No sooner did I write about the American Library Association [ALA] supporting Palestinians and selectively addressing censorship when I learned that the ALA has repeatedly declined to oppose Cuba's continuing imprisonment of independent librarians!I base this on the following:
[T]he most recent statement on the Cuban prisoners of conscience is the July 27, 2004 letter from the [ALA's] International Relations Committee Chair who asked not for the prisoners' release, but closed with this sentence: "We thank you very much for your attention and assistance to ensure the health and welfare of these detained individuals."Source reprinted below.
I tracked down that July 27, 2004 letter. It was reprinted in "Literacy, Censorship and Intellectual Freedom: The Independent Library Movement in Contemporary Cuba," by Kelsey Vidaillet, Florida International University, undated, p.75. Here is a key portion of that letter:
The unfortunate political climate between our two countries is not cause for indifference to the fundamental human rights of all people as defined in Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Therefore, in the report ALA also joins IFLA in its "deep concern over the arrest and long prison terms" of 75 political dissidents in Cuba in spring 2003.
We thank you very much for your attention and assistance to ensure the health and welfare of these detained individuals.
"Deep concern" was first expressed in "International Relations Committee and Intellectual Freedom Committee's Report on Cuba," by American Library Association, 2003-2004 ALA CD#18.1 (2004 ALA Midwinter Meeting), 2004, wherein the ALA looked into the crackdown on Cuban independent libraries:
ALA supports IFLA in its call for the elimination of the U.S. embargo that restricts access to information in Cuba and for lifting travel restrictions that limit professional exchanges. ALA also supports IFLA's call for the U.S. government to share information widely in Cuba.
ALA joins IFLA in its deep concern over the arrest and long prison terms of political dissidents in Cuba in spring 2003 and urges the Cuban Government to respect, defend and promote the basic human rights defined in Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
"Deep concern." Impressive, no? Jailed and beaten librarians, books set aflame, including those of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the ALA has a "deep concern." Opposing United States policy vis-a-vis Cuba? That the ALA "supports," something much more substantive than merely a "deep concern." But let a child be denied inappropriate material, and the ALA suddenly gets serious. And this ALA is supposed to be authoritative in your American community? On censorship? On freedom of speech? On intellectual freedom? On civil rights?
When the ALA imposes itself in your community, will it support keeping inappropriate material in the hands of children or will it merely express "deep concern." What do you think?
by Steve R. Marquardt, Ph.D.,
7 April 2010,
emphasis mine.
Seven independent librarians imprisoned in Cuba are suffering from serious health problems. You can help them by appealing for their release, their humane treatment and access to needed medical care.
This week marks the 7th anniversary of the 2003 sentencing of 26 persons who had established independent libraries to prison terms averaging 19 years. Ten have been released, mainly for health reasons. Sixteen remain in prison, of whom seven are in very poor health, with one near death.
Please copy -- and perhaps put into your own words -- this appeal for the seven described below.
I'm suggesting copying individuals at the ALA International Relations Office and committees because the most recent statement on the Cuban prisoners of conscience is the July 27, 2004 letter from the International Relations Committee Chair who asked not for the prisoners' release, but closed with this sentence: "We thank you very much for your attention and assistance to ensure the health and welfare of these detained individuals." Cuba has dismally failed to honor this hopeful expectation of compliance with international standards and common decency.
Please write on behalf of these prisoners as soon as possible.
Steve R. Marquardt, Ph.D.
ALA Member since 1974
South Dakota State University Dean of Libraries Emeritus
Amnesty International Legislative Coordinator for Minnesota
9383 123rd Avenue SE
Lake Lillian, Minnesota 56253-4700
SAMPLE LETTER TO THE HEAD OF CUBA'S PRISON SYSTEM:
7 April 2010
General Abelardo Colomé Ibarra
Ministro de Interior y Prisiones
Ministerio del Interior y Prisiones
Plaza de la Revolución
La Habana, Cuba
Señor Ministro,
I write to bring your attention to very serious health problems experienced by seven prisoners under your care. My concern for these individuals is the result of the efforts that I have made in my own career as a librarian, to provide library services similar to those that these nonviolent prisoners of conscience provided from the libraries that they established in their neighborhoods and for which they have been deprived of liberty.
