POLITICAL PRISONERS DESCRIBE ANGUISH IN CAMAGUEY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 000022

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STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA AND DRL A/S LOWENKRON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/08/2017
TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI CU
SUBJECT: POLITICAL PRISONERS DESCRIBE ANGUISH IN CAMAGUEY


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Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(d).


1. (C) Summary: In a letter smuggled out of Cuba's infamous
Kilo 7 prison in Camaguey, 16 political prisoners have
denounced "barbaric" conditions, including violent and
humiliating repression, a shortage of food, medical neglect
and a visitation system "designed to destroy family ties."
The letter, dated January 1, calls on foreign governments and
the Human Rights Council to intercede with the Cuban
Government to address the situation. At prisons in Holguin
and Santiago, other political prisoners are suffering, family
members told us on January 7. The Cuban Commission for Human
Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN) will release a
report on January 9 that puts the number of documented
political prisoners at 283. Although this represents a
decline, the GOC in 2006 stepped up its intimidation of human
rights activists through warnings, citations and
interrogations. The Cuban Foreign Ministry has published a
series of books on Cuba's human rights record; the chapter on
prisons calls the GOC's prison system "profoundly humane" and
subject to distortion by the United States. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Sixteen political prisoners, including independent
journalist Normando Hernandez and Alfredo Pulido of the
Christian Liberation Movement (MCL),have released a letter
condemning wretched conditions at Camaguey's Kilo 7 prison.
The two-page letter, addressed to the UN Human Rights Council
and diplomatic offices in Havana, harshly criticizes the
penitentiary for its repressive staff, shortage of food,
overcrowding, poor hygiene, and lack basic materials such as
towels and sheets. The prisoners said that what little food
is available is poorly prepared, and that the prison staff
uses hunger as a political tool. "If you attend ideological
classes, you get to eat lunch," the letter explains. But not
all inmates go hungry; double rations are available to common
prisoners who do the guards' bidding, including ganging up on
and even stabbing prisoners who fail to toe the line.

DAILY BEATINGS
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3. (SBU) Kilo 7's guards do not outsource all of the
violence, however. According to the letter, prisoners are
beaten every day, and guards impose discipline through
violence and physical and verbal mistreatment. "Blood and
punches are the symbol of (warden) Didier Fundora Perez."
The signers of the letter also condemned the practice of
forcing prisoners to march naked past guards, and
occasionally being required to squat and/or spread their
buttocks. The letter adds that the intensity of the
repression contributes to the high number of suicide attempts
and acts of self-mutilation at the prison.

JAILHOUSE DENTISTRY
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4. (C) Prisoners alleged serious deficiencies in medical care
at Kilo 7, regarded as Cuba's worst prison by prison expert
and former political prisoner Elizardo Sanchez. Inmates at
the Camaguey prison wait years for operations, and those
suffering from intense tooth pain perform their own
extractions using wire. The visitation system, the letter
says, is "designed to destroy family ties," and subjects even
senior citizens and children to mistreatment. Correspondence
is read and censored. Telephone access is limited and in
some cases banned outright.

SILENCE FROM HOLGUIN PRISON
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5. (C) At Holguin Provincial Prison, political prisoner
Alfredo Dominguez of the MCL has been incommunicado for more
than a month, his wife told us on January 7. She said that
at her last prison visit, on December 5, Dominguez informed
her that he and three other political prisoners would stage a
hunger strike on December 9, 10 and 11, to mark International
Human Rights Day. His wife believes that Dominguez lost his
phone privileges as a result of the hunger strike. She said
she had been told by relatives of other prisoners at Holguin
that when her home telephone number is dialed from the
prison, the caller is told the line is out of service or the
number is unassigned.

AT SANTIAGO PRISON, HEALTH WOES
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6. (C) At the Santiago prison of Aguadores, Dr. Ricardo Silva

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of the MCL enjoys phone privileges. But as his mother told
us on January 7, Dr. Silva is dealing with myriad health
woes, including giardia and optical nerve damage. On the
bright side, the mother said, the GOC recently informed the
family that Aguadores' visitation system would soon be
changed; instead of every 45 days, the family would be
permitted a monthly visit. (Note: Many political prisoners
are granted visits on a less frequent basis. Grass-roots
activist Angel Moya Acosta, for instance, is allowed only
quarterly visits. In some cases, the family visits are
banned entirely; such was the case for most of the
incarceration of Hector Palacios, who was released on
conditional probation on December 6. End Note.)

GOC DENIES PROBLEMS, ACCUSES U.S.
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7. (U) In late December, the GOC delivered to each accredited
diplomatic mission in Havana a series of books produced by
the Cuban Foreign Ministry and titled, "Cuba and Human
Rights: The Upsurge in the Policy of Hostility and Aggression
against the Cuban People by the Administration of George W.
Bush." In the chapter on prisons (septel),the GOC claims to
have established a "profoundly humane" prison system,
characterized by respect for the law. The book accuses the
United States of "inventing images of horrible conditions"
and a sub-human diet at prisons, and of denouncing "false
shortages."

COMMENT
--------------


8. (C) In the absence of access to Cuban prisons by Human
Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the International
Committee of the Red Cross, letters smuggled out of prisons
are enlightening, if disturbing. The report on Kilo 7 tracks
with what we have heard about conditions at other Cuban
prisons. Elizardo Sanchez's CCDHRN will release a report on
January 9 stating that the number of political prisoners
documented by the CCDHRN at the end of 2006 stood at 283.
Although this marks a reduction from the year-earlier figure
of 333, the GOC stepped up its intimidation of dissidents in
2006 through increased reliance on official warnings,
citations and interrogations.


9. (C) The Kilo 7 account is among the most authoritative and
compelling reports we have received in recent months from
inside a Cuban prison. It highlights a problem long known to
Cuba watchers, and which we describe at length in the
forthcoming Human Rights Report. Post recommends that at
Washington's rollout of the HRR, this issue be highlighted.


10. (C) Post also recommends that Washington agencies add to
their databases and watchlists the name of Didier Fundora
Perez, warden at Kilo 7.
PARMLY