14ymedio, Havana, 23 August 2022 — On Monday, the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba (FDHC), added to their data base of repressors the two officials who attacked protestors in Nuevitas, Camagüey, during the most recent protests.
One of them is Roberto Conde Silvierio, First Secretary of the Communist Party in that city, accused of ordering “the persecution, repression and intimidation of people” who peacefully took to the streets on August 19th and 20th.
The entry on the list of repressors states that police and paramilitary responded to a call from the official “with physical aggression against protesters, including two girls.”
The second repressor identified is Alien or “Allen” Velázquez, a State Security agent, reportedly the leader of the beatings received by two 11-year-old girls, in the Pastelillo area of Nuevitas, who were trying to prevent the repressors from arresting José Armando Torrente, one of the adults who went to protest on Saturday, August 20, 2022 against the 18-hour blackouts.”
One of the minors is Torrente’s daughter, Gerlin Torrente Echevarría.
“We warn against possible trauma as a result of the repression against the girls who were assaulted during the protest in Pastelillo on the 19th,” stated Justicia 11J in a statement published on Monday on social media. “As of now, they continue to be in pain and with a fever. According to a family member, one of the girls is suffering from insomnia due to the pain.”
At this time, the legal platform states, police were in the Pastelillo neighborhood, looking for protesters they were unable to find. “The repression continues in Nuevitas, although the state-run media insists on showing a false calm in the region,” the statement said.
In it, they also point out that Roberto Reyes Montenegro has been “forcefully disappeared” and warned that the 58-year-old man is epileptic and also has high blood pressure. “Neighbors say that on the 20th he was put on a truck which was rounding up protesters from Camalote [52 km from Nuevitas in the same province of Camagüey]. His family still has not heard from him,” they said.
Adisnel Hernández Ricardo, missing as of Monday, was confirmed to be under arrest. Similarly, the organization logged the following people as under arrest: Lester Camejo, Orlando Pérez Cruz, Yoandry Lescay, Menkel Menéndez Vargas Chicho Bonilla.
In the case of this last person, Justicia 11J denounced that on Sunday the 21st “his home was razed, an 80-year old woman (who fainted as this happened) and a one-month-old newborn girl also lived there.” “More than 20 red berets participated” in the assault, accompanied by dogs, the organization states.
The organization also reported on a complaint made by El Caimán Libre of “the beating and imprisonment of a mother who was demanding her son’s release,” in the town of Camalote, though her identity remains unknown.
Similarly, they confirmed the identity of a 17-year-old minor arrested, Kenay Perdomo Soria, who partipated in the protest in Camalote on Saturday. “Kenay will be treated legally as an adult despite the Convention on the Rights of the Child which defines a child as anyone under 18 years of age,” states Justicia 11J.
Since June 14, when the cacerolazos [banging on pots and pans] protesting the “scheduled blackouts” began, the organization has documented 77 protests, during which 49 people have been arrested. Among them 14 are from Nuevitas, the latest city to rise up against the government.
Translated by: Silvia Suárez
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