Organizations inside Cuba, and out, are uniting in calling for the release of imprisoned journalist Normando Hernández González, who was transferred to a military hospital in Havana this past weekend.
I am hesitant to advocate for the release of one political prisoner over the others. They all deserve to free yesterday, and if one gets more attention than the others, the risk is the others will be forgotten.
But what cannot be ignored is that one difficulty in raising awareness about political prisoners in Cuba, is that there is not that one prisoner whose story has galvinized the attention of the world, who is seen as representing the suffering of an entire nation. South Africa had its Mandela, and even before he was released from prison, he was leading his country to freedom.
Cuba has many like him, but few in the world know them.
Maybe Hernández, with his suffering and persecution, and with his courage, can be that man.
All Cuban political prisoners deserve to be released immediately, but if someone must be first, it should be Hernández, 39, who suffers from a variety of serious ailments.
From the Alliance for a New Nation, a coalition of human rights and pro-democracy groups on the island:
We ask all democratic governments and freedom loving people in the world to denounce this barbaric treatment of a journalist that has only expressed his dissent from the Cuban Government with words and ideas and has never used violence in any way, shape or fashion.
Also Tuesday, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) expressed its support for Costa Rica’s offer of a humanitarian visa for Hernández:
“Humanitarian concerns are clearly paramount as regards all prisoners of conscience, especially the 20 journalists held since March 2003 in very harsh conditions,” the press freedom organisation said. “We hail the Costa Rican government’s efforts to have Hernández moved to Costa Rica so that he can received appropriate treatment for his condition, which is now alarming.”
Reporters Without Borders added: “We strongly hope the Cuban foreign ministry will accede to this request from Costa Rica, which as already issued a visa for Hernández. We also hope other governments will support this initiative and will take similar initiatives on behalf of other imprisoned journalists.”
Bloomberg’s Jeremy Gerard has more on Hernández’s transfer, and the hope it inspires:
News of the transfer quickly made the rounds of Cuban exile and expatriate Web sites over the weekend, including Payolibre, a news site based in Miami. Human-rights groups yesterday cautiously expressed hope that the transfer is an early sign of his release. In July, Cuban officials released another journalist, Armando Betancourt, after 15 months in prison. Calls yesterday to the Cuban Interests Section, which represents the Cuban government in the U.S., weren’t returned.
Hernandez Gonzalez is one of 59 writers still imprisoned following a 2003 crackdown on dissidents. At the time, 75 writers were arrested, tried and convicted of “endangering the state’s independence or territorial integrity.”
The youngest of those originally arrested, Hernandez Gonzalez, now 39, suffers from tuberculosis and several other life-threatening diseases. All of them were contracted in jail.
RSF also reported that two other imprisoned journalists, Ricardo González Alfonso and Julio César Gálvez Rodríguez, were also transferred to another hospital in Havana for treatment of their illnesses.
(Cross-posted at Uncommon Sense.)
Thanks for putting this up. Great info that needs to be known.