HAVANA | Wed Feb 2, 2011 5:29pm EST
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba will soon free four more political prisoners and
send them to Spain as it continues to clear jailed opponents from its
prisons, the Roman Catholic Church said on Wednesday.
The releases will raise to 60 the number of prisoners freed since last
summer in a deal the church brokered with President Raul Castro.
In July, Castro agreed to free 52 political prisoners still behind bars
from a 2003 crackdown on opposition.
The move was widely viewed as a response to international condemnation
that followed the death of a jailed dissident after an 85-day hunger
strike for improved prison conditions.
For unknown reasons, 11 of the 52 remain in jail, while others not
included in the original agreement have been freed. The four latest
prisoners scheduled for release were also not among the 52 whom Castro
promised to release.
"It continues to be disturbing that the government keeps 11 political
prisoners in prisons under inhumane conditions," said Elizardo Sanchez
of the independent Cuban Commission of Human Rights.
With one exception, all the prisoners have agreed to go to Spain as a
condition of their release.
Cuba views them as mercenaries working for the arch-enemy United States
and wants them out of the country.
Catholic Cardinal Jaime Ortega has said the government intends to free
all political prisoners but that there is disagreement on who qualifies.
(Reporting by Nelson Acosta; Editing by Jeff Franks and Peter Cooney)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/02/us-cuba-prisoners-idUSTRE7119BQ20110202
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