WASHINGTON – With this summer marking the eleventh year since Cuban political reformer Oswaldo Payá’s suspicious death, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Mark Warner (D-VA), urged the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to provide an update on this case without further delay.  In 2013, Durbin sent his first letter to previous Commission Executive Secretary Emilio Icaza, urging the Commission to investigate Payá’s suspicious death.  Durbin continued pushing for answers with letters calling for more information sent in 2014, 2016, and 2021, all of which were resent to the Commission today in addition to Durbin’s new letter.

“Payá’s work, sustained threats against him, and key circumstances of the day he died are well-documented.  The Commission has proven from past investigations, such as the 2019 High-Level Commission on Nicaragua, that it can conduct its critical work even if the state in question is uncooperative.  Investigations such as the one into Payá’s death bring to light not only human rights issues of the past, but also help deter further acts of repression,” the Senators wrote in a letter to Tania Reneaum Panszi, Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

“Members of the Organization of American States and the international community look to the Commission for protection, accountability, and justice.  As such, please provide us an update without delay on ongoing and future efforts on the Payá case,” the Senators continued.

In 2002, Payá started the Varela Project that sought greater political freedom in Cuba through a peaceful petition drive and referendum process as allowed for in the Cuban constitution.  Not only did the Cuban government reject the historic effort and brazenly change the constitutional provision allowing such public avenue for change, but also began a decade of shameful harassment of Payá and his movement.  

In July 2012, this persecution culminated in his car being rammed from behind by a tailing government vehicle, resulting in the death of Payá and fellow passenger and youth activist Harold Cepero.  The Cuban government has yet to provide a credible explanation, accounting, or justice for this tragic incident.  

Durbin has long sought justice for the death of Payá.  Last June, Durbin joined Senators Cruz, Rubio, Cardin, and Rick Scott (R-FL) to introduce bipartisan legislation to rename the street outside the Cuban Embassy in Washington D.C. “Oswaldo Payá Way,” to call out the oppression of the Cuban regime, and highlight the cause of Oswaldo Payá.  In 2012, he joined with Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL), Menendez, Rubio, Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Richard Lugar (R-IN), and John Kerry (D-MA) in passing a resolution honoring the work of Payá and calling “on the Government of Cuba to allow an impartial, third-party investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Oswaldo Payá Sardiña.”

Full text of the letter is available here and below: 

March 6, 2023

Dear Executive Secretary Panszi:

We write to request an update on the investigation into the suspicious and tragic death of Cuban political reformer, Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, in 2012.  In the more than 10 years since his car was fatally run off a Cuban highway, little if any progress has been made to hold those responsible accountable.  We continue to believe, even without Cuban government cooperation, that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is best suited to undertake this necessary investigation and accounting.  We are troubled by persistent delays in this effort.

As the three attached letters demonstrate, we and various human right organizations have urged an investigation into Payá’s death for many years.  A Senate-passed resolution honoring the life of Payá called for the Cuban government “to allow an impartial, third-party investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas.”  In a Washington Post op-ed, the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization detailed irregularities in other investigations and how the Cuban government has “repeatedly denied [families of victims] their right to justice and their right to the truth,” calling for further action from the Commission.  While the Commission’s first public hearing on Payá’s death in December 2021 was a welcome, yet belated, first step, further progress needs to occur with greater urgency. 

Payá’s work, sustained threats against him, and key circumstances of the day he died are well-documented.  The Commission has proven from past investigations, such as the 2019 High-Level Commission on Nicaragua, that it can conduct its critical work even if the state in question is uncooperative.^[1]  Investigations such as the one into Payá’s death bring to light not only human rights issues of the past, but also help deter further acts of repression. 

Members of the Organization of American States and the international community look to the Commission for protection, accountability, and justice.  As such, please provide us an update without delay on ongoing and future efforts on the Payá case.  We will continue to support the Commission’s important work.

Sincerely,

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