Miami, United States. – The Cuban Osiris Puerto Terry, a victim of repression unleashed by the Cuban regime during the protests of July 11 and 12, 2021 (11J), denounced on Tuesday the island’s regime at the 17th Human Rights and Democracy Summit and Democracy of Geneva , which began today in Switzerland.
Puerto Terry, who was shot three times by agents of the Cuban regime when he tried to reach his home in the municipality ten of October in Havana, used this international scenario to make visible the state violence exercised against the Pacific protesters of 11J. “I will not stop demanding for the injustice that was committed with me on July 11 because they had killed me, they would have said that they killed a criminal,” had said to Cubanet in March 2023.
“I have been demanding compensation for damages for three and a half years to the president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez,” confirmed Tuesday from Geneva. “I am not a politician, I am not an activist, I am an ice cream seller of Havana, Cuba, and yet all aspects of my life have been poisoned by Cuban politics and its regime,” he also denounced.
After counting personal episodes of his childhood and adulthood on the island, he said the regime “ruined” his life.
The event, organized within the framework of the 58th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, brings together dissidents, activists and civil society leaders from various parts of the world to expose human rights violations that require global attention.
According to the center for a free tankorganization that has advocated the cause of Puerto Terry, its participation in the summit has been a crucial opportunity for the international community to listen first to the testimonies of those who have been repressed by the island’s regime.
During the 11J protests, Puerto Terry was hit by three shots: one aimed at the head, which failed its goal, another in the tibia and one last in the back while laying on the ground. Despite the serious injuries, the Military Prosecutor’s Office denied any type of economic reparation, claiming that the officers who triggered “worked in compliance with a duty.”
After admission to the “Calixto García” hospital in Havana, agents of Cuban intelligence beat him and labeled him as “another counterrevolutionary.”
The Human Rights and Democracy Summit will also have The participation of other outstanding figuresas the Russian opponent Vladimir Kara-Murza and the president-elect of Venezuela, Edmundo González. At the beginning of his speech, Puerto Terry thanked God for saving his life on the 11th, for allowing him to “share“ be the first Cuban ”to share his table with González and be able to denounce the crimes of the Cuban regime.
The human rights situation in Cuba is still concerned for the international community. The repression of 11J left a balance of hundreds of detainees and sentences of up to 25 years in prison for peaceful protesters, according to human rights organizations.
