Beyond Bars: A Story of Defiance and Hope with Nguyen Tien Trung

Vietnamese pro-democracy activist and former political prisoner, Trung Tien Nguyen, addresses the 16th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for his remarks. Full Remarks: Right now, as I stand here today, nearly 100 million Vietnamese people are suffocating under the Communist Party of Vietnam’s authoritarian

Political Prisoners

SOS Nicaragua with Berta Valle

Nicaraguan journalist and wife to imprisoned presidential candidate Félix Maradiaga, Berta Valle, addresses the 14th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On Summit Alumnus Félix Maradiaga: “In 2019, my husband Félix Maradiaga stood here on this stage and said that he

Africa and LGBT Rights with Kasha Jacqueline

Jacqueline Kasha, a Ugandan activist and founder of ‘Freedom and Roam Uganda’ (FARUG), a lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersexual rights organization in a country where homosexuality is criminalized, addresses the 3rd Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks. Full remarks Karin S. Woldseth:  Meseveni set

Uyghur Persecution

My Missing Father with Jewher Ilham

Jewher Ilham, rights activist and daughter of Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti now serving a life-sentence in Chinese prison for working to bridge the gap between the Uyghurs and the Han Chinese, addresses the 12th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy — see quotes below, followed by full prepared

Human Rights

Do Human Rights Matter? with Alfred Moses

Ambassador Alfred Moses, Chair of United Nations Watch, addresses the 11th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On the battle for human rights in the world: “It has always been a battle between freedom and oppression.” “We had total oppression

Authoritarianism and Dissent: 21st Century Horizons with Dewa Mavhinga

Dewa Mavhinga, former Southern Africa Director of  Human Rights Watch and former Regional Coordinator for the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, addresses the 2nd Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks.   Full remarks   Dewa Mavingha: Thank you and thank you to UN Watch and

Democracy

A Message From Venezuela with Maria Corina Machado

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses the 7th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks. Full Remarks I am Maria Corina Machado of the National Assembly. My country is living through the bleakest and most critical moment in its history and for that of

Democracy

Targeted by Turkey with Nurcan Baysal

Nurcan Baysal, Kurdish author, journalist and human rights defender who in 2017 was awarded the “Brave Women Journalists Award” by the Italian Women Journalists Association, addresses the 11th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On being targeted by the Turkish

War Crimes

Surviving the Siege of Aleppo with Waad Al-Kateab

Waad Al-Kateab, Syrian refugee, activist and award-winning filmmaker, addresses the 13th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On eruption of 2011 Arab Spring in Syria: “The idea that people would fight back was something I’d always dreamed of, but

Terrorism

Held Captive By Terrorists with Pierre Torres, Tom Gross

French blogger who was captured by ISIS and released after repeated beatings, torture, and psychological abuse, Pierre Torres, and journalist specializing in the Middle East and human rights, Tom Gross, at the 7th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks. Full Transcript Moderator: Pierre Torres