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Yunaykis Linares Rodríguez, a political prisoner from the 11J protests who was released in 2025, was arbitrarily arrested Tuesday night at her home in the Santa Amalia neighborhood of Arroyo Naranjo, Havana, amid the protests that erupted that night due to the ongoing blackouts affecting the country.
According to the statement released by the human rights organization Cubalex, police officers showed up at Yunaykis's home and forcibly took her away, beating her in the presence of her family members.
She was forcibly shoved into a patrol car with her hands restrained behind her, where an officer repeatedly covered her mouth and nose to suffocate her.
Yunaykis herself reported it in a video: "I'm beaten, they suffocated me, the officer was covering my mouth and nose to torture me."
In a public denunciation shared on social media, the activist was more explicit: "I was a victim of violence and torture by police officers. I was beaten and suffocated; one of the officers covered my mouth and nose to prevent me from breathing and to physically subdue me."
She was transferred to the police station of El Capri in Arroyo Naranjo, where she was confined in a cell with seven men, and was denied water and medical assistance.
Yunaykis also reported that "while I was in that state, I was denied medical assistance and also denied access to water, further worsening my situation and putting my physical integrity and my life at risk."
His situation is particularly serious because he remains under probation, which means that the new arrest could lead to the revocation of his release and his return to prison.
Yunaykis was sentenced to eight years in prison for her involvement in the protests on July 11, 2021, when she was 24 years old, although the prosecution had requested 17 years on charges of Public Disorder, Assault, Damage, and Sedition.
Served a sentence in the El Guatao prison, where she suffered mistreatment and was moved to a punishment cell after requesting protection.
She was released in 2025 as part of the process to free 553 prisoners announced by the Cuban government following negotiations with the Catholic Church and the Vatican, in which at least 114 political prisoners were released, including several from the 11J.
The arrest of Yunaykis took place during a night of banging pots and protests in multiple neighborhoods of Havana: El Vedado, Centro Habana, Habana Vieja, Cayo Hueso, Regla, San Miguel del Padrón, and Arroyo Naranjo, in response to power outages that have exceeded 20 hours a day.
Since March 2026, at least 14 arrests have been reported in Havana related to these protests, and the Cuban Conflict Observatory recorded 1,133 protests just in April 2026.
Cubalex demanded the immediate release of Yunaykis, access to medical care, respect for her physical and psychological integrity, and an end to the criminalization of peaceful protest in Cuba.
The activist concluded her statement with a direct appeal: "I raise this complaint before public opinion, human rights organizations, and all those with a conscience, so that these acts do not go unnoticed or unpunished."
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