Cuban cases

Current Cases - Imprisoned: Main Cases - Detained during March 2003 'Black Spring' crackdown 

Current Cases - Imprisoned: Main Cases - Detained after 2003

Past Cases

 

Current Cases

Imprisoned: Main Cases

Detained during March 2003 ‘Black Spring' crackdown

Twenty-two writers, journalists and librarians were among 35 sentenced during one-day trials held on 3/4 April 2003 under laws governing the protection of the Cuban state. They were arrested as part of a crackdown on alleged dissidents that began on 18 March 2003 and in which 75 people in total were detained and tried. The one-day court hearings were held behind closed doors and there was insufficient time for the accused to put together a cogent defence. The accusations focused on the alleged conspiratorial dealings between the defendants and James Cason, chief of the US Special Interests Section in Havana. Shortly before the crackdown Cason had considerably stepped up his contacts with Cubans who had voiced opposition to Fidel Castro.

Charges: All of the detained were tried under Article 91 of the Penal Code and Law 88. Article 91 deals with charges of acting against "the independence of the territorial integrity of the state", the maximum penalty for which is death. Law 88 is a catch-all piece of legislation that has often been used as a means for sending writers and journalists to prison. It allows for prison sentences of up to 20 years for those found guilty of committing "acts that, in line with imperialist interests, are aimed at subverting the internal order of the Nation and destroying its political, economic, and social system."

Appeals: All those sentenced lodged appeals with the Tribunal Supremo Popular (Supreme Popular Tribunal) in April 2003 but none were successful. However, since April 2004, 13 of those originally sentenced have been conditionally released, apparently for health reasons.Background: An official statement on the Cuban government website (www.cubagov.cu) explicitly condemned the alleged actions of James Cason and, by definition, those with whom he allegedly conspired. The fact that the statement went on to mention the so-called Five Heroes – Cuban nationals who infiltrated Miami-based anti-Castro organisations – suggests that the arrests may also have been made as a reprisal, and possibly as a bargaining chip to obtain their release. This appears to confirmed by Raul Castro's offer on 18 December 2008 to release political prisoners in exchange for the Five Heroes. The Five Heroes have been detained in the US since 1998. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has formally declared that all those sentenced in the March 2003 clampdown are being detained arbitrarily (Category II)

Health concerns: the majority of the detained writers, journalists and librarians are suffering from health complaints caused or exacerbated by the harsh conditions and treatment they are exposed to in prison. Despite their deteriorating health status, access to adequate medical treatment is often limited.

 

Featured Writers

CUBA - Ricardo Gonzalez Alfonso (payolibre)Date of birth: 19 February 1950. Sentence: 20 years. Prison: Combinado del Este, Havana. Charge: Article 91.

Concerns: González has reportedly suffered numerous health problems since his imprisonment, including hypertension, arthritis, a heart condition, chronic bronchitis, digestive and circulatory problems and allergies. He is understood to have had three operations and also to have spent some time in a prison psychiatric ward in 2005. González was hospitalised from September 2007 to January 2008 and continued to be in very poor health once returned to his cell. Despite this he was reportedly denied medical treatment on several occasions in 2008, including not receiving the medicine he had been prescribed for his heart condition. As of early December 2008, González was said to be sharing a cell with 36 non political prisoners, which had reportedly flooded on several occasions, worsening the already unsanitary conditions. González has reportedly been granted a humanitarian visa to travel to Costa Rica, but the Cuban authorities have refused to allow him to leave the island. 

[$1<Biographical details: Having previously worked as a scriptwriter for the state TV agency, González joined the independent press in 1995, working for the news agency Cuba Press. In 1998 he established the Jorge Mañach Library, an independent library specialising in journalism. He went on to set up the Manuel Márquez Sterling Journalists Society with poet Raúl Rivero to provide training to independent Cuban journalists in 2001; many of the Society's members were arrested along with González and Rivero in March 2003 (Rivero was released in 2004). González was also director of the now defunct fortnightly magazine De Cuba, which tackled subjects such as racism in Cuba and the Varela Project (a petition calling for a referendum on legal reform with the goal of greater personal, political and economic freedoms and an amnesty for political prisoners). Unfortunately only two issues of De Cuba were produced before Gonazález' arrest, one in December 2002 and the other February 2003, the latter of which was confiscated.

