Rene Cobas, a prisoner at Boniato Prison outside of Santiago, Cuba, died Sunday after being on an extended hunger strike.  Cobas was protesting the Cuban government’s decision to exclude him from the 2,900 prisoners recently released by the Castro regime. 

 The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba (FHRC) spoke with prominent human rights defender Jose Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Cuban Patriotic Union (UNPACU) in Santiago, who informed them that Cobas died Sunday.  Ferrer said, “Several doctors asked the prison guards to have Cobas transferred to a hospital” as his condition began to deteriorate during the hunger strike. 

Elizardo Sanchez, head of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, confirmed that Cobas died of a heart attack but is investigating the death because of events surrounding Cobas’ death.  In particular, Sanchez was concerned about claims that the Cuban government denied requests by doctors to transfer Cobas to a local hospital.

The death of Rene Cobas comes less than two years after the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a prisoner of conscience who died on a hunger strike while demanding that he be treated in the same manner Fidel Castro was treated as a prisoner of conscience during his imprisonment in 1953.  These deaths reflect the Cuban government’s failure to provide basic protections to its citizens, imprisoned or not, and FHRC calls on the international community to condemn the Cuban government for not acting when it could have prevented the death of Rene Cobas.

The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba works to empower Cuban civil society to demand greater freedom and respect for human rights.  Please visit us at www.fhrcuba.org, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fhrcuba or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/fhrcuba

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