Normando Hernández González, Cuba
BACKGROUND:
Normando Hernández González is a writer and a reporter for the Miami-based website Cubanet, as well as the director of the Camagüey College of Independent Journalists.
In the "Black Spring" of 2003, Hernández was arrested along with 74 other journalists labelled as dissidents by the Cuban government. He was detained on March 18, 2003 under Article 91 of the Cuban Criminal Code for criticizing – on Radio Marti, a US-based radio station – state-run services and the government's management of such matters as tourism, agriculture, fishing, and cultural affairs. Hernández received a 25-year prison sentence after a one-day closed trial, for which he reportedly had insufficient time to prepare a defence. From 2003-06 he was held in Kilo 5 Prison far away from his wife and newborn child. Hernández was reportedly kept in solitary confinement for several months, denied the right to practice religion and was placed in unsanitary conditions among dangerous and mentally unstable prisoners.
Costa Rican legislators granted Hernández a humanitarian visa in April 2007. Two months later, however, Cuban officials refused to let Hernández leave the country. In response, on September 10, 2007, Costa Rican legislator Jose Manuel Echandi Meza presented a formal complaint to the UN claiming that Cuba is violating Normando's "right to health and freedom."
During this time, in September of 2007 Hernández was moved to the Carlos J. Finlay Military Hospital in Havana from the Kilo 7 Prison in Camagüey. He has suffered numerous health complaints, including heart, stomach, digestive and respiratory problems and has lost over 35 pounds. On May 7, 2008, after being discharged from the hospital, he was secretly returned to Kilo 7 Prison without an official explanation. After the transfer, Hernández was kept in solitary confinement without adequate food or medical care. There are growing concerns that Hernández's health has deteriorated and that he may not fully recover if he continues to be denied proper medical attention.
Useful information:
American PEN Press Releases:
May 30, 2008: Normando Hernández González Removed from Hospital, Returned to Prison
http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/2405/prmID/1331
September 18, 2007: Jailed Cuban Writer, Extremely Ill, Hospitalized; May Be Freed
http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/1632/prmID/172
April 10, 2007: Jailed Cuban Journalist to Receive PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award
http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/1434/prmID/1331
Read two poems written by Normando Hernández González
Normando Hernández's Writing from Prison (Spanish) from Cubanet:
Diario de Hernández González
El taxi
Torturas y más torturas
Cochicárcel
Sick Cuban Writer Gonzáles Is Back In Raul Castro's Fetid Jail-by Jeremy Gerard, Bloomberg News http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_en&refer=muse&sid=aALhSW9Olm9U
