Fidel is just going nuts. Amnesty International says:



Cuba: Heavy prison sentences -- a giant step backwards for human rights



In a move which signals a giant step backwards for human rights, at least 33 Cuban dissidents arrested in a government crackdown in March have been sentenced to terms ranging from 14 to 27 years, Amnesty International said today.



"Cuban courts have not handed down such heavy sentences, following summary trials of such a broad swathe of people, in over two decades. This is an appalling development in Cuba."



"These people, who Amnesty International fears may have been arrested for nothing more than the peaceful exercise of fundamental freedoms, have been sentenced after manifestly unfair trials conducted in haste and secrecy," the organization added.



In a particularly worrying development, prosecutors have reportedly called for the death penalty against activist Jos� Daniel Ferrer Castillo, regional coordinator in Santiago de Cuba province for the Movimiento Cristiano Liberaci�n, (Christian Liberation Movement) and the Varela Project, a petition for a referendum on fundamental freedoms. Amnesty International, which had publicly welcomed the de facto moratorium on executions practiced by Cuba over the last three years, considers the prosecution's alleged recourse to the death sentence against Jos� Daniel Ferrer Castillo to be a severely regressive step.