Cuban prison conditions

Excerpt from INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS - ANNUAL REPORT 2008

CHAPTER IV - HUMAN RIGHTS DEVELOPMENTS IN THE REGION

CUBA

3. Detention Conditions for Political Dissidents[258]

187. In 2008 the Commission continued to receive information about prison conditions for political dissidents in Cuba, in particular on degrading treatment by prison authorities of persons branded as political opponents.[259] In that connection, the former political prisoner Pedro Pablo Álvarez made the following statement to the IACHR on October 28, 2008:

There are hundreds of political inmates who are currently being held in inhumane Cuban jails designed by the dictatorship in Havana to silence the truth. These men and women are cruelly and systematically being deprived of their most basic rights of liberty and the ability to freely express their thoughts, without being shown any respect for their personal dignity whatsoever.[260]

188. On October 21, 2006 the Commission resolved to convey to the State and to the petitioners’ representatives,[261] to publish and to include in its Annual Report to the OAS General Assembly its Report on Merits No. 67/06 in Case 12.476 (Oscar Elías Biscet et al.) which deals with political dissidents who were arrested and tried in expedited summary proceedings during the so-called “Black Spring” operation in 2003, under Article 91[262] of the Cuban Criminal Code, and Law 88 on the Protection of Cuba’s National Independence and Economy, for actions related to the exercise of such basic freedoms as freedom of thought, conscience, belief and speech, and the right of peaceful assembly and free association. The sentences ranged from 6 months to 28 years in prison. At a public hearing held by the IACHR, the former political prisoner Pedro Pablo Álvarez referred to the reasons why the victims in Case 12.476 were arrested and the way in which the trials to which they were subjected were conducted:

Everyone knows about the horrific offensive unleashed by the authorities in Havana against seventy-four men and one woman in the so-called Black Spring of 2003 when we were arrested, absurdly charged with associating with a foreign power for the purpose of overthrowing the government and the Revolution.

I would like to clarify that there was not even one single case among the seventy-five of us who were arrested during that operation against whom any evidence was presented of having ties or concrete plans to violently overthrow the government in Cuba, with the complicity of any foreign force or power that might have intentions of invading the island. All of it was a fallacy of the Cuban government. They are perfectly aware of the civil and pacific nature of the Opposition Movement in our country.

We were tried in expedited summary proceedings without being afforded the due legal process that are guarantees in a Legal State, as provided in so many UN and OAS Declarations, Pacts and/or Conventions. We were barely allowed to speak with our defense attorneys. In my particular case, I was only allowed to talk for ten minutes just moments before the trial began. The sentence requested by the prosecution in my case was life imprisonment and, in the end, I was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of twenty-five years. [263]

189. It should be noted that in Report 67/06, the IACHR concluded that the State of Cuba violated several articles of the American Declaration, including Articles I, II, IV, VI, XX, XXI, XXII, XXV, and XXVI to the detriment of the victims in the case; that it violated Article V with respect to eight of the victims; Article X to the detriment of 14 victims, and Article XVIII with regard to 73 victims. The Commission further concluded that the State did not violate Articles IX, XI and XVII of the American Declaration to the detriment of the victims.[264]

190. The IACHR also recommended that the State of Cuba:

1. Order the immediate and unconditional release of the victims in this case, overturning their convictions inasmuch as they were based on laws that impose unlawful restrictions on their human rights.

2. Adopt any measures necessary to adapt its laws, procedures and practices to international human rights law. In particular, the Commission is recommending to the Cuban State that it repeal Law No. 88 and Article 91 of its Criminal Code, and that it initiate a process to amend its Constitution to ensure the independence of the judicial branch of government and the right to participate in government.

3. Redress the victims and their next of kin for the pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages suffered as a result of the violations of the American Declaration herein established.

4. Adopt the measures necessary to prevent a recurrence of similar acts, in keeping with the State’s duty to respect and ensure human rights .[265]

191. According to information received by the IACHR, by 2008, 20[266] victims in Case 12.476 have been released from prison under the Cuban “extrapenal licence” mechanism (parole)[267] on the grounds that they were seriously ill,[268] and Rafael Millet Leyva was released on December 19, 2006.

192. In February 2008, four victims in Case 12.476 received extrapenal licence: José Gabriel Ramón Castillo[269], Pedro Pablo Álvarez, Alejandro González Raga and Omar Pernet, subject to the condition they leave Cuba and go to Spain. The other victims are still in prison. The Commission considers that while the release was a positive step, the State has not complied in full with the recommendations contained in Report on Merits 67/06.

