The international community is called upon to raise its voice against the regime’s abuses
14ymedio, Havana, July 4, 2024 — After 14 days on a hunger strike, the life of independent journalist Carlos Michael Morales, admitted to the medical unit of the Guamajal prison, in Santa Clara, is in “serious danger,” the organization Cuba Decide denounced on Tuesday.
The activist, who has already been in prison for two years and 10 months for demonstrating in Caibarién, Villa Clara, during the massive protests of 11 July 2021 (’11J’), and who was released in March of this year, was arrested again on May 4 and has been imprisoned for two months without a trial date. In that period he has gone on two hunger strikes, and the latest one has been the most severe.
After several incidents of police harassment, Morales was arrested during a summons in the Criminal Investigation Unit of Caibarién. He immediately began his first hunger strike, which he suspended on May 22, pending the response to a habeas corpus presented by his lawyer.
Morales was arrested during a summons in the Criminal Investigation Unit of Caibarién. He immediately began his first hunger strike
In a letter that Morales sent after that first strike, he said that, after a strong pain in his chest, he was denied medical assistance and, instead, was beaten by the unit’s commander. The event caused his transfer to the hospital in critical condition.
Almost a month later, after he was denied habeas corpus, the independent journalist resumed his hunger strike on June 19.
Given the seriousness of the situation, the Complaint Center of Cuba Decide reported that it submitted a request for an urgent appeal to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and also urged the international community to denounce human rights violations against Morales and other activists on the Island.
In addition, this Wednesday the IACHR issued precautionary measures in favor of political prisoner Fray Pascual Claro Valladares, sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime of sedition, after participating in the demonstrations in the city of Nuevitas, Camagüey, in August 2022, and after using social networks to denounce police violence.
The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH), which requested the measures from the commission, was notifi