Cuba Archive - Case 11756

Case ID: 11756

Title: N/A

First name: Manuel de Jesús

Last name: Guillén Esplugas

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: N/A

Name also reported as: N/A

Age: 30

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: N/A

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:30 / Month:11 / Year:2024

Citizenship: Cuba

Last known address: N/A

Last known city: Habana Vieja

Last known province-TOD: La Habana

Last known province current: La Habana

Last known country: Cuba

Location death-address: Combinado del Este prison

Location of death - city: La Habana

Location of death province - at TOD: La Habana

Location of death province - current: La Habana

Location of death - country: Cuba

Trial held?: Yes

Docket Number: N/A

Sentence details: N/A

Arrest or detention at time of death: Yes

Date of arrest: N/A

Imprisoned/Detained: Location: Combinado del Este prison

How long imprisoned/detained: N/A

Death attributed to: Castro regime

Death attribution detail: Prison guards

Associated Event: N/A

Case description:

Political prisoner who died at the Combinado del Este prison. According to prison authorities, he hanged himself. He was serving six years in prison for having filmed and distributed videos of antigovernmental nationwide mass demonstrations of July 11, 2021 and had recently been transferred to a punishment cell after a failed escape attempt. His mother denied that he had committed suicide and declared that his body showed clear signs of a brutal beating. She said that guards had tied him up with a military belt and brutally attacked him, fracturing his collarbone and trachea. His cousin posted in social media that Guillén refusal to work for State Security within the prison had provoked the argument that led to his death. In April 2024, Guillén had told the Cuban Prison Documentation Center that he was held with common prisoners convicted of violent crimes and denounced the unsanitary conditions of the prison, affected by plagues of bedbugs and rats, in addition to poor nutrition and the refusal of the jailers to provide medical assistance and necessary medications.

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Preso político que murió en la cárcel Combinado del Este. Según las autoridades penitenciarias, Guillén Esplugas se ahorcó en su celda. Cumplía seis años de prisión por haber filmado y distribuido vídeos de las marchas antigubernamentales del 11 de julio de 2021 y recientemente había sido trasladado a una celda de castigo tras un fallido intento de fuga. Su madre, Dania Esplugas, negó que su hijo se hubiera suicidado. Según ella, su cuerpo presentaba claros signos de una salvaje golpiza e indicó que los agentes de seguridad lo ataron con un cinturón militar y lo atacaron brutalmente, fracturándole la clavícula y la tráquea. Su primo, Yan Franco, compartió en su perfil de Facebook que la versión oficial señalaba que Guillén “se ahorcó” pero que su primo “se negaba a las múltiples propuestas de trabajar para la Seguridad del Estado y "eso provocó el altercado de este sábado, que terminó por costarle la vida”.  En abril 2024, Guillén había relatado al Centro de Documentación de Prisiones Cubanas que estaba recluido junto a presos comunes condenados por delitos violentos y denunció las condiciones insalubres del penal, afectado por plagas de chinches y ratas, además de una mala alimentación y la negativa de los carceleros a brindar asistencia médica y medicamentos necesarios para tratar la escabiosis y otros problemas de piel que padecía.

Sources: Conflict of Evidence:

Violation Status: Reported: Highly likely / Highly reliable source(s)

Cause of Death: - Extrajudicial killing

Occupations: N/A

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: N/A

Victim Type: - Political opponent: member of opposition group

Affiliations: - UNPACU - Cuba Decide

Other Victims Same Event: N/A

Case Record - Manuel de Jesús Guillén Esplugas