Support Gerardo Hernandez

international | anti-capitalism | news report Friday August 06, 2010 13:52 by pat c

There has been much in the news media of late regarding political prisoners in Cuba. You hear little of Cuban political prisoners in US Jails. Take the case of Gerardo Hernandez, one of the Miami Five imprisoned in the US for fighting terrorism. Gerardo is suffering under another punishment from the US government. Since July 21, Gerardo has been held in the ‘hole’ - a windowless cell of 7x3 feet which he shares with another prisoner, with little ventilation and reaching temperatures of 95 degrees. He is unable to take a shower and is taken outside in a cage for just one hour every other day.

Not only is this cruel punishment being imposed without explanation, and preventing Gerardo from seeing his lawyers at a crucial stage in his preparation for a habeas corpus pplication, but it has also been imposed while Gerardo is experiencing health problems.

In April Gerardo requested a medical appointment for conditions developed while in prison, including high blood pressure. Three months later, on July 20 he was seen by a doctor. The doctor prescribed a blood test for a bacterium which is circulating throughout the prison, but instead, the following day, Gerardo was put in the hole.

This punishment is another in the repeated violations of his human rights while in USP Victorville in California. For 12 years, the US government has denied him the basic right to receive visits from his wife, Adriana.

Please take urgent action on behalf of Gerardo today. Please email o US attorney general Eric Holder AskDOJ@usdoj.gov and demand that Gerardo:

* be returned immediately to the general population
* receive urgent medical attention
* be allowed visits by his wife
* be given space and respect, as he prepares for his appeals.