Cuban prisoner commits suicide in Pinar del Río prison

The Cuban prisoner José Luis Hernández Rodríguez, who was serving a sentence in the Kilo 5 and a half prison, Pinar del Río, took his own life, according to a brother reported to the NGO Cubalex.

His brother, who is also held in the same prison, explained to activist José Rolando Cáceres the few details he knows about the incident, which occurred on July 15.

Hernández Rodríguez was serving a 25-year prison sentence and, according to what Cubalex stated, he was already due to be transferred to a less severe regime.

However, the reasons that led him to make the tragic decision to take his life are still unknown.

Cubalex, in denouncing this unfortunate event, reminded the authorities that the death occurred in their custody, which is why the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), the Prosecutor's Office and the judges are responsible for what happens to people deprived of liberty in their custody. facilities.

The NGO has been denouncing the living conditions and abuses that occur in Cuban prisons, which have led many people to extreme situations like this one.

Furthermore, Cubalex emphasized that in penitentiary centers there is no prevention system or adequate psychological or psychiatric assistance to avoid this type of events.

The lack of attention and care for the mental health of prisoners aggravates the situation and puts the lives of those who are already subjected to a difficult and oppressive prison environment at risk.

Cubalex urged the authorities to open an exhaustive investigation to clarify what happened and, if responsibilities are detected, to sanction those involved.

More than a year ago, the Cuban communist government acknowledged, before the United Nations, thatat least 100 prisoners died while in custody.

The majority of deaths were due to coronary heart disease, according to official data.

However, the Cuban State has refused to publish information on suicide rates in prisons or deaths for other reasons, a situation denounced by various international organizations.

In the middle of this year, Justice 11J reported the death of at least three Cuban prisoners, who did not have access to adequate medical care.

Carlos Lopez Lopez, 22 years old, died in the Combinado del Este, after receiving a beating, in circumstances that have not been clarified, and the family was denied access to the official obituary documentation.

Abel Lázaro Machado Conde, one of those arrested after the 9/11 demonstrations, caused concern in his mother by telling her that he had suicidal thoughts.

The young man is a psychiatric patient and is in the Quivicán prison, where he does not receive medical attention, nor is he provided with the psychotropic drug treatment he needs to remain stable.