Ariel Sigler Amaya, General Pedro Betancourt Avalos Library
Ariel Sigler Amaya is dying because of the poor prison conditions and lack of medical treatment and has left him emaciated and in a wheelchair. In March of this year he was reported to be expelling large amounts of blood from his rectum due to the advanced state of his hemorrhoids. He is coughing up pieces of putrid green and yellow with a lot of stench; he has intense pain in his throat, digestive tract, esophagus and stomach; intense suffering and great pain in the pelvis and bladder when he urinates, he suffers from dizziness, severe headaches, he is very pale yellow, weak, his legs are blackened and dried and he remains bed ridden … According to doctors they can not intervene surgically for the hemorrhoids or tonsillitis in his throat, because he would not survive in his state of weakness and severity.
Victor Rolando Arroyo Carmona, Reyes Magos Library (Pinar del Río)
Arroyo Carmona is diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension, and pulmonary emphysema. He has protested a lack of medical attention, unsanitary cell conditions, cruel treatment, and obstruction of his efforts to practice religion.
José Luis García Paneque, Carlos J. Finlay Library (Las Tunas)
García Paneque was being held at Las Mangas Prison in Granma province, according to his wife, Yamilé Llánez Labrada. Although general prison conditions improved in 2009, she said, García Paneque’s health has significantly deteriorated in prison. He has been diagnosed with a kidney tumor, internal bleeding, chronic malnutrition, and pneumonia. He continues to have digestive problems and suffers from malnutrition.
Ricardo González Alfonso, Jorge Mañach Library (Havana)
González Alfonso, 59, was being held at Havana’s Combinado del Este Prison, where his small, windowless cell is hot and humid, and the prison food is poor. As punishment for his refusal to wear a prison uniform, officials have denied him religious assistance, barred his family from bringing him clean clothes, and cut family visitation to once every two months. He suffers from hypertension, arthritis, severe allergies to humidity and dust, chronic bronchitis, and several digestive and circulatory problems.
Iván Hernández Carrillo, Juan Gualberto Gómez Library, Branch II (Matanzas)
Hernández Carrillo is held at Guamajal Prison in Santa Clara province in 2009 where he suffers from hypertension and gastritis. On April 14, Hernández Carrillo went on a 10-day hunger strike to protest the conditions of his imprisonment, his mother, Asunción Carrillo, said. Prison authorities encouraged other inmates to harass and attack him, he told his mother.
José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández, Sebastián Arcos Library (Havana Province)
Izquierdo Hernández is held at the Guanajay Prison in his home province. Izquierdo Hernández has been diagnosed with severe depression, digestive ailments, circulatory problems, emphysema, and asthma.
Fabio Prieto Llorente, Mir Francisco Mulets Library (Neuva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud)
Prieto Llorente was being held in solitary confinement at El Guayabo Prison in his home province, his sister, Clara Lourdes Prieto Llorente, told the Committee to Protect Journalists. In a January 7 letter to Cuban President Raúl Castro Ruz, Fabio said his cell measured just 10 feet (three meters) by six and a half feet (two meters), and his meals consisted of spoiled and burned “animal products.” He has been diagnosed with allergies, emphysema, back problems, high blood pressure, and depression. He was allowed visits from two family members every two months, his sister reports. In February, he waged a hunger strike to call attention to the situation at El Guayabo.
These nonviolent prisoners of conscience should be released immediately and unconditionally.
Until such time as they are released, they should have access to family members and effective medical care. The conditions of their housing, hygiene and nutrition should be improved to comply with international standards.
I thank you for your attention to this situation, and I will continue to follow these cases closely.
