GENEVA,- As world figures continue to
call for an independent investigation into the July 2012 car crash that killed Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá, Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch is bringing Angel Carromero -- the Spanish politician who drove the car that many allege was targeted by Cuban security agents -- to testify before diplomats, rights activists and journalists at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Carromero's first-ever presentation at the UN will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, June 17th, on a panel that will also feature Cuban poet and former political prisoner Regis Iglesias.
UN Watch is organizing the event as part of a coalition of human rights groups that include the German NGO International Society for Human Rights, Iniciativa por Venezuela, Human Rights Foundation, Humano y Libre, and Directorio.
Last year, the U.S. government
joined calls for an international investigation into the car crash in eastern Cuba that killed Payá and Harold Cepero, a fellow activist in the Christian Liberation Movement.
After the crash, Cuba blamed Carromero, claiming he accidentally slammed the car into a tree killing the two passengers. In a one-day trial, a Cuban court sentenced Carromero to four years in prison for vehicular homicide.
In December 2012, Carromero returned to his native Spain, where he was allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence, which has since been relaxed to allow his freedom of movement with an ankle monitor.
Carromero will testify how Cuban security forces coerced him into recording a video confession—and will instead reveal what really happened.