193. Under the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, all individuals have the right to humane treatment during the time they are in custody.[270] In several of its reports, the Commission has addressed the topic of detention conditions in Cuba.[271] The Commission is of the view that the State’s responsibility with regard to the human treatment of persons held in its custody is not confined to the negative obligation to refrain from practicing torture or mistreating such persons. Since prisons are places where the state has total control over the life of the prisoners, its obligations towards them include the control and security measures required to preserve the life and protect the integrity of persons deprived of liberty.

194. According to information received by the IACHR,[272] the prison authorities – either directly or with the assistance of other convicts -- continue to mistreat political prisoners: they are subjected to beatings and attacks, kept in isolation for long periods, and they are not provided with the medical assistance needed for the illnesses they suffer. In addition, they are held in prisons far away from their home towns in order to make visiting difficult; family visits are restricted or denied; foodstuffs or medicines sent by their relatives are restricted or denied; and they are kept from meeting with officials from international human rights bodies. This leads to a serious deterioration in the physical and/or mental health of imprisoned dissidents.[273] At a public hearing held by the IACHR on October 28, 2008, the former political prisoner Pedro Pablo Álvarez said the following about the prison conditions:

We are kept in isolation for thirty-six days, each of us having to share with three other prisoners our four-person cells that were so small that the four of us could not stand up at the same time, lights were on day and night, a minimum ration of food, and subjected to nearly constant interrogation with threats and insults. Later the vast majority of the seventy-five of us were moved to prisons that were far away from our home towns. In my case, I was sent with another seven brothers in the struggle to a prison in Canaleta in the province of Ciego de Avila, some five hundred kilometers from Havana. We were subjected to solitary confinement for one year. The cells were very small – approximately 1.3 meters wide by 2.4 meters long, the head or the provision for physiological needs and bathing were all in the cell. The routine was very strict. Visiting time was every three months and conjugal visits were allowed every five months. The food was terrible, there was hardly any protein. Survival was thanks to the relatives who came every three months at great sacrifice to themselves to bring loads of food. In these cases our families suffer greater punishment because in Cuba, with the scarcity of food and with ever more precarious transportation options, and with the scant financial resources, this task is heroic. On top of all this, the harassment the families of political prisoners are subjected to that, in many cases, includes losing jobs and the government does not allow them to exercise any independent work. In other words, they are refused work permits for self-employment.

Once this initial phase is over, the next one begins that is only worse: living in the outposts with all kinds of characters: murderers, rapists, unscrupulous thieves, crazy people and sex maniacs, etc., most of whom are manipulated by the prison authorities and, of course, the government security officers, too. They are sometimes used by security to punish or threaten an inmate.

For five years and seven months the torture and mistreatment – sometimes physical and at all times psychological – have been constant. It is not only visited upon the prisoners but also on the prisoners’ families. For example, our children suffer discrimination and insults in school just because they are related to a political prisoner. Our wives and mothers, our fathers, our sisters and brothers and other relatives who take care of us are rejected by members of the community or in their workplaces. Today, some of these men are still being unfairly held in jail hundreds of kilometers from their families, under conditions that endanger their lives and their health. Some of them have chronic illnesses and are not provided medical care, and without medicine and with inadequate nutrition they are unable to get well. This situation is made worse in most of the cases because the prisoners are old and should not be jailed under such subhuman conditions and it becomes more difficult for them to tolerate such a cruel and inhumane prison system.[274]

195. Several of the victims in Case 12.476 have health problems that have emerged or been aggravated during their detention, without the provision of adequate medical care.[275] The IACHR received information on the deterioration of the health in jail of six of the nine trade union members[276] convicted in 2003 for their participation in organizations of the independent Cuban workers movement: Horacio Julio Piña Borrego, Victor Rolando Arroyo Carmona, Adolfo Fernández Sainz, Alfredo Felipe Fuentes, Luis Milán Fernández and Blas Giraldo Reyes.[277]

196. With regard to the health of Blas Giraldo Reyes, according to the information received, he had several health problems, most notably arterial hypertension, hemorrhoids, diabetes, degenerative osteoarthritis with hardening of cartilage, chronic indigestion, kidney and liver problems.[278] The IACHR was informed that Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodríguez was checked into the provincial Camilo Cienfuegos hospital and was later transferred to the prison infirmary and is currently at the outpost.[279]

197. The Commission has previously expressed its concern regarding the large number of convicts who suffer from chronic visual, renal, cardiac and pulmonary ailments and are not given appropriate medical attention, including several prisoners of advanced years. Moreover, the IACHR is aware that the prison authorities prevent the relatives of imprisoned political dissidents from supplying them with medicines needed to treat their illnesses and that are not provided by the Government.