Sincerely and respectfully yours,
Copies to:
Michael Dowling, Director
International Relations Office
American Library Association
50 East Huron St.
Chicago, IL 60611
Email: mdowling@ala.org
Professor Beverly P. Lynch, Chair
ALA International Relations Committee
241 GSEIS Bldg
MB 95120
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1520
Email: bplynch@ucla.edu
Patrick Sullivan, Chair
ALA IRC Americas Subcommittee
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Dr.
San Diego, CA 92185
Email: sullivan@mail.sdsu.edu
URGENT HEALTH CONCERNS FOR CUBA'S LIBRARY PRISONERS, April 2010
Ariel Sigler Amaya, General Pedro Betancourt Avalos Library
Calle 22 # 1910 e/ 19 y 21, Pedro Betancourt, Matanzas Province
The condition of Ariel Sigler Amaya has been recently reported by http://freecubafoundation.blogspot.com/2010/03/fcf-held-silent-vigil-for-brothers-to.html as follows:
Ariel Sigler Amaya is not on a hunger strike, but the treatment by Cuban officials is killing him little by little. Ariel Sigler Amaya is dying because of the poor prison conditions and lack of medical treatment and has left him emaciated and wheel bound which is the regime's practice of punishing political prisoners who refuse to be "rehabilitated." Poor prison conditions, the lack of proper nutrition and medical treatment have generated numerous illnesses causing Ariel to develop “advanced malnutrition” and weaken him to the point that he can no longer walk.
In a letter that reached his brother Juan Francisco he states:
"I have infinite desires to continue to live and recover to keep fighting for my country. I love life and will fight to keep living. Therefore, never do anything against my health or any action that violates my life. If something like this happens, from this moment to accuse Cuban State Security (...) specialized in inducing disease, delaying treatment for purposes of aggravating diseases and prepare alleged suicides and deaths." (…) "The same ones who yesterday repressed and imprisoned me are the ones who have brought me to the brink of death, and made of me a small pile of bones and skin. Everyone is well aware of cases like mine, of robust persons, physically strong and in excellent health, that with the monstrous methods of state security have died in prisons, hospitals and psychiatric centers.
A March 1 blog entry from his brother, exiled in the USA, describes Ariel’s condition:
“Ariel's condition. It is getting worse by the day. He is expelling large amounts of blood from his rectum due to the advanced state of his hemorrhoids. He is coughing up pieces of putrid green and yellow with a lot of stench; he has intense pain in his throat, digestive tract, esophagus and stomach; intense suffering and great pain in the pelvis and bladder when he urinates (the urine has a strong stench), he suffers from dizziness, severe headaches, he is very pale yellow, weak, his legs are blackened and dried and he remains bed ridden … According to doctors they can not intervene surgically for the hemorrhoids or tonsillitis in his throat, because he would not survive in his state of weakness and severity.” Dutch visitors to this library, now managed by Ariel’s brother Juan Francisco Amaya, have reported as follows: “According to Juan Francisco libraries are crucial for a change in Cuba. The biggest problem in Cuba is not that there is no information, but that existing information is manipulated: ‘Cubans are robots not programmed but uninformed.’ … The situation, according to Juan Francisco, is only worse since Raúl Castro became president, whom he called a puppet of Fidel.... Unfortunately, the collection of books has become more difficult now, because he is increasingly monitored. It is also difficult for him to obtain information; his radio is broken, he has no phone and no access to the Internet.”
The remaining reports are based on news from the Committee to Protect Journalists at http://cpj.org/imprisoned/2009.php#cuba and the IKV Pax Christi Nederland “Boeken voor Cuba” web pages:
Victor Rolando Arroyo Carmona, Reyes Magos Library (Pinar del Río)
Imprisoned: March 18, 2003
Arroyo Carmona, also a journalist for the independent news agency Unión de Periodistas y Escritores de Cuba Independientes in his home province of Pinar del Río, was handed a 26-year prison sentence for acting “against the independence or the territorial integrity of the state” under Article 91 of the penal code in April 2003. Arroyo Carmona was being held at the Kilo 5½ Prison, his wife, Elsa González Padrón, told CPJ. The journalist, who was housed in a hall with at least 130 prisoners, waged a hunger strike in May to protest prison conditions, news reports said. Arroyo Carmona—who had been diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension, and pulmonary emphysema— protested a lack of medical attention, unsanitary cell conditions, cruel treatment, and obstruction of his efforts to practice religion. At least three other political prisoners joined him in his protest.
