CUBA HUMAN RIGHTS ROUND-UP APR. 1- 23

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 000331 SIPDIS SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D COPY DELETING SECSTATE AS INFO ADDEE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/17/2017 TAGS: CU PGOV PHUM PINR PREL SUBJECT: CUBA HUMAN RIGHTS ROUND-UP APR. 1- 23 REF: HAVANA 207 Classified By: COM: Michael E. Parmly: For reasons 1.4 b/d ¶1. (SBU) POLITICAL PRISONER ATTACKED IN HOSPITAL BED: According to the wife of political prisoner Normando Hernandez Gonzalez, on April 14 Hernandez was attacked in his hospital bed by a fellow prisoner. Hernandez, an independent journalist, was imprisoned during a massive crackdown in ¶2003. He suffers from a number of serious medical problems. For the past seven months he has been a patient at the Carlos ¶J. Finlay military hospital. According to his wife, a prisoner convicted of killing a police officer attempted to strangle Hernandez in his hospital bed. His spouse said that another prisoner attempted unsuccessfully to force the attacker off Hernandez but that none of the four guards who were present intervened until Hernandez was losing consciousness. His wife said that Hernandez after the attack had gouge marks on his neck and left shoulder. ¶2. (C) DISSIDENT DETAINED BEFORE UNITY MEETING: On April 8, police took Jose Diaz Silva, pro-democracy activist, into custody. Diaz was one of the 18 dissidents invited to a meeting on April 10 hosted by Martha Beatriz Roque (MBR) for the purpose of arriving at a statement of unity. MBR reported that authorities have rescinded Diaz's provisional early release from prison and that he will have to serve out the remainder of the sentence. ¶3. (C) POLICE STOP INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST AFTER LEAVING USINT: On April 8 independent journalist Ernesto Corria Cabrera left USINT after printing copies of a bulletin "The Free Camagueyan". Police stopped and detained him. Under a decree that visitors to Havana must ask permission to stay more than 24 hours, authorities expelled Corria back to his hometown in Camaguey. Police in Havana frequently use this decree to expel independent journalists and activists whose identity cards show a address outside of Havana. ¶4. (SBU) POLITICAL PRISONER BEATEN IN PRISON: Political prisoner Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta reported that on March 28 a guard in the provincial prison of Holguin brutally beat fellow political prisoner, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, causing injuries to the head and body. Zapata has been on a hunger strike since March 22. Acosta has in the past accused authorities of inciting other prisoners to beat Zapata. PARMLY