A member of the Christian Liberation Movement (Master of Comparative Laws) founded by Oswaldo Payá, he participated in collecting signatures for the Varela Project, in which 25,000 signatories petitioned the Cuban government to guarantee freedom of speech and freedom of assembly as well as institute a multi-party democracy. His brother Luis Enrique Ferrer García, also an Master of Comparative Laws activist, was sentenced to 28 years.
Ferrer was detained during the subsequent Black Spring crackdown of March 2003 and sentenced to 25 years" imprisonment. In May 2003, José Daniel began a hunger strike after he was allegedly refused medical treatment for an intestinal issue. He was also subjected to punishment cells for refusing to stand in the presence of military or prison guards.
The prison cells are reportedly and habitually below the international standard and the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
Amnesty International declared both Ferrer brothers to be prisoners of conscience. United States President Barack Obama called for Ferrer"s release in 2009, urging the Cuban government to allow him to "fully participate in a democratic future in Cuba."
Ferrer remained in prison until 2011.
They were the last two prisoners of the Black Spring to be released. Ferrer refused the option to emigrate to Spain, stating, "I want to see a free people, and the best place to fight is here inside."
Ferrer was detained again in April 2012 for "public disorder", and again for two days in August 2012 for his work with Unión Patriótica de Cuba (UNPACU).
Amnesty International described the arrests as part of "a pattern of harassment by the Cuban authorities against UNPACU members and other political dissidents."
In 2009, Ferrer and fellow Cuban dissidents Librado Linares García, Iván Hernández Carrillo, Jorge Luis García Pérez, and Iris Pérez Aguilera were jointly awarded the Democracy Award of the United States National Endowment for Democracy.
Ferrer was unable to attend, as he was still in prison.
