The CD Defense Complaints Center alerted that the Cuban political prisoner Roilán Álvarez Rensoler, an activist of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) and a promoter of Cuba Decide, has reportedly been beaten until losing consciousness by a prison officer and was taken out unconscious from the block where he is being held at the Holguín Provincial Prison.
The report came through a phone call to her sister Ariadna Álvarez Rensoler, who received the testimony from relatives of another inmate.
According to that account, Roilán had an injury on his cheekbone and wounds on his head, and he was transferred to the prison's medical station before being removed unconscious from the area where he was confined.
Cuban prison authorities have not provided any information about his health status or the circumstances of the incident, which allegedly involved a guard identified as "Agustín."
The Cuban Observatory of Freedom of Expression (OCLE), which included the case under the indicator of "physical aggression," warned that it is still necessary to determine exactly when the aggression occurred, how it happened, and what the medical consequences were.
This episode adds to a documented pattern of repeated violence against the activist since his arrest on January 30, 2026, in the municipality of Mella, Santiago de Cuba. The regime accuses him of "propaganda against the constitutional order" for creating anti-government graffiti and damaging a billboard featuring an image of Fidel Castro in Birán.
In July, the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and Press (ICLEP) documented a previous beating in the same prison: guards allegedly beat him with a stick, breaking both of his arms and causing head injuries, presumably as punishment for refusing to wear the mandatory uniform.
Her sister then stated, "Santiago, they fractured his arms, he has injuries on his body, most of the blows were to his head, but they won't let us see him, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing."
After that assault, Cubalex reported that he was transferred to a punishment cell and began a second hunger strike lasting twenty days.
In August, the OCLE confirmed that a family visit was denied, and State Security made his release conditional on purchasing an airplane ticket to Guyana, a demand that the family rejected due to lack of guarantees and resources.
The history of abuses is even more extensive. After a first hunger strike lasting approximately 49 days, Roilán suffered a cardio-respiratory arrest on March 19 and had to be resuscitated with a defibrillator at the "Lucía Íñiguez Landín" Clinical Surgical Hospital in Holguín.
On that same day, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) issued precautionary measures in their favor —Resolution 19/26, Precautionary Measure No. 393-26—, demanding the regime protect their life, personal integrity, and health. The regime has systematically ignored that protection.
In May, relatives reported that prison guards threatened to execute political prisoners if the United States intervened militarily in Cuba, including Roilán among those targeted.
The new allegation comes at a time of heightened political tension. On October 22, 146 Cuban political prisoners publicly presented a statement in Miami, signed on October 10, in which they demand the release of all political prisoners and the decriminalization of dissent before any negotiations between Washington and Havana.
The document was sent to the State Department and to U.S. Congress members. Prisoners Defenders recorded 1,372 political prisoners in Cuba as of October first, a new historical record.
Family members, UNPACU, and human rights organizations demand an external medical evaluation, direct communication with the detainee, and an investigation into the behavior of the officer identified as "Agustín."
The statement from the former political prisoners sums up the fundamental demand: "Any negotiation can only take place after the release of political prisoners."
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