IMPRISONED CUBAN PHYSICIAN'S CRITICAL STATE OF HEALTH IS PROGRESSIVELY DETERIORATING

May 2008

Moralinda Paneque returned home extremely distressed and worried after her last scheduled family visit to her son on Monday, May 5, 2008, in the Prison of Las Mangas. “ I anticipated an improvement in his health but that wasn’t at all what I witnessed…”

Dr. José Luis García Paneque’s semblance was a shock to his mother, father and sister, “…my son resembles a skeleton…he barely has any fat under his skin…he has stick like thighs, his backbone protrudes as he bends over…he is emaciated to the point that his stomach is almost touching his backbone…his skin color is very strange to me…I would describe it as grayish blue…”.

The 42-year old Cuban prisoner of conscience who weighs a little over 100 pounds told his family that he continues bleeding daily through the rectum, a complication related to the malabsorption syndrome he suffers from, an illness that he developed in prison and which does not allow the food he ingests to nourish his body.

Dr. García Paneque also expressed that he is having trouble sleeping at night since the common prisoners he is forced to share a barrack with make loud noises as they play games throughout the night.

Dr. García Paneque was arrested on March 18, 2003, and sentenced to 24 years in jail during the wave of repression that the Cuban government carried out against members of the civil society who were promoting independent ideas on the island.

The wife and four children of this Cuban doctor were forced to seek exile in the United States on March 8, 2007, because of the violent acts of repudiation that were being carried out against their home by mobs instigated by Cuban State Security.

Dr. García Paneque’s family makes an URGENT APPEAL to the international community since they fear for the safety and physical and psychological well-being of this Cuban physician who is unjustly imprisoned in a maximum-security prison for peacefully defending the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in his own country.

Information obtained from Mrs. Moralinda Paneque via telephone from Las Tunas, Cuba, by the Coalition of Cuban-American Women / LAIDA CARRO / E-mail: http://webmail.suddenlink.net/do/mail/message/mailto?to=joseito76%40aol.com / FAX: 305-740-7323

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SE DETERIORA PROGRESIVAMENTE LA CRÍTICA SITUACIÓN DE SALUD DE UN MÉDICO CUBANO, PRESO EN LA ISLA

mayo 2008

Moralinda Paneque regresó a su hogar sumamente disgustada y alarmada tras haber visto a su hijo en la visita familiar programada el lunes, 5 de mayo, 2008 en la prisión de Las Mangas, “ yo esperé verlo mejor que en la última visita pero cuando llegué a la prisión no era así…”

El semblante del Dr. José Luis García Paneque impactaron a su madre, su padre y a su hermana, “…mi hijo parece un esqueleto…está tan delgado que se le sobresalen los huesos de la columna…se levantó el pullover y el estómago está pegado al espinazo…los muslos son dos palos…tiene un color de la piel muy extraño…yo diría que grisáceo… ”

El prisionero cubano de conciencia de 42 años, quien pesa poco mas de 100 libras, le dijo a su familia que sigue con sangramientos diarios por el recto, una complicación de la propia enfermedad que padece - el síndrome de malabsorbción intestinal – la cual ha desarrollado en prisión y que le previene que los alimentos que ingiere nutran su organismo.

El galeno también le informó a su familia que no puede dormir debido a que los presos comunes con quienes está obligado a convivir en el destacamento de la prisión juegan y hacen ruido hasta la madrugada.

El Dr. García Paneque, fué detenido el 18 de marzo, 2007, y condenado a 24 años de cárcel durante la ola represiva que llevó a cabo el gobierno de Cuba contra miembros de la sociedad civil que promovían ideas independientes en toda la isla.

La esposa y los cuatro hijos del Dr. García Paneque se vieron obligados a exiliarse en los Estados Unidos el 8 de marzo, 2007, debido a la violentos actos de repudio que sufrían en su hogar en las Tunas por turbas alentadas por la Seguridad del Estado Cubana.

La familia del Dr. García Paneque hace un LLAMADO URGENTE a la comunidad internacional ya que temen por la seguridad e integridad física y psicológica del galeno cubano quien está injustamente confinado en una prisión de máxima severidad por defender pacíficamente la Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos en su propio país.

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Información obtenida de la Sra. Moralinda Paneque vía telefónica desde Las Tunas, Cuba por la Coalición de Mujeres Cubano-Americanas / LAIDA CARRO – Email: http://webmail.suddenlink.net/do/mail/message/mailto?to=Joseito76%40aol.com. Fax: 305-740-7323

SURVEY LISTS WORLD'S MOST REPRESSIVE REGIMES

( From The Miami Herald: posted on Tue, May. 06, 2008
http://www.miamiherald.com/692/v-print/story/523089.html )

By BARRY SCHWEID

In a worldwide survey, a democracy watchdog organization said 90 countries respect a broad array of basic human rights and political freedom while 103 countries fail to some degree to observe standards of liberal democracy.

Eight countries were judged by Freedom House, the New York-based organization, to have the most repressive regimes. They were Cuba, Libya, Myanmar, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Two restive territories, Chechnya and Tibet, "whose inhabitants suffer intense repression," the organization said, were placed in the lowest category, as well.

Violent repression of protests of food prices in Myanmar, or Burma as it is commonly known, contributed to a further downward trend in the South Asian country, now devastated by a staggering cyclone.

Within the eight countries and two territories "state control over daily life is pervasive and wide-ranging, independent organizations and political opposition are banned or suppressed and fear of retribution for independent thought and action is part of daily life," said Jennifer Windsor, executive director of Freedom House, in issuing the annual report.

Ranked only slightly better than "the worst of the worst" were Belarus, Chad, China, Equitorial Guinea, Eritrea, Laos, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Zimbabwe as well as the Western Sahara territory of North Africa. They severely suppress opposition political activity, impede independent organizing and censor or punish criticism of the state, Windsor said.

Increased corruption and controls on non-governmental organizations placed Chad on the list for the first time. The African country replaced another, Cote d'Ivoire, in this group while the "worst of the worst" remained the same.

Syria showed a downward trend, the report said. While it held elections, candidates' eligibility was tightly circumscribed, new measures to control Internet activity were adopted and prominent reformers were sentenced for signing a declaration supporting Lebanese sovereignty.
Summing up world trends in an interview, Arch Puddington, director of research at Freedom House, said "even while global freedom has stagnated in the past decade we had seen a decline in the 'worst of the worst' countries." But, he said, "that process seems to have come to at least a temporary halt as the 'worst of the worst' countries seem to be pushing back."

NEW WEBSITE LAUNCHED

The official May 21 (Cuba Solidarity Day) website has been launched and is now available at :

www.solidaridadcuba.org

The website is also listed on the Coalition of American Women's links on the right side of our blog, where it will be available for accessing at any time.