His publications include: Historia Sangrada (A Bloody History) (Hispano Cubana, Spain, 2005 – poetry) and Hombres sin Rostros (Men without Faces) (2005 and 2006, Miami; SEPHA, Spain; Buchet Chastel, France; Ediciones Il Foglio, Italy) and Con Fines Humanos (Human Purposes), the last of which was written in prison. His work has been published in Cuba, Spain, the USA, Belgium, France, Italy and Puerto Rico.

In his letter accepting the Reporters Without Borders 2008 Journalist of the Year prize for "helping an independent press to survive in Cuba", González stated: "In these years of captivity, our convictions have strengthened, and we are sure that our peaceful work was worthwhile, and in spite of the difficult conditions that we face, we continue our efforts to attain a Cuba where there is freedom of opinion and press freedom."

Honorary member: González is an Honorary Member of the Finnish and German PEN Centres.>1$]

Date of birth: 21 October 1969. Sentence: 25 years. Prison: Kilo 7 prison, Camagüey. Charge: Article 91 and other provisions of the Criminal Code, reportedly for criticising the government on Radio Martí.

CUBA - Normando Hernández González (CPJ)Concerns: Hernández has reportedly suffered numerous medical complaints since his imprisonment, including hypertension, heart, stomach, digestive and respiratory problems and significant weight loss. Latterly he has also experienced mental health issues related to his long illness and ill treatment in prison. It is reported that Hernández has also suffered maltreatment, including assaults by staff and harassment and attacks by other inmates, and being held with prisoners with acute psychiatric disorders, some of whom are extremely dangerous. Hopes of Hernández' imminent release were dashed when on 7 May 2008 he was discharged from Carlos J. Finlay military hospital in Havana, where he had been receiving treatment since September 2007, and returned to Kilo 7 prison. The move came without explanation and in secret. Following the transfer, Hernández was reportedly kept in solitary confinement and in very poor conditions, with inadequate food and medical attention. In June 2008, his wife stated that Hernández was being held in the prison's infirmary, and at the end of 2008 said that her request medical parole for that July had been met with no response.

[$2< Honorary member: Hernandez González is an Honorary Member of the English and American PEN Centres, and in 2007 was a recipient of the annual American PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. 
 

Writing Sample:

Useful links:

CUBA - Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez (CPJ)Date of birth: 8 January 1943. Sentence: 20 years. Prison: Agüica maximum security prison, Colón, Matanzas. Charge: Law 88 and Article 91.

Health concerns: Maseda is said to suffer from hypertension and skin complaints. In 2007 he reportedly had numerous skin growths, feared to be malignant, surgically removed.

[$3<Prison conditions: For the first two years and 10 months of his sentence, Maseda was reportedly held in solitary confinement in a maximum security prison and was not allowed any visits; during this time he reportedly lost a great deal of weight (18 kilos). In March 2007, Maseda's wife reportedly made a complaint to the Interior Ministry about the inhumane way in which he had been transferred from his prison to a hospital where he was due to undergo surgery. Despite being extremely weak, Maseda had allegedly been left in a punishment cell for three hours before being shackled for the transfer. After his wife delivered a copy of Maseda's book Enterrados Vivos to the Cuban President's office in March 2008, it was reported that there had been surveillance of their calls, with Maseda being told his calls would cut off if he read out anything over the phone. The prison authorities reportedly confiscated a series of articles and a number of pages from his new book in October 2008. 

