Mar 18, 2010 / 12:15 pm
In an interview with CNA, the president of the Christian Liberation Movement in Cuba, Oswaldo Paya, offered encouragement to those struggling for democracy in the country and accused the government of spreading lies about the recent death of prisoner of conscious, Orlando Zapata Tamayo.
Referring to the plight of prisoners of conscience, Paya remarked that they “are treated like common prisoners” and are “abused and harassed” right in front of government officials.
These prisoners are held “often far from their families, in conditions of extreme overcrowding, with barely enough water to drink,” said Paya adding that they “have to use paper or bags when they go to the bathroom.”
These conditions they face are in addition to the “systematic beatings and abuse they receive, such as the case was with Orlando Zapata,” Paya said.