Dissidents Occupy Cuba Church, Seek Papal Audience

HAVANA (AP) — Thirteen Cuban dissidents have holed up in a Roman Catholic church in Havana to press for an audience with Pope Benedict XVI when he visits in two weeks, saying they want to air their grievances about human rights on the island.

The Church of Charity in teeming Central Havana was semi-shuttered Wednesday and only pilgrims visiting an image of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, Cuba’s patron, were permitted inside. There was no sign of any police presence, and activity appeared normal on the street outside.

“They entered the church last night and stayed. They will not budge from there,” dissident William Cepera said.

Cepera said he and a colleague from their small opposition group, the Nov. 30 Democratic Party, tried to join the group but were not allowed entry. He said the group was in a closed room and he had spoken with them through a window that was later closed.

“We would like to talk with the pope and tell him that the government of Fidel and Raul (Castro) has released only some prisoners, but other political prisoners remain,” Cepera said.

Cuba says it does not hold any political prisoners. Authorities freed the last of 75 anti-government activists and social commentators arrested in a 2003 crackdown on dissent last year, under a deal brokered with the help of the Catholic Church.

Others remain behind bars for politically motivated but violent crimes like armed assault or hijacking, which keeps them from being recognized as prisoners of conscience by human rights watchdog Amnesty International.

In December, President Raul Castro’s government also pardoned 2,900 inmates, most of them convicted of minor crimes, in connection with Benedict’s March 26-28 visit.

Dissident Elizardo Sanchez, head of the Havana-based Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation which tracks detentions of government opponents, confirmed that there were 13 people inside the Central Havana church.

“We hope for a humane outcome. The occupation was peaceful,” said Sanchez, adding that a high-ranking church official visited Tuesday night and spoke with the protesters.

Phone calls to the spokesman for the Catholic Church in Cuba were not answered Wednesday, nor did he respond immediately to an email requesting comment.

Benedict does not have any announced plans to meet with Cuban dissidents during his trip, which is focused on religious activities including Masses in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba and in Havana.

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Andrea Rodriguez is on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ARodriguezAP.