The Cuban political prisoner Luis Barrios Diaz died this Sunday at the La Covadonga hospital in Havana, due to negligence on the part of the prison authorities, according to the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH).
The NGO, based in Madrid, explained that Barrios Díaz, 37 years old, had been experiencing respiratory problems since last August, for which he had been admitted to the infirmary of prison 1580, in the San Miguel del Padrón municipality. in the Cuban capital, and later transferred to the aforementioned hospital to receive specialized care.
Despite the doctors’ warning about the need to keep him hospitalized due to his seriousness, the prison authorities decided to return him to prison, alleging lack of fuel to guarantee his permanent surveillance; This caused a worsening of his health.
On Saturday, after emergency surgery, the political prisoner died from respiratory complications.
According to the OCDH, “in an attempt to get rid of their responsibility” for the negligence, the Cuban authorities processed with “unheard of speed” an extra-penal license for Berrios Díaz.
In January 2022, Luis Barrios Díaz was sentenced to 9 years in prison for the alleged crimes of “public disorder” and “attack”, for his participation in the historic protests of July 11, 2021 (11-J).
🚨URGENT:
11J prisoner Luis Barrios Díaz dies after negligence on the part of prison authorities
The OCDH recalls that, according to the UN Mandela Rules, the provision of adequate medical services to prisoners is a responsibility of the State.Madrid, 20… pic.twitter.com/HhDg8qcMtz
— Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (@observacuba) November 20, 2023
Prisoners Defenders currently registers the number of 1,062 political prisoners on the Island, most of them after 9/11, who are suffering judicial sentences or limitations of freedom by prosecutors without judicial supervision or legal defense.
For its part, the OCDH reiterated the demand for “immediate release of all prisoners for political reasons and conscience and recalls that, although it is a matter of political will, the regime has at least eight legal avenues to release or free them immediate to everyone.
Deteriorated health of other prisoners
Likewise, the organization recalled that “several political prisoners have deteriorated health, as is the case of Félix Navarro and José Daniel Ferrer, and that, according to the UN Mandela Rules, the provision of adequate medical services to prisoners is a responsibility of the State.
Last week, Navarro, 70 years old, was transferred from the Agüica prison to the Faustino Pérez hospital in the city of Matanzas and shortly after returned to the prison.
Navarro is a recognized political prisoner of the Black Spring of 2003; He was sentenced to nine years in prison after being arrested on July 12, 2021, in the context of the 9/11 anti-government protests.
The OCDH also requested “the statement of the democratic governments and the European Union” regarding the serious situation of political prisoners on the island.