Biographical details: Maseda is said to be the oldest of the imprisoned writers and journalists in Cuba. An engineer with a degree in nuclear physics, he began working as an independent journalist in 1995 after losing his government job as a result of his political views. He later co-founded the independent news agency Grupo de Trabajo Decoro, which published reports critical of Cuba in the foreign media. He also wrote for the Miami-based news website CubaNet. Maseda reportedly focused on social, economic and historical topics not covered in the official press and wrote investigative pieces, including a series on human right abuses in Cuban prisons published shortly before his arrest in 2003. Once jailed, Maseda continued to write about prison conditions first hand. The first part of his memoir, Enterrados Vivos (Buried Alive) was published in the United States in 2007, after the manuscript was smuggled out of prison one page at a time. The book, which Maseda intends to have three parts, has also reportedly been published in the Caribbean and Western Europe.

Honorary member: Maseda is an Honorary Member of the Italian PEN Centre and was awarded the Committee to Protect Journalists' 2008 International Press Freedom Award.>3$]

 

Other Main Cases

Date of birth: 24 February 1948. Sentence: 20 years. Charge: Law 88. Prison Canaleta, Ciego de Ávila.

[$4<Concerns: Since his imprisonment, Argüelles has reportedly suffered from a number of health complaints including cataracts which have left him almost blind, arthritis, respiratory ailments and weight loss. He has reportedly been on hunger strike on at least two occasions in 2007 and 2008 to gain access to medicines and periodicals with religious content. Honorary Member: English PEN Centre

Useful links:

Date of birth: 23 December 1951. Sentence: 26 years. Prison: Kilo 5 ½ prison, Pinar del Río. Charge: Law 88 and Article 91.

[$5< Concerns: Since his imprisonment Arroyo has reportedly been diagnosed with various ailments including diabetes, hypertension and pulmonary emphysema (an irreversible lung condition), and has been denied medical attention on several occasions. He has staged protests against prison conditions and as a result has been held in "punishment cells". He is also said to have been attacked by other prisoners and threatened by the prison authorities. Honorary member: Finnish PEN Centre.

Writing Samples (Spanish):

Date of birth: 25 April 1967. Sentence: 15 years. Prison: 1580 prison, Havana. Charge: Law 88.

 

 [$6< Concerns: In March 2008, it was reported that Bárzago was sharing a cell with 16 other prisoners. According to his sister, the authorities allow the family to give him medicine during visits but not always food to supplement the poor prison diet. In August 2008, Bárzaga was reportedly transferred from the maximum security Agüica prison in Matanzas province to 1580 prison in Havana, which means that he is now closer to his family. Honorary Member: Netherlands PEN Centre
 Useful links:

Date of birth: 30 November 1948. Sentence: 15 years. Prison: Canaleta, Ciego de Ávila. Charge: Law 88.

[$7< Concerns: Fernández is said to have suffered from numerous health complaints in prison, including emphysema (an irreversible lung condition), a kidney cyst, arthritis, osteoporosis, hypertension, circulation problems and weight loss. He has reportedly gone on hunger strike on several occasions in protest at prison conditions, most recently to gain access to literature with religious content. In late 2008 it was reported that his wife had to travel 400 kilometres for their two-monthly visits. Honorary Member: Catalán and English PEN Centres. >7$]

CUBA - Miguel Galván Gutiérrez (CPJ)

Date of birth: 12 January 1965. Sentence: 26 years. Prison: Guanajay, Havana. Charge: Article 91 and Law 88.

 

[$8< Concerns: Galván is reported to have suffered a number of illnesses in prison and to be physically disabled as a result of a car accident. He has also reportedly suffered maltreatment at the hands of the prison authorities, including being housed with convicted murderers and other dangerous prisoners in 2004, and being kept in solitary confinement for over six months in 2005-06. Despite a June 2007 transfer from the maximum security Agüica prison in Matanzas to Guanajay prison in Havana, where conditions were reportedly better, in March 2008 it was reported that Galván continued to experience solitary confinement, inadequate medical care and restrictions on family visits. Although this maltreatment has in the past been said to be linked to his reporting on prison conditions, Galván continues to file stories from jail, including an August 2008 article on the allegedly abysmal work conditions of prisoners used as free labour in a local shoe factory. Honorary Member: Sydney PEN Centre.

