July 23, 2004 - Cuba:

Martha Beatriz Roque released on health grounds

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN welcomes the 22 July 2004 unconditional release of Marta Beatriz Roque. The economist and writer has been freed from the Carlos J. Finlay military hospital on health grounds after serving sixteen months of a twenty-year sentence.

Roque (58), was arrested in March 2003 along with 74 other individuals opposed to President Fidel Castro's rule. She was sentenced in April under Article 91 (which deals with acts against the independence or territorial integrity of the state), principally for her work in setting up a website that reported unfavourably on the Cuban economy.

Marta Beatriz Roque was reported to be suffering from rheumatism and diabetes, as well as chest pains and high blood pressure. An honorary member of the Finnish, Canadian and English PEN Centres, she is the seventh of the 75 sentenced in the March/April 2003 crackdown to have been released on humanitarian grounds. 31 of those still detained are journalists or librarians.

International PEN welcomes Marta Beatriz Roque's unconditional release, particularly during the week in which she is among those named in a global PEN campaign for the release of all journalists and writers in Cuban prisons who are reported to be suffering from ill health. PEN calls upon the Cuban authorities to free Pedro Argüelles Morán, Oscar Espinosa Chepe, Julio César Gálvez Rodríguez, Ricardo Severino González Alfonso, Juan Roberto de Miranda Hernández, Jorge Olivera Castillo, Omar Pernet Hernández, all of whom have been reported to be suffering from either chronic or acute conditions.

Recommended Actions

Please send appeals:

  • Welcoming the release from prison of Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello;

  • Appealing for the immediate and unconditional release on health grounds of the following prisoners: Pedro Argüelles Morán, Oscar Espinosa Chepe, Julio César Gálvez Rodríguez, Ricardo Severino González Alfonso, Juan Roberto De Miranda Hernández, Jorge Olivera Castillo, Omar Pernet Hernández.

  • Urging the Cuban authorities to release all 33 journalists and librarians who remain in prison, 31 of whom were sentenced in April 2003.

Appeals to:

His Excellency Fidel Castro Ruz
President of Cuba
c/o Cuban Mission to the United Nations
315 Lexington Ave.
New York, NY 10016
e-mail: cuba@un.int Fax: +1 212 779 1697

Details of the Writers in Prison Committee Cuba Campaign can be found at: www.pen.org/freedom/cuba2004.htm

For further information please contact Dixe Wills - WiPC Africa and Americas Researcher