Woman recounts dark cell, beatings and interrogations after July 11 protests
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Summary
An unidentified woman on Radio Martí says she was held in a 3-by-3 cell in total darkness, subjected to interrogations and witnessed beatings — including a pregnant detainee — after the July 11, 2021 protests; she says ‘Iris’ was later released under house arrest.
An unidentified woman recounted on Radio Martí that she was detained after the July 11 protests and held in what she called “las mazmorras,” a 3-by-3 cell where she could not see her own hands. “Yo no podía ver la palma de mis manos,” she said, describing repeated interrogations and a chaotic detention area where other women were beaten and tried to support each other.
The speaker said she met detainees who had been struck and cited one woman who had been hit in the abdomen and suffered 11 days of bleeding. She said detainees prayed and tried to bolster one another amid “muchas conmociones” and “mujeres desesperadas.” The program also reported that a woman identified in the segment as Iris was later released under restrictions that prevented her from leaving her home.
The testimony was presented as first-person experience rather than a formal legal finding. The program did not present a corroborating public record or an official investigation transcript on air; no on-air representative of Cuban authorities responded during the broadcast. Hosts framed the account against the broader context of the July 11, 2021 demonstrations and ongoing international concern about human-rights treatment of detainees.
The segment included appeals to a broader audience about the state of rights in Cuba, with on-air commentators and the guest analyst situating the testimony among claims of systemic repression. The program did not announce any immediate follow-up legal action or an independent verification of the specific allegations mentioned on air.
The broadcast placed the testimony in a human-rights context by reading elements of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and by noting the role of independent broadcasters in circulating detainee accounts. Listeners were encouraged to follow further coverage on Martinoticias.com.
