Posted on 03/06/2003 2:31:44 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Amnesty International has issued an ''urgent action'' notice, calling on human rights activists around the world to send appeals asking Fidel Castro and other Cuban government officials to provide immediate medical attention to and the unconditional release of an imprisoned opponent on a prolonged a hunger strike.
Leonardo Miguel Bruzón Avila has been in jail for more than a year and has not yet been charged or given a trial, Amnesty International said. His deteriorating health has raised concern on and off the island.
''We send out urgent action notices when we fear that somebody's life is in danger,'' said Eric Olson, an Amnesty spokesman in Washington.
Said Elizardo Sánchez of the Havana-based Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation: ``We're extremely worried. The Cuban government is very harsh so he really runs the risk of dying.''
Bruzón, 47, is president of the unofficial February 24 Human Rights Movement, one of hundreds of dissident organizations on the island. He and other activists were arrested on Feb. 23, 2002, as they organized a demonstration in honor of the civilian pilots from Miami shot down by Cuban MiGs in 1996.
Since his arrest, Bruzón has staged two hunger strikes. The first, which lasted 59 days through October, was to join other prisoners in protesting the lack of any legal process. He lost about 70 pounds and was too weak to speak by the time Cuban authorities took him to a hospital for treatment.
Bruzón was returned to prison and began his second strike on Dec. 7. He is currently being held at Havana's Combinado del Este facility. According to family members, Bruzón suffers from severe weight loss, fever, weakness, bruising and a digestive problem. He also is reportedly suffering from neurological disorders.
Bruzón is highly regarded among Cuban government opponents. Even those who do not support hunger strikes as a form of protest, empathize with his struggle.
''Even before going to prison, he said that the way that Cubans were condemned to living their lives was not worth living at all,'' said Miami activist Ninoska Pérez Castellón. ``He probably sees this as the only way of getting attention from the rest of the world.''
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