Cuba Archive - Case 1219

Case ID: 1219

Title: N/A

First name: Juan Carlos

Last name: Peña Naranjo

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: N/A

Name also reported as: N/A

Age: N/A

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: N/A

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:18 / Month:10 / Year:2013

Citizenship: N/A

Last known address: N/A

Last known city: N/A

Last known province-TOD: N/A

Last known province current: N/A

Last known country: Cuba

Location death-address: Clinic at Guanabo beach

Location of death - city: N/A

Location of death province - at TOD: La Habana

Location of death province - current: La Habana

Location of death - country: Cuba

Trial held?: No

Docket Number: N/A

Sentence details: N/A

Arrest or detention at time of death: No

Date of arrest: N/A

Imprisoned/Detained: Location: N/A

How long imprisoned/detained: N/A

Death attributed to: Castro regime

Death attribution detail: Cuban health system

Associated Event: N/A

Case description:

Coming from a family of Jehova's Witnesses, he had endured systematic persecution since childhood. His father had served political prison, which had greatly affected him as a child. Denied employment and a university education, he made and repaired shoes, but his humble shop was intervened by police many times, his tools and materials confiscated. A longtime human rights activist, he endured constant death threats, arrests, harassment, and unrelenting surveillance at the hands of authorities. Most recently, he had been under permanent surveillance of two State Security agents (known as Joel and Ronald), who frequently tried to run him down with their motorcycles and threatened to kill him. He decided to escape the country in a raft one night, but after leaving shore changed his mind and swam back towards his friends at the beach who had gone to bid him farewell. Several swam to rescue him and brought him to land, revived him, and drove him to a nearby clinic, where he received no medical attention and died. His friends and fellow human rights activistis Jorge Luis García, Juan Manuel Lara Vidal, Rafael Viera Dávila andYosvany Guzmán Viera were detained, taken to State Security headquarters at Villa Marista, where they were intimidated and threatened with accusing them for his death.
Juan Carlos was a longtime human rights activist with the Movimiento Cristiano Liberación (MCL) led by the late Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, the Lawton Human Rights organization lead by Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, and other civil society 
efforts.
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Proveniente de una familia de Testigos de Jehová, había sufrido persecución sistemática desde su infancia. Su padre había cumplido prisión política, lo que le había afectado mucho de niño. Negado el empleo y la educación universitaria, hizo y reparó zapatos, pero su humilde taller fue intervenido por la policía muchas veces, sus herramientas y materiales confiscados. Activista de derechos humanos desde hacía mucho tiempo, soportó constantes amenazas de muerte, arrestos, hostigamiento y vigilancia implacable por parte de las autoridades. Recientemente, había estado bajo vigilancia permanente de dos agentes de la Seguridad del Estado (conocidos como Joel y Ronald), quienes frecuentemente intentaron atropellarlo con sus motocicletas y amenazaron con matarlo. Decidió escapar del país en una balsa una noche, pero después de dejar la costa cambió de opinión y nadó de regreso hacia sus amigos en la playa que habían ido a despedirse de él. Varios nadaron para rescatarlo y lo llevaron a tierra, lo reanimaron y lo llevaron a una clínica cercana, donde no recibió atención médica y murió. Sus amigos y compañeros activistas de derechos humanos Jorge Luis García, Juan Manuel Lara Vidal, Rafael Viera Dávila y Yosvany Guzmán Viera fueron detenidos, trasladados a la sede de la Seguridad del Estado en Villa Marista, donde fueron intimidados y amenazados con acusarlos de su muerte.
Juan Carlos fue un activista de derechos humanos durante mucho tiempo con el Movimiento Cristiano Liberación (MCL) dirigido por el fallecido Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, la organización de derechos humanos Lawton dirigida por el Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, y otros miembros de la sociedad civil.

Sources: Conflict of Evidence:

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

Cause of Death: - Exit attempt: dehydration/drowning/etc.

Occupations: - N/A

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: N/A

Victim Type: - Attempting exit

Affiliations: - Jehovas Witness, Movimiento Cristiano de Liberación, Club Lawton de Derechos Humanos

Other Victims Same Event: N/A

Case Record - Juan Carlos Peña Naranjo