Ladies in White attacked in Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba (CMC):

Supporters of Cuba's Ladies in White group say government supporters attacked more than 40 members in what they described as the worst violence against the Havana group since the Catholic Church interceded on their behalf last spring.

Spokeswoman Berta Soler yesterday said that the mob punched, slapped and kicked the women, spit on them, pulled their hair and ripped some of their clothes to break up the women's attempt to stage a street protest on Thursday.

She told reporters here that several of the 42 women who were attacked reported bruises on their arms and legs, but none required medical treatment.

Ladies in White leader Laura Pollan said the women left her home after their monthly gathering for a 'literary tea' for a march to protest violent attacks on the Ladies in White branch in the eastern city of Santiago over the past four weeks.

She said 47 women had gathered at the house, but five did not go out because of age and health issues.

Pollan said another eight women were detained and taken away by police near her house on Thursday morning to keep them from joining the gathering. They were freed later.

Soler said Thursday's attack was the harshest in Havana since March of last year, when the Catholic Church urged the government to halt an increasingly violent string of aggressions against the women during their regular Sunday protests.

"This was a very violent act by the government," Soler said, adding that the harassment against the Ladies in White, who demand the release of all political prisoners, have been growing more violent since December.

Cuban dissidents are reporting increased government repression across the Spanish-speaking Caribbean island this year, amid speculation that the government is applying a tough hand as it tries to enact ambitious reforms to overhaul the island's economy.

"I think the government feels that it is lost and has no options, and is using these terrorist actions against a defenceless population to keep Cubans in check," said Soler.

Officers

She said the men in plainclothes who directed Thursday's mob were known to the women as officers of the so-called Confrontation Depart-ment, the branch of the Interior Ministry in charge of tracking dissidents and averting their activities.

The Ladies in White, who won the prestigious Sakharov human-rights prize in 2005, want to urge Catholic Cardinal Jaime Ortega to intercede as he did last year, Soler said. But he's out of the country and not expected back until after August 23.

Ortega's intercession meant the Havana women are the only dissidents allowed to stage regular street protests every Sunday after mass at the Santa Rita church.