198. The Commission reiterates that the State has not observed the United Nations’ Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners[280] and the IACHR Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas.[281]

199. In 2008 the Commission has continued to receive information on the grave conditions of arrest suffered by the victims in Case 12.476, especially in the case of Normando Hernández González, director of the Colegio de Periodistas Independientes in Camaguey and Jorge Luis García Paneque, director of the agency Libertad.

200. In the case of Normando Hernández González, according to information received in 2008, he was transferred to the “Carlos J. Finlay” Military Hospital in Havana where he received medical treatment due to the several health complications he had experienced while imprisoned in an isolation cell at prison Kilo 7.[282] With regard to Jorge Luís García Paneque, the Commission was informed that the prison authorities had continued to deny Mr. García Paneque access to the medicines he needed for his deteriorated health.

201. The Commission has also received reports that Iván Hernández Carrillo from the agency Patria is suffering from chronic illnesses that have worsened due to lack of adequate medical care. In July 2008, journalist Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta started a hunger strike to demand better jail conditions; he sewed his mouth shut in protest. According to information received, his health has also deteriorated since the time of his arrest.[283]

202. The Commission reiterates to the State of Cuba its recommendation that it immediately release the victims in Case 12.476.

Footnotes

[258] The Government of Cuba denies the term “dissidents” in reference to the victims of Case 12.476. In the report entitled “White Book 2007” published on the official web page of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it says: “The campaign that persists even now, in which several governments that are customers of the empire have cynically, actively and complicitly joined, has utilized sophisticated methods of false information developed by the Nazi-fascist services, repeatedly referring falsely to the mercenaries who were justly punished as “dissidents”, “peaceful political opposition”, “Human Rights Defenders” or “independent journalists, librarians and unionists.” The intent is to make it look like the mercenaries had been punished “arbitrarily and unfairly” for the simple act of “peacefully exercising their rights of freedom of expression, opinion and association.” See “White Book 2007” as cited.

[259] Statement of Pedro Pablo Álvarez at the public hearing before the IACHR on the “Situation of imprisoned union members in Cuba,” held on October 28, 2008. Available at: http://www.cidh.org/audiencias/seleccionar.aspx.

[260] Statement of Pedro Pablo Álvarez at the public hearing before the IACHR on the “Situation of imprisoned union members in Cuba,” held on October 28, 2008. Available at: http://www.cidh.org/audiencias/seleccionar.aspx.

[261] The Cuban State and the petitioners’ representatives were notified of the Report on Merits No. 67/06 on November 1, 2006. See IACHR, Press Release No. 40/06, “IACHR announces two reports on Human Rights violations in Cuba” dated November 1, 2006.

[262] Section 91 of the Cuban Criminal Code: Any person who, in the interest of a foreign Government, commits an act for the purpose of diminishing Cuba’s governmental independence or territorial integrity, shall be subject to punishment of no less than ten to twenty years of imprisonment or death.

[263] Statement of Pedro Pablo Álvarez at the public hearing before the IACHR on the “Situation of imprisoned union members in Cuba,” held on October 28, 2008. Available at: http://www.cidh.org/audiencias/seleccionar.aspx.

[264] See complete report at http://www.cidh.org.

[265] See complete report at: http://www.cidh.org.

[266] In 2004, the following persons were granted extrapenal licence: Osvaldo Alfonso, Margarito Broche Espinosa, Carmelo Díaz Fernández, Oscar Espinosa Chepe, Orlando Fundadora Álvarez, Edel José García Díaz, Marcelo López Bañobre, Roberto de Miranda, Jorge Olivera Castillo, Raúl Rivero Castañeda, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, Julio Valdés Guevara, Miguel Valdés Tamayo (died January 10, 2007), Manuel Vásquez Portal. In 2005, Mario Enrique Mayo Hernández and Héctor Palacio Ruiz were granted extrapenal licence. In 2008, José Gabriel Ramón Castillo, Pedro Pablo Alvarez, Alejandro González Raga and Omar Pernet were granted extrapenal licence.

[267] The Criminal Code of Cuba provides: “Section 31.2: The sentencing court may grant persons sentenced to prison extra-penal license for the duration deemed necessary, when there is good reason and subject to the filing of an application. It may also be granted by the Ministry of the Interior, in extraordinary cases, provided notice is given to the President of the People’s Supreme Court.” “Section 31.4: The duration of extra-penal licenses and of furloughs from the detention facility shall be credited to the duration of the prison sentence provided that the recipient of the benefit, during the time the license or furlough is in force, displays good behavior. The reductions of sentence granted to the convict during his or her service of the sentence shall also be credited to its duration.”

[268] See: Video of public hearing on “Case 12.476 Oscar Elías Biscet et al., Cuba (follow-up of recommendations)” held on October 10, 2007, cited above. According to the State of Cuba, for “strictly humanitarian” reasons, 16 persons were granted extra-penal license. See: Chapter 5, “White Book 2007,” published on the official web page of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, cited above.

