<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The People's Party (PP) Parliamentary Group in Congress has urged the government to request the "immediate and unconditional" release of Cuban opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer García and to seek the involvement of the European Union "in the defense of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cuba."</strong></h4> "José Daniel Ferrer García, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), is today one of the main figures of the democratic opposition within the island of Cuba," the PP states in a non-legislative motion presented on August 29 for debate in the Foreign Affairs Committee. "His commitment to the peaceful defense of human rights and fundamental freedoms has made him a constant target of repression by the Cuban regime," it adds. On April 29, 2025, the People's Party recalls, "Cuban authorities arbitrarily revoked the conditional release Ferrer García had enjoyed since August 2021, returning him to Mar Verde prison in Santiago de Cuba." "Various organizations such as Amnesty International, Prisoners Defenders, Human Rights Watch, the International Society for Human Rights, and the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention have repeatedly denounced that Ferrer García is a prisoner of conscience and that his deprivation of liberty is solely politically motivated," the text continues. "Since his imprisonment, the situation has seriously worsened: according to family sources and independent media, Ferrer García is being held in extreme isolation, without access to sufficient food, medical care, or basic hygiene conditions, and has reportedly begun a hunger strike as a form of protest," it denounces. Added to this situation, the motion continues, "are the constant reports of physical and psychological torture, documented in recent reports that reveal patterns of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment within the Cuban prison system toward all political prisoners." "The lack of due process guarantees, the impossibility of accessing an effective defense, and the absence of independent judicial oversight have consolidated and generalized a scenario of systematic human rights violations," it adds. The European External Action Service, in an official statement dated May 2025, expressed its concern about the revocation of the parole of Ferrer García and fellow opposition figure Félix Navarro, the PP recalls. In this context, according to the People's Party (PP), the continuation of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) between the European Union and the Cuban regime "represents a contradiction that is difficult to justify in the public eye." “This framework for bilateral relations requires, as an essential condition, respect for the principles of the rule of law, democracy, and human rights,” it warns. “The continuation of the agreement without concrete consequences in the face of situations like that of Ferrer García undermines the international credibility of European foreign policy and weakens the principle of democratic conditionality,” the PP affirms. “Spain, as a member state of the EU and as a nation historically linked to the Cuban people, cannot remain indifferent to this serious situation” and, therefore, “the defense of human rights, the protection of peaceful opponents, and the demand for minimum conditions of dignity and freedom for those fighting for democratic change in Cuba must be at the center of our diplomatic action,” it concludes. For all these reasons, the Non-Law Proposal urges the Government to "request the immediate and unconditional release of José Daniel Ferrer García, as well as all other political prisoners in Cuba" and to "urge the European Union to actively engage in the defense of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cuba, promoting a firm common position against the regime's repression and supporting democratic dissidents and the release of political prisoners." It also calls on the Government to denounce "in all relevant multilateral and bilateral forums (EU, UN, OAS) the arbitrary revocation of his conditional release and the reported torture conditions" and to reaffirm "Spain's commitment to the defense of democracy, human rights, and freedom of expression, holding the Cuban regime accountable for its policy of systematic repression of peaceful dissidents."
