A human rights defender detained, beaten and fined by State Security

On 3 March 2021, in the early morning hours, Bartolo Cantillo Romero, an activist from the Cuban Patriotic Union (UNPACU), was walking down the Calixto García and Emilio Giro Street towards the Municipal Court in the city of Guantánamo. Suddenly, he was intercepted by the State Security official Víctor and his colleagues. They beat him up, handcuffed him and put him by force into their patrol car. From there, he was driven to the police unit Parque 24 where he was kept in detention. There he was beaten up again and fined 4000 pesos. The officials also threatened him with imprisonment and further beating, claiming that nothing would happen to them.