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Herrera hospitalized, suspends
hunger strike
Reporters
Without Borders,
29 March 2006.
Imprisoned independent journalist Juan
Carlos Herrera Acosta of the Agencia de
Prensa Libre Oriental (APLO) yesterday suspended
his hunger strike after being rushed to
the Amalia Simoni provincial hospital in
the eastern city of Camagüey.
Herrera, who had been on hunger strike
for 23 days in Camagüey's Kilo 8 prison,
said the medical treatment he was receiving
was poor. He is suffering from headaches
and stomach pains, and has lost a lot of
weight. He added that he intended to resume
his hunger strike as soon as he is better.
Herrera's demands are a transfer to the
prison in the eastern city of Guantánamo,
where he is from, the ability to attend
religious services and permission to receive
letters from his family.
27.03.06 - Call for humanitarian gesture
towards two journalists on hunger strike
Reporters Without Borders voiced alarm
today about the state of health of two imprisoned
journalists who are on hunger strike, Juan
Carlos Herrera Acosta and Guillermo Fariñas
Hernández, calling for a humanitarian
gesture from the Cuban authorities and for
foreign embassies in Havana to intercede.
"How are we to interpret this indifference
about the slow death of two individuals
who are just demanding the right to express
their views and surf the Internet freely,"
the press freedom organisation said. "And
what danger could possibly come from two
people who are so physically and mentally
debilitated ?"
Reporters Without Borders added : "The
silence from the authorities could reinforce
the feeling of many prisoners and dissidents
that they have nothing to lose, and could
thereby encourage more hunger strikes. We
reiterate our appeal to the Cuban government
for clemency and we urge the foreign embassies
in Havana to monitor the cases of Herrera
and Fariñas closely."
Herrera, who has been on a hunger strike
for 22 days in his prison cell in Kilo 8
prison in the eastern city of Camagüey,
sowed up his mouth in a new gesture of protest
on 23 March, the Miami-based website Cubanet
reported. According to Juan Carlos González
Leyva, the head of the Cuban Foundation
for Human Rights, Herrera did this after
being badly beaten by guards for two days
running, on 21 and 22 March.
Herrera, who worked for an independent
news agency called the Agencia de Prensa
Libre Oriental (APLO), is serving a 20-year
prison sentence which he received after
being arrested in the March 2003 crackdown.
Held in solitary confinement, he has for
some time suffered from high blood pressure
and gastritis, but he has not been getting
appropriate treatment.
Dr. Julio Sánchez Hernández
of an independent medical institute in the
central province of Santa Clara told Cubanet
on 19 March that Fariñas's condition
has got much worse and that he was very
concerned and pessimistic about his chances
of survival. Fariñas is suffering
from bouts of fever, violent migraines and
loss of feeling in his legs.
He first began refusing to eat and drink
on 31 January to demand Internet access
for all Cubans but there have been periods
when his hunger strike was interrupted while
he received treatment.
Reporters Without Borders defends imprisoned
journalists and press freedom throughout
the world. It has nine national sections
(Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany,
Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland). It
has representatives in Abidjan, Bangkok,
London, Moscow, New York, Tokyo and Washington.
And it has more than 120 correspondents
worldwide.
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