Cuban Doctor imprisoned in Psychiatric Ward.

Dr. Luis Milán Fernández. 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 Milán Fernández 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. Milán 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. Milán reportedly refused to undergo treatment for these ailments, since he did not trust the medical personnel in the prison

Family: (wife) Dr. Lisandra Laffita Hernández (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

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