The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN) has reported that in September the organization documented at least 570 arbitrary political arrests of Cuban dissidents, peacefully expressing their opposition, representing a net increase over the number of arrests recorded in August (517).
In its monthly report the CCDHRN condemned the "raid on the independent law firm Cubalex, an office that has provided free legal assistance to countless people in need of legal protection."
The organization called this move against the facility a "brutal repressive action, ordered from the highest levels of Government," and noted that one of the entity's lawyers, Julio Alfredo Ferrer, remained in a high-security prison when the report went to press.
The CCDHRN noted that as a result of the raid Cubalex was illegally stripped of five desktop computers, four laptops, all its cell phones and work documents, other equipment, and cash.
The Commission's report on September stressed that the humanitarian movement "Ladies in White " remained the regime's main target of political repression during the month, as has consistently been the case in recent years.
It also condemned the fact that: "in recent weeks the secret political police cracked down on two directors of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, by detaining Arturo Acosta Guillén to prevent him from attending an international conference in South Africa; and Juan del Pilar Goberna, who they harassed at the Havana Airport, photocopying all the documents he was taking to an international conference on the disabled in Medellín, Colombia. Both are vice presidents of the CCDHRN. "
Thus far this year the organization headed by Elizardo Sánchez has recorded 8,505 arbitrary arrests for political reasons.