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From: "Dan Christensen"
Newsgroups: alt.politics.org.fbi,alt.politics.republicans,soc.culture.canada,soc.culture
References: <94P79.8735$H67.47923@tor-nn
Subject: Re: Cuba Travel Advisory from the Wall Street Journal
charset="UTF-8"
Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2002 11:15:10 -0400
NNTP-Posting-Host: 142.154.111.122
NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2002 11:16:12 EDT
Organization: AT&T Canada IES
There is no corroboration here that, as the orignal posting alleged,
Gonzalez was "kidnapped and abandoned in remote areas more than once"
or that he was "physically and psychologically tortured."
And as you know, AI has said that your beloved embargo has "increased
hardship within Cuba and has contributed, for example, to poor prison
conditions." So you and your mafia pals are at least partially to
blame for the poor prison conditions in Cuba. Of course, as long as
your pals are returned to power, you couldn't care less.
Dan
(Visit my website at http://www.netcom.ca/~dchris/CubaFAQ.html )
"PL" wrote in message
news:f00e7c3e.0208190112.6d1cd148@posting.google.com...
> "Dan Christensen" wrote in message
news:<94P79.8735$H67.47923@tor-nn1.netcom.ca>...
> > Pedro,
> >
> > This one again? Last time, you couldn't provide any corroboration
of
> > this incident from more independent sources (like Amnesty
> > International or Human Rights Watch). I take it, nothing has
changed
> > in this regard. (HRW does mention this guy and two of his pals
being
> > "reportedly" stopped and roughed up by police--nothing at AI,
though.)
>
> > No mention of anything like you describe.
> >
> > Is this just another anti-Cuban propaganda piece to support your
> > beloved embargo?
>
> Nope, Dan. False again.
> AI called his case a medical emergency.
> Below you will find reports from Amnesty International Human Rights
> Watch, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, ...
>
>
> And below you will find HRW stating
> AI-index: AMR 25/007/2002 31/07/2002
> MEDICAL ACTION
>
> Ill-health of Juan Carlos González Leiva
> Cuba
>
>
> Amnesty International's concerns
>
> Amnesty International is concerned for the health of Juan Carlos
> González Leiva, a 37-year- old blind lawyer, held in Holguín prison
in
> Holguín Province, Cuba. He reportedly suffers from chest pain, high
> blood pressure and a 'nervous condition' (of which Amnesty
> International has no further details). The prison doctor reportedly
> told him that there is nothing wrong with him. In addition, he
claims
> to have received threats from his cell mate, who has said that he
will
> beat him.
>
> Juan Carlos González Leiva reportedly had to have four stitches in
his
> head as a result of the police aggression on his arrest on 4 March
> 2002. Amnesty International received reports that initially medical
> attention was denied to him although he was in severe pain.
>
>
> Background information
>
> Juan Carlos González Leiva was part of a group of human rights
> activists who were arrested in Antonio Luaces Iraola Provincial
> Hospital in Ciego de Ávila on 4 March 2002. Juan Carlos González
> Leiva, Delio Laureano Resquejo, Lázaro Iglesias Estrada, Virgilio
> Mantilla Aragondo, Carlos Brizuela Yera, Léxter Téllez Castro,
Enrique
> García Morejón and his brother Antonio García Morejón had visited
the
> hospital in support of Jesús Alvarez Castillo, a hospitalised
> journalist. Earlier that day the journalist Jesús Alvarez Castillo
had
> been on his way to cover a meeting of the Cuban Foundation for Human
> Rights, but when he was reportedly stopped and attacked by the
police.
> At the hospital the group of men protested against this attack and
> shouted statements such as "Long live human rights". They were later
> beaten and arrested by state security officials.
>
> It is not clear what charges the detainees may be facing and they
are
> currently awaiting trial. Amnesty International is trying to clarify
> the circumstances of their arrest to determine their status. The
> organization raised concerns for them in an open letter to the Cuban
> government on 3 May (TG AMR 25/02.04) and inquired for details of
any
> investigation into the ill-treatment reportedly inflicted by state
> security officials on them, but so far, no information has been
> received.
