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CPJ concerned about deteriorating
health of two Cuban journalists
Committee
to Protect Journalists.
New York, June 6, 2006-The Committee to
Protect Journalists expressed concern today
at the worsening health of two independent
Cuban journalists. Guillermo Fariñas,
who has refused food for four months to
protest government restrictions on Internet
access, was still unconscious five days
after emergency surgery to remove fluid
from his left lung, his mother told CPJ.
Alicia Hernández said her son was
in a stable but critical condition. Fariñas
went on hunger strike January 31. He has
been in the hospital for much of the time
since then, receiving fluids and vitamins
intravenously. Fariñas is director
of the independent news agency Cubanacán
Press.
"We are shocked and appalled that
Guillermo Fariñas has become critically
ill protesting the government's policy of
depriving Cubans of access to the Internet,
something which should be theirs by right,"
CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper.
CPJ is also alarmed by a report that the
health of jailed journalist José
Luis García Paneque has worsened
since his transfer in November from Havana's
Combinado del Este prison to Las Mangas
prison in Granma province. He is suffering
from severe intestinal problems and internal
bleeding, according to his wife Yamilé
Llanes. She said he is not receiving adequate
medical care in the prison infirmary, and
has been repeatedly mistreated by common
criminals. Calls to the Cuban mission to
the United Nations in New York for comment
were not returned.
García Paneque, director of the
independent news agency Libertad, was jailed
in March 2003 in a government crackdown
on the independent media and political opposition.
He was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
His weight has plummeted in jail, and Llanes
believes he is suffering from malnutrition.
In November 2005, she requested medical
parole but the authorities have not responded.
"We are deeply troubled by the worsening
health of our two colleagues. We hold the
Cuban government responsible for the welfare
of García Paneque, and urge it to
ensure the proper care of all imprisoned
journalists," Cooper said. "These
journalists should never have been jailed
in the first place, and should be released."
Cuba has jailed 25 journalists, more than
any other country except China.
CPJ is a New York-based,
independent, nonprofit organization that
works to safeguard press freedom around
the world.
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