Cuban prisoner dies following hunger strike

Cuban prisoner dies following hunger strike

2012-01-04 22:06:48 GMT+7 (ICT)

HAVANA (BNO NEWS) -- A Cuban prisoner has died after going on a hunger strike because he was not part of the government's recent mass pardon, a leading human right activist said on Wednesday.

Elizardo Sánchez Santacruz, who heads the island's independent Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, said that René Cobas died on Sunday after a heart attack in the Boniato prison near the western city of Santiago. He added that authorities at the prison disregarded a doctor's recommendation that Cobas be moved to a provincial hospital, CNN reported.

Cobas launched a hunger strike immediately after President Raúl Castro announced a massive amnesty on December 23. Cobas called the pardons "exclusive and limited," Sánchez said.

Under the amnesty, only prisoners over the age of 60, along with those who were sick, female or young with no previous criminal record, were to be freed. With some exceptions, prisoners convicted of spying, terrorism, murder and drug trafficking would not be released.

Castro said last month that the decision to release 2,900 prisoners followed "numerous requests" from their family members and religious institutions. He also cited the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI as one of the motivations behind the move. The pope is planning to visit Mexico and Cuba before Easter.

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