Cuba Archive - Case 1550

Case ID: 1550

Title: N/A

First name: Daniela de la Caridad

Last name: Ramón Rodríguez

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: N/A

Name also reported as: N/A

Age: 4

Gender: Female

Date of Birth: N/A

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:26 / Month:3 / Year:2013

Citizenship: N/A

Last known address: Avenida 83 # 4017

Last known city: La Habana

Last known province-TOD: Ciudad de La Habana

Last known province current: Ciudad de La Habana

Last known country: Cuba

Location death-address: N/A

Location of death - city: Juan Manuel Márquez Hospital, Marianao, Havana

Location of death province - at TOD: Ciudad de La Habana

Location of death province - current: Ciudad de 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: Officer Barreto, DTI (Technical Investigations Department) and officers Jiménez and Maritza at police station 5th, Playa, Havana.

Associated Event: N/A

Case description:

4-year old Daniela was detained with her parents in early February. The parents were accused of robbery with violence. They pled for their daughter with police, insisting on the little girl's serious cardiac condition (she had open heart surgery at 5 months of age), yet they let her go without food or medicine for seven hours before handing her to her paternal grandfather.  The family had been arrested by agents of DTI (Technical Investigations Department) under orders from Officer Barreto. They were taken to a police station at 7th, La Lisa, Havana, and the parents pressured into signing a confession of having committed a robbery with violence, which they refused. They were then transferred to a police station at 5th, Playa, Havana, were officers Jiménez and Maritza threatened and offended the parents in front of their small daughter. 
Two days after the traumatic event, the little girl's health suffered a downturn. She was hospitalized and placed in intensive care for around two months before her death.  Her death certificate cites cause of death as respiratory insufficiency from a pulmonary hemorrhage. Reportedly, she had a congenital cardiopathy of the left ventricle, enlarged heart and aggressive pericarditis.
The parents insist on their innocence and report that no evidence has been presented to back the police accusation. A trial scheduled for June 20, 2013 was postponed when the mother failed to appear. She had been released four days after her arrest with a 500 peso bail. The father was imprisoned at Combinado del Este prison of Havana.
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Daniela, de 4 años fue detenida con sus padres a principios de febrero 2013 y fueron trasladados a una comisaría de la policía en La Lisa, La Habana. Allí los padres fueron presionados para que firmasen una confesión de haber cometido un robo con violencia, a lo que se negaron. Fueron entonces trasladados a una comisaría de policía en la 5ª, Playa, La Habana. Ambos padres rogaron a la policía por la niña, insistiendo que sufría de una grave condición cardíaca (cardiopatía congénita del ventrículo izquierdo), por la cual había sido sometida a una cirugía de corazón abierto a los 5 meses de edad. Sin embargo, la dejaron sin comida y medicamentos durante siete horas y los agentes Jiménez y Maritza amenazaron y ofendieron a los padres frente a su pequeña hija. Al fin, entregaron a la niña a su abuelo paterno y dos días después tuvo que ser hospitalizada en cuidado intensivos; casi dos meses más tarde murió. Su certificado de defunción indica que la causa de la muerte fue insuficiencia respiratoria por hemorragia pulmonar. Los padres siguieron insistiendo en su inocencia e informaron que no se presentaron pruebas para respaldar la acusación policial. Un juicio programado para el 20 de junio de 2013 se pospuso porque la madre no se presentó. Había sido puesta en libertad cuatro días después de su arresto con una fianza de 500 pesos. El padre fue encarcelado en la prisión Combinado del Este de La Habana.

Sources: Conflict of Evidence:

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

Cause of Death: - Medical condition/Denial of medical care

Occupations: - N/A

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: N/A

Victim Type: - Prisoner / Detainee: Political cause

Affiliations: N/A

Other Victims Same Event: N/A

Case Record - Daniela de la Caridad Ramón Rodríguez