Cuban Prisoner of Conscience Iván Hernández Carrillo to be Honored with Pedro Luis Boitel Freedom Award
By Cuban Democratic Directorate

Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy, to Give Keynote Address

Miami. September 23, 2009. Cuban Democratic Directorate. The Cuban Democratic Directorate (Directorio) will honor Cuban political prisoner Iván Hernández Carrillo, who was arrested during the “Black Spring” crackdown in 2003, with the IX Annual Pedro Luis Boitel Freedom Award this Thursday night in Miami at the Intercontinental West Miami Hotel.

The Pedro Luis Boitel Freedom Award, named after a pro-democracy student leader-turned political prisoner under the Castro regime who died after 54 days on hunger strike, recognizes key figures in the struggle for democracy being waged by nonviolent activists in Cuba.

The ceremony’s keynote address will be delivered by Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The NED honored five Cuban activists, including Hernández Carrillo, with its own prestigious Democracy Award earlier this year.

Iván Hernández Carrillo, one of 58 Cuban prisoners of conscience recognized by Amnesty International, was sentenced to 25 years of unjust imprisonment under the Castro regime’s notorious “Gag Law.” This legislation, Law 88, contains catch-all language criminalizing actions "aiming at subverting the internal order of the nation and destroying its political, economic, and social system," stifling free expression. A member of the Pedro Luis Boitel Democracy Party, Hernández Carrillo is an advocate for labor rights and an independent journalist. He is currently imprisoned at the Guamaja Prison in the province of Villa Clara. Lázaro de la Paz Abella, a member of the Pedro Luis Boitel Democracy Party, will accept the award on his behalf.

The Cuban Democratic Directorate is a non-profit organization that works for democracy in Cuba by way of a civic, nonviolent struggle that includes: Humanitarian and material support for pro-democracy organizations in Cuba, exchange of information with the Cuban people, and international solidarity with the pro-democracy movement in Cuba. Directorio is committed to a free Cuba where human rights are upheld and respected.

DATE: Thursday, September 24, 2009

TIME: 8:00 p.m.

LOCATION: Intercontinental West Miami Hotel

              2505 N.W. 87^th Avenue, Miami, FL 33172

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Directorio Democrático Cubano
P.O. Box 110235
Hialeah, Florida 33011
Tel. 305-220-2713
info@directorio.org

In Memory of Mario Manuel de la Peña