US welcomes Cuba's release of "Black Spring" prisoners

The United States (US) has welcomed the release of the last of 75 Cuban activists who were arrested during the “Black Spring” crackdown in 2003.



But Washington has called for the release of “all remaining political prisoners”. In a statement yesterday, the US State Department said that the release of Felix Navarro and Jose Daniel Ferrer, who had each been sentenced to 25 years in jail, was “a step in the right direction.”



However, US State Department spokesman, Mark C. Toner said that human rights conditions in Cuba remained poor and that the Cuban government continued to limit fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, the press, and peaceful assembly.



Cuba has been freeing the 2003 dissidents gradually under an agreement reached in last July with the Roman Catholic Church in Havana.



Some of the dissidents released have stayed in Cuba, serving the remainder of their sentences outside prison, while others have been forced into exile to Spain.