Useful links: 

CUBA - Julio César GÁLVEZ RODRÍGUEZ (Payolibre.com)

Date of birth: 22 August 1944. Sentence: 15 years. Prison: Combinado del Este, Havana. Charge: Law 88.

 

[$9< Concerns: Gálvez is said to suffer from a number of health conditions including hypertension, arthrosis (a degenerative disease of the joints) and serious respiratory problems which he has developed since his imprisonment. He was operated on for kidney stones in early 2004 and was hospitalised in September 2007. He reportedly continues to write from prison. Honorary Member: English PEN Centre.

 Writing Samples:

CUBA - José Luis García Paneque (CPJ)Date of birth: 24 July 1965. Sentence: 24 years. Prison: Las Mangas prison, Granma. Charge: Law 88 and Article 91.

Concerns: García Paneque is reported to have suffered mental illness during his imprisonment and to have been held in a prison psychiatric unit for a year, from November 2004 to November 2005. He is also said to suffer from acute intestinal illness, which led to malnutrition, diarrhoea and weight loss, as well as chronic pneumonia and a kidney tumour. Despite his worsening health, in 2008 he was reportedly deprived of medical treatment. His wife and children are said to have fled to the USA in June 2007 due to constant harassment. Honorary Member: English PEN Centre.

CUBA - Léster Luis González Pentón (CPJ)

Date of birth: 22 February 1977; said to be the youngest of the 75 dissidents arrested in March 2003. Sentence: 20 years. Prison: La Pendiente provincial prison, Santa Clara. Charge: Article 91.

Concerns: González has reportedly been diagnosed with chronic gastritis, sinusitis and back pain, and anxiety. He has been hospitalised on several occasions and had a number of operations in 2008. He went on hunger strike in 2004, 2005 and 2006 against poor prison conditions and is reportedly harassed and threatened by prison guards on a regular basis. Honorary Member: American, English and Sydney PEN Centres.

CUBA - Iván Hernández Carrillo (CPJ)

Date of birth: 24 May 1971. Sentence: 25 years. Prison: Guamajal Prison, Villa Clara. Charge: Law 88.

Concerns: Hernández reportedly suffers from hypertension and gastritis and has frequently complained about prison conditions. He went on hunger strike in 2003 to demand decent food and medicine for seriously ill prisoners and again in 2007 in protest at mistreatment by guards. In 2008 he reported being denied access to visits, letters and newspapers and being threatened and attacked by other prisoners. He also complained about unsanitary conditions, rotten food and dirty water. Honorary Member: Catalán and Scottish PEN Centres. 

Sentence: 20 years. Prison: Holguin. Charge: Law 88.

 Concerns: Herrera reportedly suffers from health problems including cardio-vascular ailments, vitiligo (a disfiguring skin condition) and weight loss. He has staged a number of protests including hunger strikes – on several occasions reportedly sewing up his mouth – against the miserable prison conditions, poor medical care and the physical and verbal mistreatment to which he claims he is subjected. In September 2008 he reportedly demanded a transfer to a prison in his home province of Guantánamo. Honorary Member: German PEN Centre.

Useful links: 

Video

Date of birth: 18 September 1969. Sentence: 18 years. Prison Combinado del Este, Havana. Charge: Article 91. Iglesias' publications include ‘Historias gentiles antes de la Resurrección' (Aduana Vieja, Cádiz, 2004) (poetry).

 Useful links: 

Articles:

CUBA - José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández (CPJ)Date of birth: 6 November 1965. Sentence: 16 years. Prison: Guanajay, Havana. Charge: Article 91.

