All of them died “due to a combination of poor medical care, poor nutrition and terrible prison conditions,” an NGO denounces.
14ymedio, Havana, 12 December 2024 — At least seven prisoners died in the custody of Cuban authorities last November, the Cuban Prison Documentation Center (CDPC) reported Wednesday. The latest case was that of Jorge Luis Torres Vaillant, who died Monday in the Boniato prison in Santiago de Cuba, after 28 days with fever without receiving the medical assistance he requested.
According to the report, two of these deaths, that of political prisoner Manuel de Jesús Guillén Esplugas and that of Raúl Clejer Steris, were accompanied by allegations of violence. The other five deceased were an inmate named Maikel, in the Cuba Sí prison, and four prisoners from the Quivicán prison (Mayabeque), whose identities are unknown. All of them, the organization reported, “died due to a combination of poor medical care, poor nutrition and terrible prison conditions.”
So far, according to CDPC records, a total of 49 prisoners have died in 2024, four of them political prisoners detained for participating in the massive Island-wide anti-government protests on 11 July 2021: Guillén Esplugas, Yosandri Mulet Almarales, Geraldo Díaz Alonso and Luis Barrios Díaz, who were between 29 and 36 years of age.
According to CDPC records, a total of 49 prisoners have died so far in 2024, four of them political prisoners.
In these last four cases, the deaths were the result of torture and medical negligence, Prisoners Defenders (PD) reported in its monthly report on Wednesday. “We identified 15 types of torture and showed that 80% of the political prisoners analyzed (181) have suffered five or more” of these types of treatment, the report added.
PD also verified that 70 prisoners suffer from clinically diagnosed mental health disorders and 650 suffer from various medical pathologies.
In its report, the Madrid-based organization also reported that the number of political prisoners registered in November is the highest of the year. The number stands at 1,148, 34 more than last month – three of them minors – a number that “shot up” due to the “wave of arrests” during the most recent protests in the country.
“The Cuban regime’s response to the massive and spontaneous mobilizations that took place throughout the island, mostly to demand basic services, has resulted in 30 of the 34 new political prisoners in November in Cuba: 17 in Villa Clara, seven in Santiago de Cuba, three in Ciego de Ávila, two in Camagüey, and one in Pinar del Río,” the NGO reported.
In Villa Clara, where the highest number of arrests were recorded, there were strong protests on November 7 “motivated by more than 48 hours without electricity,” the report said, indicating that hundreds of residents gathered in front of the headquarters of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power, “banging pots and pans and shouting slogans such as ’they will not silence us!’, demanding the restoration of electricity service.”
The Madrid-based organization also reported that the number of political prisoners registered in November is the highest of the year.
One of those detained was José Gabriel Barrenechea Chávez, an independent journalist and contributor to 14ymedio, who is being held without legal protection in La Pendiente prison in Santa Clara. Since 2019, PD indicated, the journalist “has been “regulated” to prevent him from leaving the country, he is denied the right to work and his books are banned in Cuba.”
In the last 12 months, the list of political prisoners in Cuba has added a total of 155 new names (an average of 13 new prisoners each month). In that period, there were a total of 1,213 political prisoners, “all of them tortured in an eschatological manner without any international reaction to prevent it,” the report accused, which detailed that, from July 11, 2021 until last November, Cuba has held a total of 1,785 detainees for political reasons.
Regarding repressive actions in the country last month, the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) recorded at least 253 cases, of which 89 were arbitrary detentions, while 164 were reported as “other abuses.”
In a report published on Monday, the NGO added that “the main abuses, in addition to arrests, occurred against political prisoners, common prisoners and their families.” It also alleged that the homes of various activists were besieged, in addition to “police summons, harassments and fines.” According to the report, there were more cases in Havana, Matanzas and Villa Clara.
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