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Cuban
physician is transferred to a prison 6 hours away
from his home with his hands and feet tied
Coalition of Cuban-American Women, September
12, 2003.
In Cuba, a physician sentenced to 24 years
in prison during a recent wave of repression,
is confined in an isolation cell subjected to
inhumane prison conditions
On August 21, 2003, prisoner of conscience, Dr.
Jose Luis Garcia Paneque informed his wife during
a family visit to the Provincial Prison of Villa
Clara where he is confined, that on May 17, 2003
Cuban authorities transferred him, lying down,
tied of hands and feet during a 7 hour trip, from
the Provincial Prison of Las Tunas to the prison
of Guamajal in Villa Clara.
Dr.Garcia Paneque, 38 years of age, is isolated
in a punishment cell that measures 2.5 feet by
5 feet, suffering inhumane prison conditions.
Undernourished, he has lost 30 pounds due to the
decomposed food he is given and is suffering from
asthma, allergies and skin fungus.
Yamile Llanez, wife of Dr. Garcia Paneque and
their four children, ages: 4, 6,7 y 12 years old,
have to travel approximately 500 kilometers from
Las Tunas, where the family resides, to the Provincial
Prison of Villa Clara, in order to be present
at the visits allowed every three months.
Cuban authorities are presently threatening Yamilé
Llanez of "participating even more than her
husband in opposition activities " to which
the wife of this Cuban physician replies that
it is her duty to continue the work carried out
by Dr. Garcia Paneque: " a great husband,
excellent father, and human rights defender."
Yamile Llanez, a lawyer, is prohibited from practicing
her profession due to her collaboration with the
Cuban Independent Medical Association. The family
depends on the charity of friends to survive and
cover expenses to make the prison trips.
Dr. Jose Luis Garcia Paneque, a plastic surgeon,
was included in the wave of repression that took
place in Cuba in mid March 2003. He was detained
March 18 and condemned April 4, of this year by
the Municipal Tribunal of Las Tunas to 24 years
in prison for defending human rights and providing
independent medical assistance to the Cuban people.
Dr. Garcia Paneque is president of the unofficial
Independent Medical Association of Las Tunas,
director of the independent press agency Libertad
and member of the Journalists´ Society,
"Manuel Marquez Sterling." He was also
involved in the Proyecto Varela initiative and
directed a private library.
The Cuban government is responsible for the physical
and mental well-being of Dr. Jose Luis Garcia
Paneque. Urgent support is needed worldwide from
dignitaries of democratic nations, human rights
organization, health associations, the international
press and men and women of good faith, in demanding
the unconditional and immediate release of this
prisoner of conscience and all those who suffer
prison in Cuba for promoting justice and freedom.
Information obtained September 8, 2003 via
telephone from Las Tunas, Cuba by Dr. Alfredo
Melgar in Miami, EE.UU. (Alfredomelgar@aol.com)
ADDRESS:
Yamile Llanez Labrada
Calle Emilio Gonzalez No. 63,
e/ Eliades Avila y Jose Licea,
Reparto Aguilera, Municipio Las Tunas,
Las Tunas, Cuba.
Text Composition and translation
to English: Coalition of Cuban-American Women,
Miami, Florida. (Joseito76@aol.com)
Distribuited by Net
For Cuba International
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