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Cuba criticised over dissidents
BBC,
UK, March 18, 2005.
Wives of dissidents
held in Cuba staged a demonstration last
month
Amnesty International has accused the
Cuban authorities of holding 71 prisoners
of conscience, often in brutal conditions.
Cuba continues to imprison people who
simply disagree with the state, the rights
group has said in a new report.
Those who meet US officials or talk with
exiles in the US can face jail terms of
up to 28 years, Amnesty says.
Two years ago, Cuba saw the harshest clamp
down on human rights since the revolution
in 1959.
Ban on clothes
Amnesty - which has been denied access
to Cuba since 1988 - said four political
detainees have suffered abuse during the
last year.
The group said prisoner of conscience,
Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta, was beaten on
his throat by prison guards, until he lost
consciousness.
Nine dissidents were locked in cells measuring
1m by 2m, without a break, for between two
and four months. In some cases, the detainees
were forbidden to wear clothes.
Cuba has rejected calls from Western governments
to free political prisoners.
However, over the last year, the authorities
have released 19 political detainees, of
which 14 were freed on health grounds.
Amnesty has once again criticised the US
embargo on Cuba, which it says gives Fidel
Castro's regime an excuse to clamp down
on dissidents.
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