Concerns: Izquierdo has reportedly suffered from numerous ailments since his imprisonment, including pulmonary emphysema (an irreversible lung condition), stomach and intestinal problems and asthma. His health has worsened since 2007, when he was reportedly twice hospitalised for circulation and gastro-duodenal problems, and went on hunger strike in protest at the lack of medical attention at the prison. At the end of 2008 it was reported that Izquierdo was suffering from depression.

Writing Sample:

CUBA - Jose Miguel MARTINEZ HERNANDEZ (payolibre)Date of birth: 1963. Sentence: 13 years. Prison: El Aguacate high security prison, Quivicán, Habana province. Charge: Law 88.

Concerns: In 2008, Martínez reported that sanitary conditions were extremely poor in El Aguacate, with contaminated drinking water and an outbreak of tuberculosis exacerbated by damp and overcrowding.

 

Date of birth: 4 April 1970. Sentence: 20 years. Prison: Morón, Ciego de Ávila. Charge: Law 88. 

Concerns: Pacheco has reportedly suffered from a number of ailments since his imprisonment, including hypertension, kidney problems, acute gastritis, severe headaches and joint problems in both knees.

CUBA - Fabio Prieto Llorente (CPJ)Date of birth: 11 March 1963. Sentence: 20 years. Prison: El Guayabo, Isla de la Juventud. Charge: Article 91 and Law 88. 
 

Concerns: During his detention Prieto has reportedly suffered from a variety of medical complaints including hypertension, emphysema (an irreversible lung condition), heart complications, severe back pain, ear infections, allergies and depression. He has reportedly undertaken several hunger strikes in protest at very poor prison conditions, including being kept in solitary confinement for months at a time, being held with dangerous prisoners, overcrowding and dirty drinking water. Honorary Member: English PEN Centre.

Links: Transcription of a telephone interview with Prieto focusing on his health, dated January 2008: http://cubarepresion.blogspot.com/2008/02/revista-amanecer-entrevista-al.html

CUBA - Alfredo Pulido López (CPJ)Date of birth: 14 November 1960. Sentence: 14 years. Prison: Kilo 7, Camagüey. Charge: Article 91.

Concerns: There was serious concern for Pulido's health in 2008. He was reportedly suffering from chronic bronchitis, high blood pressure, hypoglycaemia, osteoporosis, vision loss, gastritis, severe headaches and depression. According to his wife, he was thin and weak, dragged his feet when walking and had difficulty eating, however her request for him to be released on health grounds had been refused.

CUBA - Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodríguez (Payolibre.com)Date of birth: 7 August 1955. Sentence: 25 years. Prison: Nieves Morejón, Sancti Spíritus. Charge: Law 88. 
 

Concerns: Reyes is said to suffer from a number of health complaints including arterial hypertension, arthrosis (a degenerative disease of the joints) and gastritis. He was reportedly hospitalised in August 2008 for low blood sugar and sudden weight loss which it was feared may indicate the onset of diabetes. Reyes has denounced prison conditions on several occasions, including flooding and sanitary problems, severe overcrowding and lack of beds. Honorary Member: Sydney PEN Centre.

CUBA - Omar Rodríguez Saludes (CPJ)Date of birth: 11 July 1965. Sentence: 27 years. Prison: Toledo, Havana. Charge: Article 91.

 Concerns: In 2008 Rodríguez had reportedly been diagnosed with gastrointestinal problems and hypertension but his health was otherwise stable. According to his son, who has lost his job because of his father's imprisonment, Rodríguez is determined not to let prison break his will. In September 2008, in a case brought under the US Alien Tort Claims Act, a Miami judge reportedly ruled that Rodríguez' arrest, trial and imprisonment had violated his human rights and that the treatment and conditions that he has experienced in prison amounted to torture. Honorary member: Finnish PEN Centre. 

CUBA - Omar Ruiz Hernández (CPJ)

Date of birth: 16 November 1947. Sentence: 18 years. Prison Nieves Morejón, Guayos, Sancti Spíritus. Charge: Article 91.

