José Daniel Ferrer is a victim of daily beatings after 11 days of hunger strike in prison

Family members reported a scenario of “cruel torture, beatings, abuse, and humiliation” against the opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer after 11 days on hunger strike in the Mar Verde prison in Santiago de Cuba.

This Saturday, Ferrer's wife, Nelva Ortega, a cousin, and his youngest son visited him in prison and “after countless obstacles, were allowed to see José Daniel in very poor condition,” denounced on Facebook the official page of the leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU).

"It's full of bruises and completely weakened," they point out.

Ferrer has been subjected to daily beatings since June 25, when Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Pineda Guerra "began the brutal assault" against him, joined by Lieutenant Chacón (second in command), Captain José Miguel Hechavarría Gorget (head of Internal Order), Major Luis Yanez Herrera (head of Educational Treatment), and Captain Liván Laugart Riquelme (head of the collective).

"They beat him all over: head, arms, legs, abdomen, back. Kicks, slaps, punches, with whatever they could find, even making him defecate on himself. Then they brought in six supposed common criminals, who have been continuing the beatings, just like those murderers, making him defecate on himself too. All with the goal of making him wear the uniform," reads the heartbreaking testimony.

For his part, Captain Hechavarría Gorget "has prevented the passage of food, hygiene products, and medications, justifying it by saying that if there are no visits, deposits are not allowed."

Captain Laugart Riquelme has also "refused to allow food, toiletries, and medication to pass through" using the same excuse.

"José Daniel told us that he is the worst of all, that he is as criminal as Pineda," said the opposition member about the collective leader.

Another beating occurred on June 25, as well as on the 26th and 28th.

"From the 1st (of July) until today, it has been daily," reads the complaint, and "the punches to the head, the kicks to the abdomen, arms, legs, back, and the kidney area have not been enough for them; they have also added other types of torture, such as twisting fingers and forcibly turning the hand as if to break it. Squeezing the nose tightly, another on the face to open the mouth, and a third grabbing by the neck as if to choke, to force him to drink milk."

"Since July 1st, there is no specific time to hit him and try to force him to drink milk, put on the uniform, and hold him down when they do the visit. Sometimes there are six hitmen, other times there can be eight, or even ten."

"On the 1st, they almost suffocated and drowned him. When he wouldn't accept the milk, they soaked his whole body, and he lay on the floor for more than 24 hours. He said that when the milk dried up, he felt like flies were eating him alive all day long, and the pain was so unbearable and he was so weak that he couldn't get up. He finally came to bathe after more than 48 hours," they reported.

Ferrer warned them that if the possibility of his death materialized, "they should leave the country because they threatened that they will kill them all, that they will make their lives even more miserable than they already are, that they will take Nelva to prison, the child to a juvenile center, and they will do the same with anyone with the surname or connected to the Ferrers, until they disappear them all in the worst possible way."

The opposition leader believes that "the dictatorship is so desperate and blinded that it has no doubts that its least fear is to kill him, and its least fear is to give its own life before yielding to its blackmail. That he, as long as he lives, will continue to fight, even in his current condition, for freedom, democracy, and respect for human rights."

Furthermore, he could not kiss his family because, "before the 25th, they placed him near an inmate with tuberculosis, and given how weak he is, he fears he may have contracted the disease."

On June 29, Ferrer began a hunger strike to protest against his unjust imprisonment and the inhuman conditions he faces in prison.

Since his most recent arrest on April 29, Ferrer has been subjected to severe incarceration conditions. The regime revoked his parole without providing transparent legal justification, which was interpreted by international observers as political retaliation.

The opposition figure was immediately transferred to Mar Verde prison, one of the toughest in the country, to serve a sentence imposed in 2020 in a process deemed arbitrary by human rights organizations. In mid-May, the opposition figure told his family that he was being accused of propaganda against the constitutional order and contempt for the figure of Miguel Díaz-Canel.

Relatives and members of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), the organization led by Ferrer, have raised concerns about the physical and psychological deterioration of the prisoner, and report that he remains in isolation, without regular access to visits or medical care.

Frequently Asked Questions about José Daniel Ferrer's Situation in Prison