UNPACU activist from Baracoa detained and interrogated on Human Rights Day

On December 10, 2020, the activist of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), Ariolvi Columbie Noa, was detained by the captain and head of sector Carlos Hinojosa. This activist was detained from 10AM until 2PM of the same day in the police station of Turey neighbourhood where the activist resides. The activist was questioned by the captain of State Security Neuri Durán Pajan. This officer wanted to find out if the activist had received any guidance to create some kind of demonstration in Turey neighbourhood. He also wanted to find out if the activist had received orientation from Santiago de Cuba or from another region of the country. The activist told him that it was the International Human Rights Day and that no one had sent him, that this was a day that all Cubans should celebrate and not just the government. The activist was released around 2 pm after being threatened with arrest if he disturbed public order again. The regime once again violated article # 19, freedom of opinion, which says that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This article includes the right not to be disturbed because of opinions, to investigate and receive information and opinions, and to disseminate them through any media and regardless of frontiers. The regime has a large number of people who work for State Security and the police (PNR) and who are on duty 24 hours a day. Almost none of them earn a salary for the activities they carry out. In addition, they are distributed within society to keep an eye on those who dare to confront the regime. They are led by the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs), the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), the Communist Party and the Communist Youth Union (UJC). The cruellest of all, the Rapid Response Brigades, do the government's dirty work in the streets, beating human rights activists and political opponents, such as Ariolvi Columbie Noa, who was beaten up by the State Security a few years ago for the mere fact of having expressed himself freely.