>
> Juan Carlos González Leiva is the president of the Cuban Foundation
> for Human Rights [Fundación Cubana de Derechos Humanos], an
unofficial
> human rights group.
>
>
> Recommended actions
>
> Please write letters to the Cuban authorities in Spanish or English:
> · introducing yourself as a member of Amnesty International's health
> professional network;
> · expressing disappointment that as yet the Cuban authorities have
not
> responded to the concerns raised by Amnesty International in appeals
> on behalf of Juan Carlos González Leiva and the rest of detainees on
4
> March 2002 (letter reference TG AMR 25/02.04);
> · seeking information on his current state of health and asking for
> details of what medical treatment he is receiving;
> · urging that Juan Carlos González Leiva receive all necessary
medical
> care in accordance with provisions set out in international human
> rights standards, including being transferred to hospital if his
> condition requires medical treatment that he cannot get inside the
> prison;
> · urging that he is released unless charged with a recognisable
> criminal offence;
> · asking for an investigation into the allegations of threats by his
> cell mate and asking for guarantees for his security.
>
>
> Addresses
>
> Head of State and Government
> Dr Fidel Castro Ruz
> Presidente de los Consejos de Estados y de Ministros
> La Habana, Cuba
> Fax: via Ministry of Foreign Affairs: + 53 7 333 460
> Salutation: Su Excelencia/ Your Excellency
>
> Attorney-General
> Dr Juan Escalona Reguera
> Fiscal General de la República,
> Fiscalía General de la República
> San Rafael 3
> La Habana, Cuba
> Fax: + 53 7 669 485
> Salutation: Señor Fiscal General / Dear Attorney General
>
> Minister of Foreign Affairs
> Sr Felipe Pérez Roque
> Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores
> Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores
> Calzada No. 360
> Vedado, La Habana, Cuba
> Fax: + 53 7 333 460
> Salutation: Señor Ministro / Dear Minister
>
> Interior Secretary
> General Abelard Coloma Ibarra
> Ministerial del Interior y Prisons
> Ministerial del Interior
> Plaza de la Revolución
> La Habana, Cuba
> Fax: + 53 7 8301 566
> Salutation: Señor Ministro, Dear Minister
>
>
> Please also send copies of your letter to diplomatic representatives
> of Cuba accredited to your country.
>
> If you receive no reply from the government or other recipients
within
> two months of dispatch of your letter, please send a follow up
letter
> seeking a response, referring to your previous letter(s). Please
check
> with the medical team if you are sending appeals after 25 September
> 2002, and send copies of any replies you do receive to the
> International Secretariat (att: medical team).
>
> Monitoring of action
>
> If you have access to e-mail you can help our attempt to monitor
> letter-writing actions. If you write one, two, three or more
letters,
> please send us an e-mail and let us know. Please write in the
subject
> line of your e-mail the index number of the action and the number of
> letters you write
> e.g. ASA 25/007/2002 - 3
>
> Please send your message to Thank you.
>
> http://www.web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/recent/AMR250072002!Open
>
> Blind Christian Human Rights activist beaten and imprisoned in Cuba
>
> A blind Christian human rights activist has been beaten and
imprisoned
> in Cuba following a crackdown on pro-democracy and human rights
> workers.
>
> Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva, President of both the Cuban Human Rights
> Foundation and the Brotherhood of the Independent Blind People of
> Cuba, was arrested along with several other human rights activists
on
> March 5 in Ciego de Avila.
>
> He was severely beaten by government security agents and suffered a
> blow to the head, which required four stitches. Gonzalez and a
number
> of other human rights activists had gathered at a local hospital in
an
> attempt to draw attention to the plight of a journalist who had been
> admitted there after being attacked by Cuban police.
>
> The group was immediately surrounded by the rapid response unit of
the
> local security forces, who beat them before taking them into
custody.
> The group has been on hunger strike since their arrest.
>
> On March 10, security forces raided the Ignacio Agramonte
Independent
> Evangelical Library, set up in Ciego de Avila by Gonzalez. They
> confiscated a number of books including materials written in
Braille.
