Walesa requests Pope remember Cuban dissidents

Walesa compared the pontiff's trip to Pope John Paul II's epoch-making visit to Poland in 1979.

“The prayer of John Paul II in Warsaw: 'Let thy spirit descend and renew the face of the land – this land' very quickly bore fruit,” the former Solidarity leader and president of Poland reflected in a letter addressed to the Pope.

“A year later, Solidarity, a peaceful protest movement, was born in Gdansk, paving the way for political freedom in Poland,” he continued.

“I ask your Holiness to remember those who have gone to prison for their beliefs,” he appealed.

Requests by prominent Cuban dissidents to meet with the pontiff have gone unanswered. However, Pope John Paul II was also unable to meet dissidents when he visited the country in 1998.

On Wednesday, Amnesty International added four Cubans to its international list of prisoners of conscience. The prisoners are the only ones in Cuba to have been given such a designation.

“The Cuban government wages a permanent campaign of harassment and short-term detentions of political opponents to stop them from demanding respect for civil and political rights," the organisation declared in a statement.

“Criticism of the government is not tolerated in Cuba and it is routinely punished,” Amnesty underlined.

Meanwhile, fifty eminent figures including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and philosopher Andre Glucksmann have signed an open letter calling on Cuban authorities to respect human rights. (nh/pg)