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    January 20, 2012

Cuban Prisoner Dies After Hunger Strike

   VOA News
   Ramona Rivero, of the Cuban dissident group Ladies in White, places
   flowers in a vase near a condolence book for the late dissident Wilman
   Villar in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. Photo: AP
   Ramona Rivero, of the Cuban dissident group Ladies in White, places
   flowers in a vase near a condolence book for the late dissident Wilman
   Villar in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012.

   Cuban human rights activists say jailed dissident Wilman Villar Mendoza
   has died following a seven-week-long hunger strike.
   The activists say the 31-year-old Villar, who had been suffering from
   pneumonia, died Thursday in a Santiago hospital, where he had been
   transferred. Last November, Villar was arrested after taking part in a
   march. A few days later, he was tried and sentenced for crimes
   including disobedience and resisting arrest. The activists say he had
   stopped eating to protest his sentence.
   U.S. President Barack Obama's press secretary says the chief
   executive's thoughts and prayers are with Villar's family. A White
   House statement says the senseless death highlights the ongoing
   repression of the Cuban people.
   The human rights group Amnesty International said in a statement Friday
   that the responsibility for Villar's death in custody lies squarely
   with Cuban authorities, who Amnesty said "summarily judged and jailed
   him for exercising his right to freedom of expression." Amnesty also
   said Cuban authorities "must stop the harassment, persecution, and
   imprisonment of peaceful demonstrators as well as political and human
   rights activists."
   The government in Havana has not commented on his death.
   Two years ago, Cuba drew international condemnation when another
   imprisoned dissident, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, died following an 85-day
   hunger strike his supporters say was staged to protest prison
   conditions. Zapata's mother blamed Cuban officials for his death in
   February 2010.