Luis Milán Fernández (born 21 February 1970) is a

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n physician from Santiago de Cuba. In 2001, he and his wife, a dentist named Lisandra Lafitta Hernández, signed "Manifiesto 2001", which called for basic freedoms to be respected in Cuba. He was one of 75 dissidents arrested in 2003 as part of the crackdown known as the Black Spring. He was sentenced to thirteen years in prison, and

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

recognized him as prisoner of conscience. In 2005, Milán was transferred to a psychiatric ward despite having no reported psychological problems. According to Lafitta, he was confined with two or three mental patients, one of whom cut his own ear off during their confinement. In June 2007, the Internet news agency BosNewsLife reported that Milán's health was deteriorating as a result of his confinement. In July 2010, tripartite negotiations between Cuban President

Raúl Castro Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz (; ; born 3 June 1931) is a retired Cuban politician and general who served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the one-party communist state, from 2011 to 2021, succeedi ...

Roman Catholic bishop In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an Holy Orders, ordained Minister (Catholic Church), minister who holds the fullness of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of Holy orders in the Catholic Church, holy orders and is responsible ...

Jaime Ortega, and Spanish Foreign Minister

Miguel Angel Moratinos --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael (given name), Michael. It may refer to: Places *Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands ...

resulted in pardons being granted to the remaining 52 Black Spring prisoners on the condition that they go into exile in Spain. Milán was released from prison the following week, and he and his family departed for Spain. They resettled in

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

, where Milán said that he would try to continue working as a physician.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milan Fernandez, Luis 1970 births Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Cuba Cuban dissidents Cuban physicians Living people Cuban prisoners and detainees Cuban emigrants to Spain Black Spring detainees