José Luis García Paneque, Carlos J. Finlay Library (Las Tunas)
Imprisoned: March 18, 2003
A physician by profession, García Paneque, 43, joined the independent news agency Libertad in 1998 after being fired from his job at a hospital in eastern Las Tunas because of his political views. In April 2003, a Cuban court sentenced him to 24 years in prison after he was convicted of acting “against the independence or the territorial integrity of the state” under Article 91 of the Cuban penal code.
García Paneque was being held at Las Mangas Prison in Granma province, according to his wife, Yamilé Llánez Labrada. Although general prison conditions improved in 2009, she said, her husband still shared a small cell with several other inmates and complained of difficulty sleeping. García Paneque’s parents visited him every 45 days, his wife told CPJ; she and her children, who moved to Texas in 2007, talked to him on the phone monthly.
García Paneque’s health has significantly deteriorated in prison. He has been diagnosed with a kidney tumor, internal bleeding, chronic malnutrition, and pneumonia. Llánez Labrada told CPJ that her husband continued to have digestive problems and suffered from malnutrition.
Ricardo González Alfonso, Jorge Mañach Library (Havana) Calle 11 # 78, Apartment 2, E y entre Fonts, Reparto Lawton Municipio 10 de Octubre, La Habana
Imprisoned: March 18, 2003
Reporter Daniel Schweimler stated on the BBC Meridian Writing radio program May 1, 2002 (www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/ meridw.shtml): “Ricardo Gonzalez has about two thousand books in his home in the West of Havana.”
The Cuban government confiscated González Alfonso’s books, as reported by Dutch tourists who visited his wife Alida Viso Bello: “He had a pretty large independent library, perhaps the largest in Cuba. However, Alida cannot regain [possession of] his books for her house, so she opted to re-start a library. Currently, there are not really many books and she dares not even call it a library, but new books are heartily welcomed!”
González Alfonso, also a poet and screenwriter, began reporting for Cuba’s independent press in 1995. He founded the award-winning newsmagazine De Cuba and a Havana-based association of journalists, and then worked as a freelance reporter and Cuba correspondent for the Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders. He was taken into custody on March 18, 2003. In April, the Havana Provincial Tribunal found him guilty of violating Article 91 of the Cuban penal code for “acts against the independence or the territorial integrity of the state,” and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. That June, the People’s Supreme Tribunal Court upheld his conviction.
González Alfonso, 59, was being held at Havana’s Combinado del Este Prison, a two-hour car ride from his family home in the capital, his sister, Graciela González-Degard, told CPJ. His small, windowless cell, she said, was hot and humid, and the prison food was poor. As punishment for his refusal to wear a prison uniform, officials denied him religious assistance, barred his family from bringing him clean clothes, and cut family visitation to once every two months.
González-Degard, who lives in New York but visited her brother in August, told CPJ that he was in good health and spirits, though he suffered from hypertension, arthritis, severe allergies to humidity and dust, chronic bronchitis, and several digestive and circulatory problems. During her three-week visit to Havana, she was followed and harassed by state security agents, she said. She also told CPJ that González Alfonso’s two teenage sons had lost employment opportunities as a result of his imprisonment.
Léster Luis González Pentón, Jorge Mas Canosa Independent Library (Santa Clara)
Imprisoned: March 18, 2003
A court in the central province of Villa Clara sentenced independent librarian and freelance reporter González Pentón in April 2003 to 20 years in prison under Article 91 of the Cuban penal code for acting against “the independence or the territorial integrity of the state.”
