Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06HAVANA23355
2006-11-06 22:48:00
CONFIDENTIAL
US Interests Section Havana
Cable title:
CUBAN PROSECUTOR SEEKS 15 YEARS FOR PRISON
how-toVZCZCXRO1214 RR RUEHAG RUEHROV DE RUEHUB #3355 3102248 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 062248Z NOV 06 FM USINT HAVANA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0724 INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 023355
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2016
TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI CU
SUBJECT: CUBAN PROSECUTOR SEEKS 15 YEARS FOR PRISON
INFRACTIONS
Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 023355
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2016
TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI CU
SUBJECT: CUBAN PROSECUTOR SEEKS 15 YEARS FOR PRISON
INFRACTIONS
Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(d).
1. (C) The Cuban Government has informed the family of
political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo that he has been
indicted for jailhouse disorder and disrespect - charges for
which the Pinar del Rio prosecutor is seeking 15 years.
Zapata's mother shared a copy of the indictment with us on
November 2 and offered her side of the story, based on input
from her son and discussions with relatives of other inmates
at Taco Taco maximum-security prison. On June 14, she said,
guards visited Zapata, of the Alternative Republican
Movement, at his solitary-confinement cell and hauled him
away for a forced shave and haircut. While cutting his hair,
the guards were allegedly abusive and unnecessarily rough.
When Zapata objected, the mother said, they punched him in
the head several times and kicked him in the stomach,
prompting Zapata to repeatedly yell, "Down With Fidel!" Five
other inmates heard the shouts and, realizing that Zapata was
being mistreated, yelled out in solidarity. (All five were
transferred to other prisons within a matter of hours,
according to the mother.) Zapata, a 39-year-old Santiago
native, was originally imprisoned on March 20, 2003 and
sentenced to three years for public disorder.
COMMENT
--------------
2. (C) The prosector's demand for 15 additional years, for
relatively minor infractions, is severe even by the draconian
standards of the Cuban penal system. Zapata is
unapologetically recalcitrant, refusing to submit to
re-education and insisting on using his own blood to sign
official documents. The regime is sending a message - that
no resistance will be tolerated - not only to Zapata but to
those throughout the prison system who might have heard of
the incident. Zapata's rough shave/haircut was not an
isolated incident. In February, 75ers Eduardo Diaz Fleites
and Fidel Suarez Cruz accused guards at Kilo 5 prison in
Pinar del Rio of the same treatment.
PARMLY
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2016
TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI CU
SUBJECT: CUBAN PROSECUTOR SEEKS 15 YEARS FOR PRISON
INFRACTIONS
Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(d).
1. (C) The Cuban Government has informed the family of
political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo that he has been
indicted for jailhouse disorder and disrespect - charges for
which the Pinar del Rio prosecutor is seeking 15 years.
Zapata's mother shared a copy of the indictment with us on
November 2 and offered her side of the story, based on input
from her son and discussions with relatives of other inmates
at Taco Taco maximum-security prison. On June 14, she said,
guards visited Zapata, of the Alternative Republican
Movement, at his solitary-confinement cell and hauled him
away for a forced shave and haircut. While cutting his hair,
the guards were allegedly abusive and unnecessarily rough.
When Zapata objected, the mother said, they punched him in
the head several times and kicked him in the stomach,
prompting Zapata to repeatedly yell, "Down With Fidel!" Five
other inmates heard the shouts and, realizing that Zapata was
being mistreated, yelled out in solidarity. (All five were
transferred to other prisons within a matter of hours,
according to the mother.) Zapata, a 39-year-old Santiago
native, was originally imprisoned on March 20, 2003 and
sentenced to three years for public disorder.
COMMENT
--------------
2. (C) The prosector's demand for 15 additional years, for
relatively minor infractions, is severe even by the draconian
standards of the Cuban penal system. Zapata is
unapologetically recalcitrant, refusing to submit to
re-education and insisting on using his own blood to sign
official documents. The regime is sending a message - that
no resistance will be tolerated - not only to Zapata but to
those throughout the prison system who might have heard of
the incident. Zapata's rough shave/haircut was not an
isolated incident. In February, 75ers Eduardo Diaz Fleites
and Fidel Suarez Cruz accused guards at Kilo 5 prison in
Pinar del Rio of the same treatment.
PARMLY