Journalist Adolfo Fernandez Sainz attacked by a fellow prisoner

Reporters Without Borders has condemned harsh jail conditions of Cuban journalists and dissidents and accused the authorities of setting them up for attack by fellow prisoners, after journalist Adolfo Fernández Saínz was beaten unconscious by a cell mate. The protest came as journalists and dissidents went on a one-day hunger strike to mark International Human Rights day on 10 December, to draw attention to their plight. Reporters Without Borders accused the government of deliberately transferring political prisoners into shared cells alongside common criminals to increase pressure on their families and on journalists who are still at liberty. "These recent transfers by the prison authorities have not been to improve conditions for journalists and prisoners of conscience, who are already very weakened by months of a regime of maximum harshness and huge deprivation," said Robert Ménard, secretary general of Reporters Without Borders. "Since they have been locked up in shared cells with common law prisoners they have been exposed to all kinds of violence from fellow prisoners, while continuing to suffer hardship. "The attack against Adolfo Fernández Saínz was exactly what the authorities were hoping to provoke," he added. Fernández Saínz was attacked on 6 December when he went to the aid of a prisoner who was being beaten by a cell mate. Despite being warned off by the aggressor, the journalist persisted. He was beaten in the face and lost consciousness. He woke up in the hospital wing with a serious eye injury. No action was taken against the prisoner who carried out the attack. According to his family, who say they fear for his life, the journalist has said he still had no intention of abandoning his protests in response to any injustices he witnessed. Jailed Cuban journalists and dissidents had announced they would fast on 10 December on International Human Rights Day to demand the release of political prisoners and the democratisation of the Cuban regime. Among them were journalists José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández and Normando Hernández González, held in the Kilo 5 1/2 prison at Pinar del Río with six other political prisoners. Also involved were Victor Rolando Arroyo Carmona, Jorge Olivera Castillo and Omar Moíses Ruiz Hernández, jailed in Guantanamo provincial prison with five other political prisoners. The families of the prisoners announced that they too would fast for the day in solidarity with their jailed loved-ones. Other journalists, independent librarians, human rights activists and members of movements or political parties also planned to join the families in their fast, in prayers and in other ceremonies at their homes in Havana or other towns. Elsewhere, members of Cuba's exiled opposition planned demonstrations in the United States, the Caribbean and Italy to raise public awareness of the plight of political prisoners on the island.