Cuba has 318 political prisoners, 35 very ill: report
HAVANA (AFP) - Cuba had 318 political prisoners at the end of the first half of 2007, 35 of whom are gravely ill, a report warned Thursday on the human rights situation in the Americas' only one-party communist state.
"Of the 318 prisoners, 105 are considered prisoners of conscience and the remaining 213 are cases mainly of false accusations or unproven charges," a report from the outlawed National Coordinator for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners said.
The ailing prisoners' "health conditions are not compatible with being imprisoned," the report added.
The report's political prisoner figures were higher than those released ago by the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation; it put the current number at 246.
The Cuban government maintains it has no political prisoners, but does acknowledge jailing people it deems US-paid "mercenaries," who it says have sought to undermine order or engage in terrorism.
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