On Friday, March 19, the Global Liberty Alliance (GLA) filed an application for Precautionary Measures with the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), on behalf of Cuban journalist Yoe Suárez. Mr. Suárez and his family have been suffering detentions, harassment, and threats over the past year. 

Read the GLA Press Release and cover letter for the filing below.

GLA has published its first Law Note, "​The Abraham Accords and Western Sahara: The Legal Status of the Deal," prepared by GLA legal intern Dara Finley, third-year law student at Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. In it, Ms. Finley asserts that the United States' acceptance of Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara runs contrary to both historical U.S. policy and international law.

You can read the law note below. 

On March 9, the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued Precautionary Measures to protect Cuban journalist and lawyer Roberto Quiñones Haces. The Global Liberty Alliance (GLA) applied for precautionary measures in April 2020, when Mr. Quiñones was in prison for journalism, and has been updating the Commission since that time. Even after his September 2020 release, Mr. Quiñones continued to suffer intimidation and harassment from Cuban officials. 

Read the GLA press release and Precautionary Measure itself below.

GLA's report on COVID-19 isolation centers in Cuba has received news coverage. See the article below:

"Report: Cuba Forcing Citizens into Coronavirus 'Camps,' Offering Dangerous Drugs," Breitbart, Mar. 9, 2021.

On Friday, March 5, the youth organizer of the Association of Free Yorubas of Cuba, Dairon Hernández Pérez, was detained, beaten, and robbed by Cuban State Security and Rapid Response Brigades outside his home. He was returning from a religious event. GLA is investigating the matter. More details, including photos and video, are included at the end of this post.

In a video statement, Mr. Hernández and his mother Free Yorubas Executive Secretary Donaida Pérez Paseiro assert that he was beaten on the head, stomach, back, and legs, his religious articles were broken, and money he carried on his person was taken. State Security also threatened to run him over with a car, and to jail him for "precriminal dangerousness." In other words, repression. 

The brutal attack occurred  less than 2 weeks after the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) published an important Fact Sheet outlining how the Free Yorubas were victims of religious persecution. The Global Liberty Alliance has been providing information to USCIRF about this matter, and others and has urged the U.S. government to impose economic sanctions on Cuba's Religion Police, a Stasi-like entity that is part of the Communist Party and called the Office of Religious Affairs. 

Today, the Global Liberty Alliance filed a complaint with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) on behalf of Jamshid Sharmahd, a California resident unlawfully imprisoned in Iran since the summer of 2020.

​Read the press release below.

In this GLA podcast, Jason Poblete speaks with international lawyer Ms. Emma Reilly, a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Human Rights Officer and whistleblower. Since 2013, Emma has been calling attention to a troubling practice at the UNHRC that has endangered the lives of dissidents and other human rights abuse victims who visit or testify at the UN. Despite well-documented evidence of wrongdoing by U.N. personnel, it took seven years for Ms. Reilly to secure whistleblower status. When she did, she was exiled to the U.N. bureaucracy's bowels to work on matters that appear designed to silence her and as retribution for standing up to Communist China and China’s supporters working in the UN system.  You can listen to the podcast here.

Today, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom released a new report on the state of the santería (also known as Yoruba) tradition in Cuba. According to USCIRF, the report “provides a brief overview of the traditions of the Santeria community in Cuba and highlights the religious freedom violations that community experiences.” The report gives evidence of religious freedom violations against the Association of Free Yorubas that the Global Liberty Alliance uncovered, thanks to the support of Cuban civil society leaders.

Global Liberty Alliance is pleased to announce that our supporters can now make secure, easy and effortless donations using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It is a major step in enabling people to contribute to the cause of liberty and our ongoing effort to spread the awareness about the importance of fundamental human rights so it is accessible to anyone.
 
Why the Need for Cryptocurrency Donations?​
Over the past few years, Global Liberty Alliance has received many inquiries from our supporters asking us whether it’s possible to contribute to our efforts using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. We understand why donating with digital currencies might be the preferred way of contributing to our legal defense fund for many people, and that for some people it might even be the only way.

On February 16, 2021, the Global Liberty Alliance (GLA) joined an international appeal of 177 organizations from 41 countries urging the International Committee of the Red Cross to deploy humanitarian aid to Western Sahara. 

​150 Members of the European Parliament, UK Parliament, French Parliament, Spanish Parliament, Swedish Parliament, Swiss Parliament and the Mauritanian Parliament also signed. This humanitarian appeal is supported by international figures and civil society leaders, including philosopher and cognitive scientist Professor Noam Chomsky, Seoul Peace Prize Laureate Suzanne Scholte, leader of the Tunisian labour Party and presidential candidate Hamma Hammami, writer and Professor Stephen Zunes.

​Yesterday, on February 17, 27 U.S. Senators led by Sens. Inhofe and Leahy sent a letter to President Joe Biden  asking that the U.S. reassert its commitment to a referendum for Saharawi self-determination. 

Read GLA's press release and the CODESA letter below.