[psych-hr] Cuban doctor imprisoned in psychiatric ward

Medicina Cubana:
Cuban Doctor imprisoned in Psychiatric Ward.
Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2006 08:50:44 -0700 (PDT)

Dr. Luis Milan Fernandez. A medical doctor, he is a member of the
unofficial Independent Cuban Medical Association. On June 2001 he and his
wife, a dentist, signed a document called 'Manifiesto 2001,' calling,
among other measures, for recognition of fundamental freedoms in Cuba.

Together with other health professionals, they carried out a one-day
hunger strike to call attention to the medical situation of detainees and
other issues. On April 4, 2003, he was summarily tried for violating Law
88, and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Though he has never suffered from any emotional or mental problems, Dr.
Milan has been confined since February 18, 2005, with mental patients of
all kinds in the psychiatric ward of the Prison of Boniato, in the
province of Santiago de Cuba where he presently remains. Two or three
mental patients sleep in Dr. Milan's prison cell, and some, due to their
aggressiveness, have annoyed and provoked him. Penal authorities follow a
pattern, changing his cellmates periodically, occasionally leaving him
alone in his cell.

Physician for Human Rights:

Dr. Luis Milan Fernandez has reportedly been arbitrarily confined to a
psychiatric ward since February 18, 2005 at the Boniato Prison Hospital in
Santiago de Cuba. He is forced to share a cell with patients suffering
from a variety of mental disorders and is prohibited from receiving any
medicines or food that his family brings him. Before being moved to the
hospital, Dr. Milan underwent a medical check-up at the Combinado del Este
Prison in Havana during which he was diagnosed with a tumor in the left
humerus, loss of hearing, pulmonary emphysema, hypertension, swollen nasal
turbinates, and an enlarged liver. Dr. Milan reportedly refused to undergo
treatment for these ailments, since he did not trust the medical personnel
in the prison

Family: (wife) Dr. Lisandra Laffita Hernandez (dentist)
Address: Edificio B27, Apt. 10, Reparto Antonio Maceo, Santiago de
Cuba, Cuba
Birthdate: February 21, 1970
Sentence: 13 years
Prison: Psychiatric Ward of the Prison of Boniato (Santiago de Cuba)
Accusation: Violation of Law No. 88

Informacion adicional en español haciendo click en el
ti­tulo que encabeza esta nota en ingles.

http://medicinacubana.blogspot.com/

Posted by Medicina Cubana to Medicina Cubana at 8/12/2006 11:45:00 AM





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