The Cuban regime remains inflexible with the family of political prisoner José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), who has not been allowed visits by his wife Nelva Ismarays Ortega Tamayo for two months. After a failed attempt to see him on May 11, Ortega called on the international community and “good-hearted” people to speak out against human rights violations on the island.
In an audio shared with the independent press, Ortega Tamayo explained that this Thursday he went to the maximum security prison of Mar Verde, in Santiago de Cuba, for a wedding visit. However, in the waiting room, the head of Internal Order told him that he would not be allowed to enter.
The woman recalled that no family member has had direct contact with Ferrer since March 14. Since then, the political leader has been held incommunicado under “forced disappearance” and deprived of the right to have a legal defense. “The last time that his children, Fátima Victoria and our little Daniel José, just three years old, were able to share with their father was on March 7, one day after the tyranny gave him the last right to the last phone call,” he said.
“Most likely, he is half-naked, under the same deplorable, inhuman, cruel and degrading conditions, being the victim of mistreatment and torture, both physical and psychological”
Ferrer is one of the more than 1,000 political prisoners that the Cuban regime They have been in their prisons since the massive protests of July 11, 2021, to which those detained in the demonstrations in recent months joined. During these almost two years, his family has denounced on several occasions that the inmate has been the victim of torture, beatings and threats.
The opposition leader has been “kidnapped and confined since August 14, 2021,” added his wife, in the same dungeon prepared to break his fighting spirit. “Most likely, he is half-naked, under the same deplorable, inhuman, cruel and degrading conditions, being the victim of mistreatment and torture, both physical and psychological,” she said in her report.
Ortega recalled that Ferrer also does not have access to his medical treatment, another violation of his basic rights. This generates “uncertainty and pain in the whole family,” added the woman, who assured that they will continue to peacefully demand “life samples of José Daniel” from the dictators of Miguel Díaz-Canel and Raúl Castro. “You are ultimately responsible for your physical and psychological integrity,” she said.
Ortega pointed out that the government wants Ferrer to accept exile from Cuba, despite “knowing very well that he would rather die than leave his homeland.”
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