Amnesty Calls Hospitalized Cuban Dissident ‘Prisoner of Conscience’

HAVANA, CUBA - Amnesty International named one of Cuba’s leading dissidents a “prisoner of conscience” on Friday, saying state security appeared to have him under supervision and incommunicado at the hospital where authorities admitted him nearly three weeks ago.

Artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, 33, had been staging a hunger and thirst strike for seven days at his home in Old Havana to protest what he called state harassment when health officials transferred him to hospital on May 2. The Cuban health department said at the time that doctors found no sign of malnutrition and that Otero Alcantara was in stable condition. Supporters question why he remains in hospital and incommunicado, adding that police have blocked them from visiting him. Otero Alcantara did not reply to attempts by Reuters to contact him by phone and social media.