conditions behind bars
Published June 01, 2010
HAVANA
HAVANA (AP) — Cuba has begun transferring some of the country's 200
political prisoners to jails closer to home, the first sign the
government is making good on a deal with the Roman Catholic Church to
improve conditions behind bars.
At least seven prisoners were on the move, according to reports Tuesday
from Roman Catholic Church officials, human rights leaders and relatives
who said they had spoken with jail authorities.
"There is great hope and euphoria among us," Julia Nunez, whose husband
Adolfo Fernandez was among those being transferred, told The Associated
Press. She said that visiting him had meant a 7-hour bus ride to a
prison 310 miles (500 kilometers) away. "No matter how you look at it,
this is a little light at the end of the tunnel."
The Havana archbishop's office released a list of six other names, along
with details on where the men would end up.
The news — once hard to imagine from a government that rarely backs down
on anything — came 10 days after church officials announced an agreement
that would see authorities move some "prisoners of conscience" and allow
long-demanded medical treatment for those who are ailing.
"This could be the starting gun," said Elizardo Sanchez, who heads the
Havana-based Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National
Reconciliation and monitors dissident activity.
The church list included Felix Navarro, Jose Luis Garcia, Ivan Adolfo
Hernandez, Diosdado Gonzalez, Arnaldo Ramos and Antonio Ramon Diaz — all
jailed in a sweeping 2003 crackdown. They were sentenced to terms
ranging from 20 to 25 years, while Fernandez is serving a 15-year term.
All were charged with treason and other crimes against the communist state.
Sanchez said he was heartened by news of the moves, but added he was
waiting to hear about help for the sick prisoners.
"It would be much more important if they free those who are not well,"
he said.
The deal between the government and the church followed a meeting
between Cuban President Raul Castro and Havana Cardinal Jaime Ortega,
who has become a key player in efforts to improve relations between
dissidents and Cuba's communist leaders.
Last month, Ortega negotiated an end to a three-week ban on marches by a
small group of wives and mothers of some of the 75 activists, community
organizers and government critics jailed in 2003. More than 50 remain
behind bars.
Before his mediation, pro-government supporters had surrounded the women
— called the Ladies in White — preventing them from demonstrating and
showering them with hours of verbal abuse.
The Cuban government had no immediate comment on the reported transfers.
It has never publicly acknowledged any deal with the church, leaving it
to Roman Catholic officials to release details of the talks.
The prisoner transfers mean that "the agreement between the cardinal and
Raul is coming to pass, and that is very good," said Alejandrina Garcia,
wife of Gonzalez. "But I am not going to stop demanding his freedom."
Before his transfer, Gonzalez was being held at a jail in Pinar del Rio,
250 miles (400 kilometers) from home.
News of the transfers came just a day after six dissidents and human
rights officials bemoaned the lack of progress on the promised prison
transfers in interviews with the AP, saying they were growing desperate
for a sign the government was serious about the concessions.
Cuban officials describe the dissidents as traitors paid by Washington
to undermine the island's communist system. They object to descriptions
of the opposition as prisoners of conscience, saying every government
should have the right to imprison those seeking its overthrow.
The dissidents counter that they are in jail for expressing their views,
and say there is no evidence any of them had the plans — or the means —
to seriously threaten the government's control.
Laura Pollan, head of the Ladies in White, told the AP that at least 17
of those rounded up in 2003 are being held at jails outside their home
province, 11 are older than 60, and 26 suffer from serious health
problems. She said four of the prisoners meet all three of those
criteria: Ramos, Fernandez, Jesus Mustafa and Omar Ruiz.
During an interview in her living room Tuesday, she said she did not
expect her own husband, Hector Maseda, to be released — despite the fact
he is 65.
"This government likes it that I am traveling and outside Havana for two
days when I go visit him," she said.
Cuba's human rights record has come into sharp focus since the Feb. 23
death of jailed dissident hunger striker Orlando Zapata Tamayo.
Another dissident, Guillermo Farinas, has refused to eat or drink since
Tamayo's death, though he has been receiving nutrients intravenously.
The breakthrough on political prisoners comes less than two weeks ahead
of a planned visit to Cuba by the Vatican's foreign minister, Archbishop
Dominique Mamberti.
Once tense relations between the church and Cuba's leaders eased in the
early 1990s when the government removed references to atheism in the
constitution and allowed believers of all faiths to join the Communist
Party. They warmed more when Pope John Paul II visited Cuba in 1998.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/06/01/cuba-moves-political-prisoners-deal-improve-conditions-bars/
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