Case CUB 090806.1
Follow-up Case CUB 090806
Political prisoner’s very delicate state of health / Fear for personal safety and integrity
Geneva, 3 July 2007
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requires your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Cuba.
New Information
The International Secretariat of the OMCT is greatly concerned with the new information received from reliable sources on political prisoner Dr. Jose Luis Garcia Paneque’s very delicate state of health. Dr. Garcia Paneque is being held in the “Las Mangas” prison in the city of Bayazo.
Dr. Garcia Paneque was arrested in 2003 after having been accused of “having expressed independent ideas”. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison after a summary trial. According to the information received, on 26 June 2007 he was transferred from his cell to the prison hospital because of his very delicate state of health. He is reportedly very pale and his skin even has a yellow colouring. He has no energy to move and he has lost a lot of weight (he weighs only 110 pounds). He has high fevers and suffers from abdominal pain and severe chronic diarrhoea. As a consequence to this, he also suffers from anaemia caused by his Deficient Intestinal Absorption Syndrome. According to a recent blood test, he has a deficiency in serum proteins and suffers from anaemia and iron deficiency. He has very low hemoglobin, glycemia and cholesterol levels.
It was reported that he fell down after taking a bath, and that he had to wait until an x-ray was made a day later to get any assistance from the prison authorities. The x-ray showed that Dr. Garcia Paneque suffers from pneumonia on the right lung (and does not have a cist, which was the initial diagnosis). The prison’s medical staff has been given Dr. Garcia Paneque certain medicines. However, his family fears for his state of health as the nature of the medication he is given as well as its possible side effects are unknown to them.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT is greatly concerned with Dr. Garcia Paneque very delicate state of health. Therefore, it urges the Cuban authorities to immediately take all necessary measures to guarantee the victim’s personal integrity, which include providing an adequate medical treatment and providing Dr. Garcia Paneque with all urgent medical care he may require. Having brought this case to the Cuban authorities’ attention, OMCT reminds them that the circumstances in which Dr. Jose Luis Garcia Paneque has been held violate the United Nations’ Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. These same circumstances, which have brought about the serious health state he is in, also constitute a form of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment which goes against the Convention Against Torture.
OMCT would also like to bring to the Cuban authorities’ attention the fact that Mr. Jose Luis Garcia Paneque was charged for “having expressed independent ideas” because of his permanent demand for a true democracy. Furthermore, it appears that the only reason for his condemn was having peacefully exercised his rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly. Therefore, taking into consideration that Mr. Garcia Paneque is a prisoner of conscience, OMCT urges the Cuban authorities to release him immediately and unconditionally. This should be done in accordance to international standards, in particular articles 19, 20 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Background Information
OMCT had previously expressed its great concern over Dr. Jose Luis Garcia Paneque’s personal integrity. This came as a result of the worsening of his state of health since he was transferred on 8 November 2005 from the Hospital Combinado del Este in Habana to the “Las Mangas” prison hospital in Bayamo. At the time, Dr. Garcia Paneque suffered from a diarrhoeic crisis and bleeding colitis, both of which derived from a Deficient Intestinal Absorption Syndrome which he developed after having been imprisoned in 2003 (See OMCT Urgent Appeal CUB 090806 published 9 August 2006).
According to the reports, his health at the time worsened on a daily basis due to the inadequate food he was given, the lack of exposure to sunlight, the psychological pressure he was in, and the beatings, harassment and ill-treatment he was subjected to by his fellow prisoners. Furthermore, Dr. Garcia Paneque has also complained about the intense heat he suffers from in the cell he is in to this day, which has no windows.
At the time of the first Urgent Appeal, OMCT reported that on the night of 3 August 2006 a group of over 50 people armed with sticks, stones and umbrellas surrounded the house in which live Mr. Garcia Paneque’s wife, Mrs. Yamile de los Angeles Llanes, their four children (some of which are still minors), and 7 catholic youth which had been hosted for the night while on their way to a religious sanctuary in Santiago de Cuba (Santuario de la Virgen del Cobre). According to the information received, for nearly an hour and a half, the mob threatened to light the house on fire in order to “finish burning up these worms” 1. They also yelled insults such as “Be gone! Murders!” and “Terrorists!”.
Action requested
Please write to the Cuban authorities urging them to:
i. Immediately take the most adequate measures to guarantee the physical and psychological safety and integrity of Dr. Jose Luis Garcia Paneque, including any free and urgent medical assistance he may require. Guarantee also the personal safety and integrity of all members of his family;
ii. Order Mr. Jose Luis Garcia Paneque’s immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges, or if such charges exist, bring him before an independent, competent, impartial and fair tribunal, guaranteeing his procedural rights at all times;
iii. Order an independent, immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into these events in order to identify all those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iv. Ensure respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention Against Torture ratified by Cuba in 1995.
Addresses
・ Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cuba to the United Nations in Geneva. 100, Chemin de Valerie, 1292, Chambesy, Geneva. FAX: + 41 (022) 758.94.31; TEL.:+ 41 (022) 758 9430. E-mail: embacubaginebra@missioncuba.ch; misioncubaginebra@bluewin.ch;
・ Dr. Fidel Castro Ruz, President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers, Havana, Cuba, Fax: + 53 7 8333085 (via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Email: f_castro@cuba.gov.cu
・ Mr. Elio Eduardo Rodriguez Perdomo, Ambassador, Embassy of Cuba in Brussels, Rue Roberts Jones, 77-1180, Brussels, Belgium, Tel: (32-2) 343 0020 / (32-2) 343 7146 (Seccion Consular) Fax:+32-23449691/3439195 (S.Cons.)
E-mail:mision@embacuba.be; consulado@embacuba.be
・ Mr. Felipe Perez Roque, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Calzada No. 360 Vedado, Havana, Cuba, Fax:+ 53 7 8333 085,
Correo-E: cubaminrex@minrex.gov.cu
・ General Abelardo Coloma Ibarra, Ministro del Interior y Prisiones, Ministerio del Interior, Plaza de la Revolucion, Havana, Cuba, Fax: + 53 7 8301 566
Please also write to the Cuban embassies in your respective countries.
Geneva, 3 July 2007.
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1 The nickname worm is commonly used to refer to those disagree with the Cuban government, or those who have left the island in protest of the existing regime. It is especially used to refer to Cuban citizens who have left for Miami or, more generally, the United States in general.