The youngest of the imprisoned Cuban journalists, González Pentón, 32, was being held in 2009 at La Pendiente Prison in the northern city of Santa Clara, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. González Pentón suffered from stomach problems, according to Laura Pollán Toledo, a human rights activist and wife of imprisoned journalist Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez. He was allowed occasional visits to his home for good behavior, she said.
Iván Hernández Carrillo, Juan Gualberto Gómez Library, Branch II (Matanzas)
Calle Mesa # 32, e/ San José y Concha, Colón CP 42400
Imprisoned: March 18, 2003
The Afro-Cuban Hernández Carrillo, also a reporter for the independent news agency Patria in the western city of Colón, was sentenced in April 2003 to 25 years in prison under Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba’s National Independence and Economy. Among his entire library collection that the court ordered to be incinerated was a biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1992, Iván had been given a two-year prison sentence for allegedly “distributing enemy propaganda and disrespecting Fidel Castro.”
Hernández Carrillo, 38, was being held at Guamajal Prison in Santa Clara province in 2009. He suffered from hypertension and gastritis.
On April 14, Hernández Carrillo went on a 10-day hunger strike to protest the conditions of his imprisonment, his mother, Asunción Carrillo, said. Prison authorities encouraged other inmates to harass and attack him, he told his mother.
His mother made the following comments to Dutch visitors to this library: “It is striking and also hopeful that people who are not openly opposed to the regime come to borrow political books, in the eyes of the regime ‘subversive’ books,” she says. “These are people who have mounting doubts about Castro's leadership.” The library plays an important role in raising awareness of people and through books; we can open people's eyes.”
José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández, Sebastián Arcos Library (Havana Province)
Imprisoned: March 19, 2003
Izquierdo Hernández, who is also a reporter in western Havana for the independent news agency Grupo de Trabajo Decoro, was sentenced in April 2003 to 16 years in prison for acting “against the independence or the territorial integrity of the state” under Article 91 of the penal code. Following an appeal the next month, the People’s Supreme Tribunal Court upheld his conviction. In 2009, he was being held at the Guanajay Prison in his home province.
Izquierdo Hernández was diagnosed with severe depression, digestive ailments, circulatory problems, emphysema, and asthma, according to Laura Pollán Toledo, wife of fellow imprisoned journalist Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez.
Fabio Prieto Llorente, Mir Francisco Mulets (Neuva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud)
Imprisoned: March 19, 2003
From a report of Dutch visitors to his library:
“There are not many more visitors since the arrest of Fabio, because people from the village have become afraid. Afraid to be seen with relatives of a convicted dissident. We also have to pass through the back door when leaving the apartment, guided by a son of Clara who is not classified as a state suspect. He can lead his life just as before, but his mother and sister suffer much from repression by the police and the secret service.”
Prieto Llorente was arrested in March 2003 during the massive crackdown on the Cuban independent press. In April of that year, a local court sentenced him to 20 years in prison for violating Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba’s National Independence and Economy.
Prieto Llorente was being held in solitary confinement at El Guayabo Prison in his home province, his sister, Clara Lourdes Prieto Llorente, told CPJ. In a January 7 letter to Cuban President Raúl Castro Ruz, he said his cell measured just 10 feet (three meters) by six and a half feet (two meters), and his meals consisted of spoiled and burned “animal products.” According to his sister, the journalist has been diagnosed with allergies, emphysema, back problems, high blood pressure, and depression. He was allowed visits from two family members every two months, his sister told CPJ.
In 2009, Prieto Llorente actively reported on and protested prison conditions. His stories, published on overseas news Web sites, detailed such issues as the brutal punishment inflicted on other inmates by prison guards, and the “slave-like” work that authorities imposed on prisoners. In February, he waged a hunger strike to call attention to the situation at El Guayabo, the Miami-based news Web site Payolibre reported.
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