Cuban political prisoner on hunger strike gravely ill

Cuban political prisoner on hunger strike gravely ill
IANS Wednesday 17th February, 2010

Havana, Feb 17 (IANS/EFE) After 75 days on hunger strike, Cuban
political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo has been was transferred to a
prison hospital in Havana due to his 'grave condition', said a dissident
group.

Elizardo Sanchez, chairman of the unofficial Cuban Human Rights
Commission, Tuesday said Zapata's family confirmed the transfer from the
prison in Camaguey, 533 km east of the capital.

Doctors told the prisoner's mother, Reina Luisa Tamayo, that they feared
for his life, according to Sanchez and other sources.

In comments to EFE, diplomatic sources in Havana implied that Zapata's
situation might have an impact on Spanish-Cuban discussions on human
rights set to begin later Wednesday in Madrid.

Zapata was one of 75 government opponents rounded up and jailed in
Spring 2003 on charges of conspiring with the US to undermine the Cuban
Revolution. While some of those dissidents have since been freed on
medical grounds, more than 50 remain behind bars on the communist-ruled
island.

Zapata launched the hunger strike to press authorities to acknowledge
Amnesty International's decision to designate him a prisoner of conscience.

Prison officials ordered Zapata fed intravenously against his will,
family members said.

Cuban political prisoner on hunger strike gravely ill (17 February 2010)
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