Cuba’s Prison in Guantanamo

Cuba's Prison in Guantanamo / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar
Posted on February 4, 2016

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 4 February 2016 – To the shame of
the United States justice system, the prison at the Guantanamo Naval
Base is 14 years old today. Since 2003, 680 detainees have arrived
there, though today there are fewer than one hundred. Several of them
are on hunger strike and are force fed through tubes. Prestigious media
such as The New York Times have published letters from the inmates
denouncing abuses; international human rights organizations have exposed
the use of torture at this prison compound where the laws of no country
in the world apply. President Barack Obama has promised to end this
atrocity. He has not succeeded.

Not far away, on the road that runs from the provincial capital to the
town of Jamaica, is Cuba's Guantanamo Provincial Prison. It has the
reputation of being the prison with the worst food in all of Cuba.

Prisoners of conscience who have passed through this facility say that
what works best there are the prisoners' councils, made up of common
criminals, organized to beat and attack the "politicals" when ordered.
Cubans who have tried to leave the country through the Naval Base are
held there. It doesn't matter what province they come from, with rare
exceptions they end up there with a two to five year sentence for
violating the border perimeter.

Another singularity of the place are the numerous incidents of self-harm
that occur there. Some inmates who can't stand the prison regime buy
blood from fellow inmates with HIV to infect themselves. There is also
every kind of self-mutilation.

In June 2007, a young man named Yosvani Correa Lafernal injected himself
with excrement and died a week later of a widespread infection, without
medical attention. Another Guantanamo inmate, known as Hannibal had to
have both of his arms amputated after he injectd oil into his veins.

Many other cases have never been properly documented, nor have the
hunger strikes, the beatings, the lack of medical care. No government
authority has ever spoken about it, no official press has never
mentioned this.

To the shame of all Cubans, that is Cuba's Guantanamo prison.

Source: Cuba's Prison in Guantanamo / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/cubas-prison-in-guantanamo-14ymedio-reinaldo-escobar/