MIAMI.- The Foundation for Human Rights in Cubaoffered details of eight regime torturers in charge of severely beating Orlando Zapata Tamayo and Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta, both political prisoners of the iron dictatorship of Fidel Castro.
The compendium highlights that the henchmen, all military, were capable not only of causing physical damage, but also of committing excesses such as denying drinking water for 18 days, in the middle of a hunger strike. The eight indicated were sponsored by the dictatorship so they did not receive punishment for their actions.
Two heroes who fought for the freedom of Cuba
Zapata, a young bricklayer imprisoned during the Black Spring of 2003, was the victim of an extrajudicial execution when the political police in collusion with jailers at the Kilo 8 prison deprived him of water for 18 days during a hunger strike. He died on February 23, 2010, after 83 days of fasting, and with his death forced the regime to negotiate with Spain the exile of his companions in the cause of the 75, recalls the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba in its Press release.
For his part, Herrera Acosta was a pro-democracy activist and independent journalist, who was imprisoned in the late 90s and was sent again to the Cuban Gulag as one of the 75 chosen in 2003 by Fidel Castro to take revenge, in fascist-style proportions. of five for each, of the conviction in the United States of their Wasp Network spies. Testimonies indicate that he did not give in to his protests and sewed his mouth as a symbol of rebellion and struggle.
On the 14th anniversary of his death and until that day he was providing our project represionescubanos.com with information about Zapata’s executioners.
In the Provincial Prison of Holguin, those in charge of carrying out the beatings were:
- Julio Cesar Mora Pupo: Captain Julio Cesar Mora Pupo, Chief of Internal Order of the Holguín Provincial Prison, directed and participated in frequent beatings against the political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo between 2007 and 2009.
- Efrén Pérez Rodríguez: The Internal Order official of the Holguín Provincial Prison, Efrén Pérez Rodríguez, kicked Orlando Zapata Tamayo in the head on March 28, 2008, who had been on a hunger strike for six days.
- Eleuterio Ramon Kings Rock:Captain Eleuterio Ramón Reyes Peña, Second Head of Unit, was one of Orlando Zapata’s worst torturers. He ordered the beating in which Efrén Pérez kicked him in the head, which led to subsequent surgery.
- Fernando Calvis Miranda: Major Fernando Calvis Miranda, for State Security, attended to the political prisoners in Holguín. Under his supervision, Zapata Tamayo was punished with beatings and prolonged confinement.
- Orleydis S. Miraldea Ávila: Lieutenant Colonel Orleydis S. Miraldea Ávila was head of the Holguín Provincial Prison during Orlando Zapata’s stay there. He is responsible for the torture, beatings, long confinements and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment to which the prisoner of conscience was victim there.
- Alexander Berrillo Santiesteban: Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Berrillo Santiesteban was Second Chief of the Holguín Provincial Prison and is jointly responsible for and participant in the torture, beatings, long confinements and other punishments inflicted there on Orlando Zapata.
- Bartolome Pita Almeida: Colonel Bartolomé Pita Almeida, head of the MININT in Holguín when they were in the Orlando Zapata Tamayo and Juan Carlos Herrera Provincial Prison, is responsible for the abuses against political prisoners.
- Ernesto Pardo Ellis: Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Pardo Ellis, alias Boris, Chief in the province of Camagüey of Section 21, Confrontation with Enemy Subversive Activity, was the one who decided in December 2009 to deprive Zapata Tamayo of water for 18 days while he was on strike. hunger in a punishment cell. Zapata himself, already serious, confessed in the Camagüey hospital to his mother, Reina Loyda.
The social situation in Cuba has not improved. On the contrary, currently, the dictatorship of Miguel Díaz-Canel has intensified the repression and confinement of those who dare to raise their voices against the misery experienced on the island.
Prisoners Defenders added that in the last 12 months – from February 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024 – 170 new political prisoners were added to their list, an average of more than 14 for each month. “This means that throughout these 12 months a total of 1,236 political prisoners were present on the list,” the NGO said in a statement published on its website.
The organization indicated that political prisoners are “suffering judicial sentences or provisions limiting their freedom by prosecutors without any judicial supervision, due process or effective defense, in flagrant violation of international law.”
Of the 1,066 political prisoners, 33 are minors, 29 of them are still serving their sentences and four are in the middle of criminal proceedings. The NGO clarified that these numbers do not take into account many other minors who have already been removed from the list because they have served their sentences in full.
Source: WRITING
