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Blind lawyer describes
tortures from prision
State Security Prison, Pedernales, Holguin,
Cuba. March 2, 2004.
Urgent: To national and international public
opinion.
I am Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva, 39 years
old, a blind Cuban lawyer and president
of the Cuban Foundation of Human Rights,
imprisoned since March 2, 2002 without a
trial. I hereby expose to the world the
physical and physchological tortures to
which I have been subjected for months:
State Security maintains electrical connections
with exposed wires without any protection.
Last night I got tangled up in one from
the light bulb they hang very low in the
bathroom. It was a miracle I wasn't killed.
I was wet, getting dressed. The socket fell,
the light bulb broke, and I had to pick
up the pieces of glass. The noise was loud,
but no one came to see what was happening.
This is the second time I've run into these
exposed, ungrounded cables that connect
to the light.
Three or four days ago they placed a light
over my head that really heats up my cell
a lot, and it makes the temperature of my
cell vary to their desires: sometimes very
hot and other times very cold.
The authorities throw a sort of powder
on the floor of my cell and force me to
clean it up with water, a procedure I repeat
up to ten times a day to avoid any exposure
to this substance. They also throw small
stones on the floor of my cell. When these
small stones come in contact with water,
they make the floor as cold as ice, and
the coldness fills my cell. They throw this
powder on my face, on my bed, clothes, and
on the blades of the fan, filling my eyes,
nose, and mouth with this powder every night.
They place something, a substance which
is the most horrible of all the tortures,
beside my bed. It affects the central nervous
system, disrupting and disorienting thoughts
that flow in my mind and cluttering my mind
so that nothing makes sense, and I sink
into a kind of lethargy, a feeling of abandonment,
and finally a depressed state. It is as
if a lion were giving you a strong blow
to the head every time you tried to go to
sleep. It's like something jumps inside
of you. This period of torture lasts two
to four hours. Today, when it ended, I didn't
remember certain names of people and friends
whom I know well and other basic things.
In addition, it causes me fatigue, nausea,
headaches, and a loss of coordination in
my speech and walking, tremors, high blood
pressure (up to 110 beats per minute) and
fever.
They also throw trash and substances in
my food which cause burning in my mouth
and stomach. Yesterday, while I was eating,
the guard Irmais passed by my side and threw
a piece of nylon fishing line in my food.
I have to cover my bowl while I'm chewing,
with my ears tuned in to hear them approaching.
I can't save any water or food because they
(State Security guards) fill them with substances
when I fall asleep.
They only take me outside twice a week,
at which time guards create conditions in
my cell so that I will continue suffering
the aforementioned tortures.
They also throw a substance on me that
goes through everything, even my clothes
and my coat. It gives me a tremendous itch.
Another substance burns me such the all
the skin on my hands and lower body, including
my genitals are peeling off. I can't touch
almost any part of my body.
JUAN CARLOS GONZALEZ LEIVA
Blind lawyer, President of the Cuban Foundation
of Human Rights in prison since March 4,
2002 without a trial.
NOTE: Juan Carlos Gonzales Leiva was
violently arrested, wounded, and incarcerated
on March 4, 2002, for carrying out a peaceful
protest along with 9 human rights activists
at the Antonio Luaces Iraola Hospital in
Ciego de Avila, Cuba in defense of a beating
carried out on the independent journalist,
Jesús Alvarez Castillo, by Cuban
authorities. Two activists are under house
arrest while the others remain confined
in different prisons without right to a
trial or bail, accused of disorderly conduct
and contempt of court, crimes which mean
up to eight years in prison.
Testimony smuggled from
prison. Given via telephone from Cuba by
Maritza Calderin, wife of Juan Carlos Gonzalez
Leiva. Recorded, transcribed and translated
to English.
Address: Honorato del Castillo #154, entre
Republica y Cuba, Ciego de Avila, Cuba.
Tel: + 53 33 222235
Coalition of Cuban-American Women/ LAIDA
CARRO/ TANYA WILDER/
Fax: 305-740-7323 Email addresses (Joseito76@aol.com)
or (tswilder@charter.net)
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