[269] On November 7, 2006 the IACHR received a request for precautionary measures lodged on behalf of José Gabriel Ramón Castillo. According to the request, he was at imminent risk, he was not being given food or medical attention. The request also reported that he was being physically mistreated and he was not being allowed to receive medications that his family brought for him. On November 22, 2006 the IACHR asked the State to release him and to take any protective measures necessary until his release. IACHR, Annual Report 2006, Chapter IV, paragraph 67.

[270] American Declaration, Article XXV.

[271] IACHR, Annual Report 1995, Chapter V, paragraph 71; IACHR, Annual Report 1994, Chapter IV, page 168; IACHR, Annual Report 2004, Chapter IV, paragraphs 59-66; IACHR, Annual Report 2005, Chapter IV, paragraphs 76-81; IACHR, Annual Report 2006, Chapter IV, paragraphs 65-70.

[272] Latin American Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms for Workers and Peoples. Information presented to the IACHR during a public hearing on “The situation of union members deprived of liberty in Cuba” held on October 28, 2008; The New Herald, published on August 21, 2008.

[273] Latin American Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms for Workers and Peoples. Information presented to the IACHR in a public hearing on “The situation of union members deprived of liberty in Cuba” held on October 28, 2008; The New Herald, published on August 21, 2008.

[274] Statement of Pedro Pablo Álvarez at the public hearing before the IACHR on the “Situation of imprisoned union members in Cuba,” held on October 28, 2008. Available at: http://www.cidh.org/audiencias/seleccionar.aspx.

[275] Latin American Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms for Workers and Peoples. Information presented to the IACHR in a public hearing on “The situation of union members deprived of liberty in Cuba” held on October 28, 2008; The New Herald, published on August 21, 2008.

[276] The trade unionists tried and convicted in 2003 are: Pedro Pablo Álvarez Ramos, Horacio Julio Piña Borrego, Victor Rolando Arroyo Carmona, Adolfo Fernández Sainz, Alfredo Felipe Fuentes, Luis Milán Fernández, Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodríguez, Carmelo Díaz Fernández and Oscar Espinosa Chepe. Pedro Pablo Álvarez Ramos, Carmelo Díaz Fernández and Oscar Espinosa Chepe were the beneficiaries of medical parole. See the video of the public hearing on “The situation of union members deprived of liberty in Cuba” held on July 20, 2007, cited above.

[277] Latin American Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms for Workers and Peoples. Information presented to the IACHR in a public hearing on “The situation of union members deprived of liberty in Cuba” held on October 28, 2008; The New Herald, published on August 21, 2008.

[278] Latin American Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms for Workers and Peoples. Information presented to the IACHR in a public hearing on “The situation of union members deprived of liberty in Cuba” held on October 28, 2008. The New Herald, published on August 21, 2008.

[279] Latin American Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms for Workers and Peoples. Information presented to the IACHR in a public hearing on “The situation of union members deprived of liberty in Cuba” held on October 28, 2008.

[280] The Inter-American Commission has indicated on numerous occasions that the United Nations’ Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners can be understood to mean adequate references to minimum international standards for the humane treatment of inmates, including the basic standards of housing, hygiene, medical treatment and physical exercise. See IACHR, report No. 27/01, case 12.183, Jamaica, paragraph 133; report No. 47/01, case No. 12.028, Grenada, paragraph 127; report No. 48/01, case 12.067, Bahamas, paragraph 195; report No. 38/00, case No. 11.743, Grenada, paragraph 136.

[281] IACHR, Resolution 1/08, Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas.

[282] Human Rights First. Human Rights Defenders Cases-Cuba. http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/defenders/ hrd_ cuba/hrd _cuba_gonzalez.htm.

[283] RWB. “On the Eve of the Legislative Session, Reporters Without Borders Recalls the Dramatic Fate of Incarcerated Journalists.” Published on January 17, 2008. Available at: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25094. PEN/IFEX. “Journalist Normando Hernández González Removed from Hospital, Returned to Prison, Held in Complete Isolation in Life-Threatening Conditions”. Published on May 20, 2008. E-mail received from the Office of the Special Rapporteur for freedom of Expression. CPJ. “The CPJ is Concerned for the Health of an Imprisoned Cuban Journalist on Hunger Strike.” Published on July 30, 2008. Available at: http://cpj.org/2008/07/cpj-concerned-about-health-of-imprisoned-cuban-jou.php. RWB. “Reporters Without Borders Concerned for the Health of a Journalist Who Has Been in Prison for Five Years.” Published on August 1, 2008. Available at: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=28038.

Full report available here http://www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/2008eng/Chap4.c.eng.htm