Human Rights Actions Network
Concern over the health of political
prisoner
http://www.derechos.org/human-rights/actions/
Derechos Human Rights
Concern over the health of political prisoner
CUBA Eduardo Gomez Sanchez
According to reports we have received, Eduardo Gomez Sanchez, a
political prisoner, suffers from a serious liver condition, apparently
diagnosed as malignant. He is held at the Kilo 8 prison, in the province
of Camaguey, in an isolated punishment cell and does not receive the
medical attention he needs, although his condition has forced the
authorities to place him for short periods of time at the Amalia Simoni
hospital in Camaguey.
Eduardo Gomez Sanchez was arrested in May of 1994 as he attempted to
leave
the country aboard a vessel from Guantanamo Bay. In a trial which began on
December 9, 1994, (case 27 of 1994) in the Santiago de Cuba Court for
Offenses
against State Security, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the
crime of
illegal emigration from the national territory and piracy. No evidence
was
produced at his trial showing that he had used force or committed some
violent
act in his attempt to take the vessel to the United States (which is what
the
Cuban law defines as piracy).
In October 1994, he received a visa granting him entry into the United
States, but his request for an appeal before the Cuban Supreme Court was
denied
and he was confined in Section 2 of Detachment 8 of Boniato jail, Santiago
de
Cuba, to serve his sentence. On August 26, 1995, after participating in a
hunger strike to protest the bad condition of the inmates, he was
transferred
with other prisoners to the Kilo 8 maximum security prison, known for its
extreme rigors and abominable living conditions, and held in isolation.
This
was done arbitrarily and without notifying relatives.
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS: Send telegrams, telexes, faxes, express or air
mail
letters in Spanish or in your native language:
- expressing concern regarding reports that the state of health of
Eduardo Gomez Sanchez is quite delicate;
- requesting that he be immediately granted the medical attention he
needs;
- requesting that he be set free given the lack of evidence that he
utilized force or committed some act of violence in his attempt to leave
the
country;
- urging assurances for the full respect of human rights and
fundamental
freedoms within the country in accordance to international standards and
the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
APPEALS TO:
S.E. Dr. Fidel Castro Ruz
Presidente del Consejo de la Revolucion
Palacio de la Revolucion
La Habana
Cuba
Fax : (+ 53 7) 51 11 22 or 51 14 64 or 512950 (via
Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores)
Dr. Carlos Amat Fores
Ministro de Justicia
Ministerio de Justicia
Calle 216, 8 piso e/23 y Humboldt
Vedado
La Habana
Cuba.
Telex : 511 331. Fax : (+ 53 7) 51 11 22
o 51 14 64 or 51 29 50
(via Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores)
Sr. Roberto Robaina Gonzales
Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores
Calzada N 360
Vedado
La Habana
Cuba
Fax : (+ 53 7) 51 11 22 or 51 14 64 or 51 29 50