Concerns: Ruiz has reportedly suffered from poor health since his imprisonment, including hypertension, a detached retina, pneumonia, and prostate, kidney and circulatory problems. Prison conditions are said to be crowded and noisy, which has reportedly caused Ruiz mental distress and insomnia. He is also understood to have endured maltreatment such as solitary confinement, being held in punishment cells and harassment. Honorary Member: Swedish PEN Centre.

  

Detained after 2003:

Date of arrest: 29 November 2006. Sentence: 4 years. Prison: Sancti Spíritus. Charge: Article 72 ("social dangerousness"). Details of arrest and trial: Perdigón was arrested on charges on being a "pre-criminal danger to society" 29 November 2006 after defying a State Security order to cease his journalistic activities, and was sentenced on 5 December 2006.

Concerns: Fears that Perdigón may suffer reprisals since complaining in April 2007 about food poisoning arising from negligence on the part of prison staff and his general concerns about inmates' health.

 

 

CUBA - Oscar SANCHEZ MADAN (baracuteycubano)Date of birth: 10 December 1961. Date of arrest: 13 April 2007. Sentence: four years, reduced to three years on appeal. Prison: Combinado del Sur maximum security prison, outside Matanzas. Charge: Article 72 ("social dangerousness").  

Details of arrest and trial: Following repeated warnings by local authorities to stop working as a journalist, Sánchez was arrested on 13 April 2007 and convicted the same day at a closed trial where he reportedly had no access to legal counsel. 

Concerns: Since his imprisonment Sánchez has complained of maltreatment, including being attacked and threatened by other inmates, restricted communications and inadequate medical attention. He reportedly fell and broke his leg in June 2008 and was only given treatment almost four weeks later.

 

Date of trial: 23 January 2007. Sentence: 3 years. Prison: Forced-labour camp in Las Tunas province. Charge: Article 72 ("social dangerousness").

Details of arrest and trial: Velásquez was arrested on 23 January 2007 together with his wife and daughter, both of whom were freed later that day. He was sentenced to three years of supervised parole, before being taken to El Típico provincial prison.

Concerns: Following a hunger strike in 30 January 2007 Velásquez was transferred to a forced-labour camp in Las Tunas province in March that year.

 

 

CUBA - Albert Santiago du Bouchet (Payolibre.com)Date of arrest: 18 April 2009. Sentence: three years. Expires: 17 April 2012. Prison: Melena 2, south of Havana. Charge: "disrespect for authority".

Details of arrest and trial: Du Bouchet was arrested on 18 April 2009 while visiting relatives in Artemisa, near Havana. The circumstances of the arrest are unclear but it understood that he was taken to the local police station after a verbal exchange with a police officer. The police have claimed he was shouting anti-government slogans in the street. He was transferred to Melena 2 prison to the south of Havana on 10 May. On 12 May he was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of "disrespect for authority". There were unconfirmed reports that he was also reportedly charged with "distributing enemy propaganda", but it is not known whether he was convicted of this charge.

Concerns: The trial was said to have been summary and Du Bouchet was reportedly denied access to a lawyer. He has appealed his sentence but it is thought unlikely that the appeal will be successful. One source indicated that Du Bouchet was jailed in reprisal for his work, which includes reporting on social issues.

This is the second time Du Bouchet has been imprisoned on "disrespect" charges. In August 2005 he was arrested after attending the congress of the pro-democracy Assembly to Promote Civil Society, summarily tried without access to a lawyer and sentenced to one year in prison. Du Bouchet was released in August 2006, having served the sentence in full. He has reportedly been threatened with prison on several occasions since his release.

 

Past Cases

Emblematic case

CUBA - Maria Elena CRUZ VARELA (liberal int.org)Maria Elena Cruz Varela (born 1953, Colón, Cuba) is an award-winning poet, novelist and political activist. She was imprisoned for 18 months between 1991 and 1993 and then held under house arrest before going into exile in 1994. Click here for more information.

 

 

Top of page