> Gonzalez was also attacked and beaten by police on Christmas Day,
> 2001, at the inauguration of the library.
>
> According to Gonzalez’s wife, Maritza, he is being charged with
public
> disorder and is currently being held in a cell with a violent
criminal
> – a common form of punishment in Cuba. She was able to visit him on
> March 12 and said his cellmate seemed extremely aggressive. She also
> said that Gonzalez had lost a great deal of weight due to his hunger
> strike.
>
> CSW met with the 27-year-old Gonzalez, who is also a lawyer and an
> active member of the Baptist Church, last February in Havana. At the
> time Gonzalez spoke of his hope for the future of human rights and
> democracy in Cuba.
>
> There has been a general crackdown on all human rights activists
since
> a large number of Cubans sought asylum in the Mexican Embassy in
> Havana in late February.
>
> CSW is calling for the immediate release of Gonzalez and his fellow
> human rights activists as well as the return of all the materials
> taken from the library.
>
> Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW, said, “Juan Carlos has paid a
> high price for having the courage to stand up for the rights of
> others. His treatment at the hands of the authorities has been
brutal
> and unjust.
>
> “We call upon Fidel Castro to release Juan Carlos immediately and to
> make full redress for the injuries he has suffered at the hands of
the
> government. This kind of behaviour on the part of the Cuban
Government
> should not be tolerated by the international community.”
>
> Other recent news
> Blind Christian Human Rights activist beaten and imprisoned in Cuba
> Christian prisoner too ill to carry out hunger strike
> Political prisoner goes on indefinite hunger strike to draw
attention
> to human rights abuses
>
> Full News Archive for Cuba
>
> http://www.csw.org.uk/Latestnews.asp?Item=261
>
> Cuba: Beating and Incarceration of Human Rights Activists Condemned
> Letter to President Fidel Castro
> New York, April 25, 2002
> Dr. Fidel Castro Ruz
> President
> La Habana, Cuba
>
> Dear President Castro:
>
> I am writing to urge you to order the release of Juan Carlos
González
> Leiva, a human rights activist, as well as five other activists
(Delio
> Laureano Requejo, Lázaro Iglesias Estrada, Virgilio Mantilla Arango,
> Enrique García Morejón, and Antonio García Morejón) and two
> independent journalists (Léxter Téllez Castro and Carlos Brizuela
> Yera) who were beaten and arbitrarily jailed by Cuban law
enforcement
> authorities on March 4, 2002, in Ciego de Avila, Cuba.
>
> Juan Carlos González Leiva, a blind man, is president of the Cuban
> Foundation for Human Rights (Fundación Cubana de Derechos Humanos)
and
> the Fraternity for the Blind in Cuba (Fraternidad de Ciegos
> Independientes Cubanos). He is currently incarcerated in the
> Department of State Security in Holguín, and has been accused of
> public disorder (desorden público) and contempt (desacato), crimes
> that carry a possible prison sentence of one to three years. No
trial
> date has been set in his case.
>
> González was reportedly detained during a visit at the Hospital
> Antonio Luaces Iraola, where he went to see an independent
journalist
> who had been beaten by the police earlier in the day. Jesús Alvarez
> Castillo, a reporter from the Cuba Press agency, and Lexter Telles
> Castro, director of the Free Press Agency of Ciego de Avila, were
> traveling to the monthly meeting of the Cuban Foundation for Human
> Rights, scheduled to take place on March 4, 2002, when members of
the
> state security police, the national revolutionary police, and the
> special brigades reportedly blocked the journalists' passage and
> physically attacked them. As a result of the attack, Alvarez lost
> consciousness, suffered a neck injury, and was taken to the
provincial
> hospital.
