Programs: Science and Policy
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AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program
View Alerts By > Case | Date | Country | Victim
AAAS Human Rights Action Network
| Date: | 23 December 1997 |
| Case Number: | cu9714_men |
| Victim: | Desi Mendoza Rivero |
| Country: | Cuba |
| Subject: | Physician sentenced |
| Issues: | Freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention; Freedom of opinion and expression; Right to liberty and security of the person |
| Type of alert: | New |
| Related alerts: | 22 October 1997; 14 April 1998; 2 December 1998 |
FACTS OF THE CASE:
Dr. Desi Mendoza Rivero, a prisoner of conscience and founder of the Independent Medical Association in Santiago de Cuba, has been sentenced to eight years in prison. Dr. Mendoza was detained on 25 June 1997 for statements he made to foreign journalists in which he criticized the Cuban government's response to the dengue fever epidemic, which may have begun as early as December 1996. During his sentencing hearing, prosecutors accused Dr. Mendoza of behaving in a way that was "politically opposed to the Cuban social system."
Dr. Mendoza's health is likely to decline while in detention, as he suffers from hypertension and cardiac arrhythmia.
(Sources of information on this case include Science Vol. 277, 11 July 1997; CubaPress; and Amnesty International; as well as independent sources.)
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Please send telexes, telegrams, faxes, or airmail letters:
- calling for the immediate unconditional release of Dr. Desi Mendoza on the grounds that he is a prisoner of conscience;
- expressing concern about his state of health;
- urging that he be granted immediate access to a physician and lawyer of his choice; and asking for details about his current status.
APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:
Sr. Carlos Dotres Martinez
Ministro de la Salud Publica
Ministerio de la Salud Publica
Calle 23, No. 301
Vedado, La Habana, Cuba
Salutation: Senor Ministro
Dr. Juan Escalona Reguera
Fiscal General de la Republica
San Rafael 3
La Habana, Cuba
Fax: 011 53 7 333 164
Salutation: Senor Fiscal General
Seguridad Del Estado (DSE)
Versalles
Santiago de Cuba
Prov. Oriente, Cuba
Salutation: Sr. Director
COPIES SENT TO:
Sr. Roberto Robaina Gonzalez
Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores
Calzada No. 360
Vedado
La Habana, Cuba
Fax: 011 53 7 333 085 or 335 261
Salutation: Senor Ministro
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