29 July 2003
U.S. Expresses
Concern About Health of Cuban Political Prisoner
State Department says health of Marta Beatriz Roque has worsened
The United States has expressed deep concern about the failing health of
Cuban political prisoner Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello, saying that the Cuban
government "appears to be going out of its way" to treat her and other
political prisoners inhumanely.
In a July 29 statement, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said
the Cuban government should, "at the minimum, allow the appropriate
humanitarian organizations to monitor the treatment of its political
prisoners, whose only real crime was to call for peaceful democratic change
in Cuba."
Roque and all the other political prisoners in Cuba should be released
immediately, Boucher said.
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
July 29, 2003
STATEMENT BY RICHARD BOUCHER, SPOKESMAN
U.S. Concern about the Health of Cuban Political Prisoner Marta Beatriz
Roque Cabello
The United States is deeply concerned over the failing health of Cuban
political prisoner Marta Beatriz Roque. According to family members, Ms.
Roque was transferred to the Carlos J. Finlay Military Hospital in Havana
last Thursday due to high blood pressure, chest pain and nose bleeds. Her
health has worsened since her incarceration. The Cuban government should
provide her with the best possible medical treatment.
Ms. Roque is a 57-year-old independent economist and the head of the
Assembly to Promote Civil Society, an umbrella organization of dissident
groups created in October 2002 that has called for democracy and greater
freedom. She was arrested along with 74 other independent activists,
journalists, and librarians, during the brutal March 2003 crackdown. She was
found guilty, among other things, of having created a website that reported
on Cuba's deteriorating economic situation and was sentenced to 20 years in
prison.
The 75 prisoners are being held in inhumane conditions, with very poor
sanitation, contaminated water, and nearly inedible food. The Cuban
government appears to be going out of its way to treat these prisoners
inhumanely. It should immediately cease this practice and, at the minimum,
allow the appropriate humanitarian organizations to monitor the treatment of
its political prisoners, whose only real crime was to call for peaceful
democratic change in Cuba. Ms. Roque and all of the other political
prisoners should be released immediately.
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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) |
