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REPOTERS
WITHOUT BORDERS
Wife
of jailed journalist Raśl Rivero attacks "unacceptable"
prison conditions
At least eight others reportedly ill
Reporters
Without Borders, 5 August
2003.
Imprisoned Cuban journalist and poet Raúl
Rivero has lost nearly 20 kgs (40 pounds) in weight
since he was jailed last March, according to his
wife Blanca Reyes, who fears he is being starved
in jail in Ciego de Avila, where he is serving
a 20-year sentence for allegedly "undermining
the independence and unity of the state."
She told Reporters Without Borders on 4 August
that she had spoken to him by phone on 31 July
and that it was clear he was suffering though
he did not complain. He was deliberately being
held in harsh conditions and only allowed one
visit every three months instead of the normal
one month. She said her own visits to him, as
his wife, were also restricted.
"I can only bring him extra food every three
months," she said. "Canned food is forbidden,
so he has to eat biscuits and has no protein in
his diet. I won't be able to see him again until
21 August." She said he also had circulatory
problems and that the authorities were passing
on medication she brought him.
"His conditions of detention are inhuman
and unacceptable," she said. "He is
exhausted by the heat and the filthy cells are
infested with cockroaches and mosquitoes. Even
Fidel Castro, when he was jailed for armed rebellion
against dictator Fulgencio Batista, didn't have
to suffer such conditions. Raúl is innocent.
I'm in despair."
She called on the authorities to end his harsh
detention regime and give him healthy and balanced
food. She said his 82-year-old mother, Hortensia
Castañeda, was very affected by his imprisonment.
"I hold the government responsible for her
state of her health," she warned.
Rivero has been in Canaleta prison in Ciego de
Avila, 420 km east of Havana, since he was sentenced
in April (after being arrested on 20 March). He
was accused of writing "biased" articles
in the foreign press, meeting with US diplomats
and working with Reporters Without Borders, which
was described as a "French terrorist organisation
used by the US government."
Rivero, who was awarded the Reporters Without
Borders - Fondation de France prize in 1997, is
also a member of the Manuel Márquez Sterling
Journalists' Association, which is part of the
Reporters Without Borders Network that includes
press freedom organisations all over the world.
At least seven other independent journalists
arrested at the end of March are reportedly ill.
One of them, Oscar Espinosa Chepe, has been transferred
to hospital in Santiago de Cuba with cirrhosis
of the liver as a result of strong international
pressure. His wife Miriam Leiva says the hospital
is not clean and has asked for his transfer to
a hospital in Havana. Espinosa fears he will contract
new illnesses in the Santiago hospital and has
refused to undergo medical tests. His wife says
he has lost about 20 kgs which is endangering
his health.
The six other journalists said to be ill are
Víctor Rolando Arroyo Carmona, Carmelo
Díaz Fernández, Hector Maseda Gutiérrez,
Jorge Olivera Castillo, Miguel Galván Gutierrez
and Normándo Hernández. Several
have reportedly not received treatment they need
and have also lost weight.
A total of 75 regime dissidents were arrested
at the end of March, including 26 independent
journalists. They were tried in early April and
each sentenced to between 14 and 27 years imprisonment,
mostly under laws to protect the "independence
and unity" of the state.
They were accused of publishing articles abroad
that allegedly served the "imperialist interests"
of the United States and having contacts with
the US Interests Section (diplomatic representation)
in Havana. Tape-recorders, computers, fax machines
and written material seized at their homes were
presented as evidence at their hasty trials.
Article 53 of the Cuban constitution bans privately-owned
media. Apart from the small Catholic Church press,
all media is controlled by the ruling Cuban Communist
Party.
More than 13 years ago, Reporters Without Borders
set up a system where international media can
"sponsor" imprisoned journalists. Some
120 media outlets around the world have responded
by adopting colleagues, regularly calling for
their release and publicising their plight so
they are not forgotten. Rivero is sponsored by
the French daily newspapers Ouest France, Le Figaro,
Metro and La Tribune, as well as the TV station
TV5 and the France Culture radio station.
For more about journalists imprisoned in Cuba,
see the section "Cuba,
the world's biggest prison for journalists,"
on our website: www.rsf.org
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