>
> Upon being informed of the incident, Juan Carlos González Leiva went
> to the Hospital Antonio Luaces Iraola where Alvarez was
hospitalized,
> along with several other members of the Cuban Foundation for Human
> Rights, members of the Christian Liberation Movement (Movimiento
> Cristiano de Liberación), and two independent journalists. During
> their visit in the hospital, the group prayed for Alvarez and, for
> approximately five to ten minutes, shouted statements such as "Long
> live human rights." The group reportedly stopped shouting and sat
down
> peacefully in a hospital hallway when the hospital staff requested
> they be quiet.
>
> According to the reports Human Rights Watch has received, after the
> group had been sitting quietly in the hallway for approximately one
> hour, the state security police arrived. The state security forces
> physically dragged the activists and journalists out of the
hospital,
> hit and kicked some of them, arrested them, and took them to the
> Technical Department of Investigations in Ciego de Avila. The
> authorities put González in a patrol car, where they beat him,
causing
> a wound on his forehead that required four stitches.
>
> Since his arrest, González has been moved to the detention
facilities
> of the Department of State Security in Holguín, approximately 300
> kilometers from his home in Ciego de Avila, making it very difficult
> for his wife to visit him. The other activists and journalists who
> were arrested with González are currently incarcerated in detention
> centers in Holguín, Camaguey, and Cienfuegos.
>
> Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned that González is not
receiving
> appropriate treatment in prison. The authorities have taken away his
> glasses and the cane he uses to determine where he is walking, and
no
> special accommodations have been made for his blindness. Moreover,
the
> authorities have reportedly refused to allow him to keep a Braille
> Bible that his wife brought to him.
>
> We recognize that shouting in a hospital might be disruptive to
other
> patients. However, the actions taken by the Cuban authorities
against
> González and the other human rights advocates and journalists who
were
> with him - including physical attack, incarceration for over one
> month, and charging them with crimes that may carry lengthy prison
> sentences - were disproportionate to the actions taken by González
and
> his colleagues on March 4, 2002.
>
> We urge you to order the release of Juan Carlos González Leiva, the
> two independent journalists and five activists arrested with him,
and
> the many others who are incarcerated in Cuba for exercising their
> internationally-recognized human rights.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> José Miguel Vivanco
> Executive Director
>
> PL
>
> http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/04/cuba0425-ltr.htm
>
> World Blind Union Asks Cuban Government to Protect Blind Prisoner
> Following is the letter of the World Blind Union, addressed to the
> Foreign Minister of Cuba, requesting the protection and safety of a
> blind man imprisoned after participating in a public demonstration.
>
> Dear Minister Felipe Perez Roque:
>
> DETENTION OF JUAN CARLOS GONZALEZ-LEIVA
>
> The World Blind Union (WBU) hereby expresses its deep concern for
the
> wellbeing of Juan Carlos Gonzalez-Leiva, a blind man imprisoned in
> Cuba.
>
> It is reported that on 5 March Sr Gonzalez-Leiva participated in a
> public demonstration during which he was forcibly arrested. We are
> further informed that he remains in detention and that a hunger
strike
> has left him in poor physical condition. There is also fear for his
> safety because of the aggressive behavior of his cellmate.
>
> The purpose of this letter is not to take political issue with the
> Cuban Government, but to intervene in the interest of a blind person
> who is being subjected to harsh treatment. Sr Gonzalez-Leiva is the
> President of the Brotherhood of the Independent Blind People of Cuba
> and it is the responsibility of the WBU to speak out whenever any
> blind person anywhere suffers undue hardship. We therefore appeal to
> the Cuban Government to release our colleague without further delay
or
> penalty.
>
> Cuba is one of over 160 member countries of the World Blind Union
and
> it happens that the next meeting of our Officers is due to take
place
> in your country during September. It is therefore very necessary
that
> this matter be resolved speedily without further incident. The WBU
is
> the sole voice speaking on behalf of 180 million blind people in the
> world.
>
> Yours respectfully
> Kicki Nordström
> WBU PRESIDENT
>
> William Rowland
> WBU SPOKESPERSON ON HUMAN RIGHTS
> http://www.disabilityworld.org/04-05_02/news/wbu.shtml
> José Miguel Vivanco
> Executive Director
>
> http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/04/cuba0425-ltr.htm
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