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CUBA: Two imprisoned
journalists granted medical parole
New York, June 24, 2004—Authorities
granted medical parole to imprisoned journalists Manuel
Vázquez Portal and Carmelo Díaz Fernández within the
last week. The two men, who suffer from several health
conditions, were among the 29 journalists imprisoned in
Cuba since March 2003.
Vázquez Portal, a writer with the independent news
agency Grupo de Trabajo Decoro, was brought to his home
in the eastern Havana neighborhood of Alamar around
midnight yesterday. He was serving an 18-year prison
sentence in Boniato Prison, in eastern Santiago de Cuba
province.The journalist has a lung disease similar to
emphysema.
In May 2003, Vázquez Portal wrote a prison diary
describing the harsh conditions in Boniato Prison. The
journalist's wife, Yolanda Huerga, smuggled the diary
out of prison and gave it to the foreign press. In
recognition of the efforts by Cuban independent
journalists to disseminate news in a climate of harsh
government repression, CPJ honored Vázquez Portal with
one of its International Press Freedom Awards in
November 2003.
Díaz Fernández, a journalist with the independent news
agency Agencia de Prensa Sindical Independiente de Cuba
(APSIC), was sent home on June 18. He was serving a
16-year prison sentence and was receiving medical
treatment for his high blood pressure at the time of his
release from a prison hospital in Havana. Díaz Fernández
told CPJ that he was warned just before his release that
he would be sent back to prison if he recovered from his
illnesses or did not maintain good behavior.
Under the Cuban penal code, the courts or the Ministry
of the Interior have discretion to grant parole (licencia
extrapenal) for any period of time "deemed
necessary."
"We are happy that Vázquez Portal and Díaz
Fernández are home with their families, but we are
gravely concerned about the 27 other journalists who
remain in Cuba's prisons," said CPJ Executive Director
Ann Cooper. "We urge the Cuban government to
unconditionally release all imprisoned Cuban journalists
and to stop harassing those who are free."
Background
Vázquez Portal and Díaz Fernández were imprisoned in
April 2003 in a massive government crackdown on the
independent media and political opposition. The
detention of political dissidents and journalists—who
were accused of being "counterrevolutionaries" at the
service of the United States—began in March 2003, during
the first week of the Iraq war.
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 of 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, who are being held in
maximum-security facilities, have denounced their
unsanitary prison conditions, inadequate medical care,
solitary confinement, and lack of access to the press
and television. They have also complained of receiving
foul-smelling and rotten food.
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