CUBA: CPJ concerned about
deteriorating health of imprisoned journalists
Committee
to Protect Journalists.
New York, July 28, 2004-The Committee to
Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned
about the deteriorating health of imprisoned
journalists Julio César Gálvez,
Edel José García, and Jorge
Olivera Castillo, who are among the 29 journalists
sentenced to lengthy prison terms in Cuba
in 2003.
Gálvez is serving a 15-year prison
sentence at La Pendiente Prison in central
Villa Clara Province. He suffers from several
ailments, including high blood pressure,
liver problems, high cholesterol, and urinary
problems. These illnesses have appeared
or worsened during his imprisonment, according
to his wife, Beatriz del Carmen Pedroso.
From February 26 to July 9, 2004, Gálvez
was hospitalized, and on March 11 a stone
was removed from his gallbladder. Pedroso
told CPJ she is very worried about her husband's
health, including his increased nervousness,
and said she would apply for a medical parole
on his behalf.
García is currently serving his
15-year prison sentence at the hospital
of Combinado del Este Prison in the capital,
Havana, where he has been since February
25, 2004. He is suffering from gastritis
and has developed severe claustrophobia
and depression, his wife, María Margarita
Borges, told CPJ. In addition, García
has been blind in one eye since childhood
and has limited vision in the other.
Olivera, who has been at the Guantánamo
Provincial Hospital in eastern Guantánamo
Province since February 26, 2004, is serving
an 18-year prison sentence. According to
his wife, Nancy Alfaya, Olivera has had
intense abdominal pain caused by chronic
colitis. In addition, he suffers from unstable
blood pressure and other ailments that have
worsened while in prison. Alfaya says that
her husband never had blood pressure problems
before entering prison, and that his general
health has worsened since his incarceration.
"The Cuban government jailed these
journalists using legislation that flouts
internationally recognized freedom of expression
standards," said CPJ Executive Director
Ann Cooper. "We continue to demand
their immediate and unconditional release."
Background
Gálvez, García, and Olivera
were imprisoned in April 2003 in a massive
government crackdown on the independent
media and political opposition. The arrests
of political dissidents and journalists-who
were accused of being "counterrevolutionaries"
at the service of the United States-began
in March 2003.
The journalists' summary trials were held
on April 3 and 4 behind closed doors. Some
journalists were tried under Article 91
of the Penal Code, which imposes lengthy
prison sentences or death for those who
act against "the independence or the
territorial integrity of the State."
Other journalists were prosecuted for violating
Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's National
Independence and Economy, which mandates
up to 20 years in prison for anyone who
commits acts "aimed at subverting the
internal order of the Nation and destroying
its political, economic, and social system."
On April 7, 2003, courts across the island
announced prison sentences for the journalists
ranging from 14 to 27 years. In June 2003,
the People's Supreme Tribunal, Cuba's highest
court, dismissed the journalists' appeals
for annulment (recursos de casación)
and upheld their convictions.
The imprisoned journalists, most of whom
are being held in maximum-security facilities,
have denounced their unsanitary prison conditions
and inadequate medical care. They have also
complained of being fed foul-smelling and
rotten food. Many journalists have been
transferred to cells with common criminals,
while others remain in isolation. Unlike
the general prison population, who receive
more frequent visits, imprisoned journalists
are allowed family visits every three months
and marital visits every five months.
For more information about press freedom
conditions in Cuba, visit <www.cpj.org>.
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit
organization that works to safeguard press
freedom around the world.
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