Senator urges UN probe of Cuban dissident’s death

By Julian Pecquet - 03/19/13 12:41 PM ET

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) called on the United Nations to launch an official investigation into the death of a prominent Cuban dissident amid new evidence that the Castro regime might have been involved.

Nelson made the request after meeting with Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sánchez, a friend of Oswaldo Payá's who is on a three-month world tour and met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday.

Nelson said he was inspired by her testimony as well as recent comments by Payá's driver that the car he was in may have been run off the road by a vehicle with government plates.

“Given this recent account,” Nelson wrote in a letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, “it is time for the international community to insist that a thorough investigation occur.”

Payá, who launched a petition drive calling for political freedom on the communist island, was killed along with fellow activist Harold Cepero in a July 22 car wreck. The driver, Spaniard Ángel Carromero, was charged with vehicular manslaughter before being released to Spain.

Payá's daughter, Rosa Maria, last week handed the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva an appeal signed by 46 activists and political leaders urging the world body to launch such a probe. The Senate has already passed a resolution calling on Cuba to allow an independent third-party investigation.