Murder of Hansel Hernández among the violations in Cuba denounced by the US. (Reference photo: Hansel Hernández-Facebook)
The case of the murder by the police of the Cuban Hansel Hernández Galiano, which occurred in mid-2020 and which caused great indignation inside and outside the island, was mentioned in the US report on the situation of Human Rights in Cuba.
Said report dedicates several lines to the event that occurred on June 24 and to media manipulation that there was regarding the case on the part of the pro-government media.
The section on respect for the integrity of the people of the State Department report specifies that the case of the murder of the young Cuban in Havana was not recognized at first by the Castro regime, however, given how quickly it spread on social networks had to come up with an answer.
Murder of Hansel Hernández among the violations in Cuba denounced by the US. (Screenshot: Department of State)
Said response was dedicated to tarnishing Hernández’s image, assuring that he was a violent thief who tried to attack the police.
“On June 25, the blog Guerrero Cubano, supposedly independent, but in fact controlled by the state, published a detailed story on how Hansel was assassinated,” the report reads.
15) “On June 24, police killed Hansel Hernandez Galiano, an unarmed Afro-Cuban man, in Havana. State media initially refused to acknowledge the case, but news circulated quickly across social media.
– Norges Rodríguez (@ norges14) March 30, 2021
After that, several state media replicated the story told by Guerrero Cubano, lamenting the death of the Cuban, but ultimately denigrating his character.
According to a press release from the Ministry of the Interior (Minint), he assured that “Hansel had been found guilty of threatening people, lascivious abuse and robbery with violence, for which he served a prison sentence and was on probation.”
However, the version given by the Cuban authorities is contradicted by several photographs that came to circulate on the body of Hernández, who despite being “attacking” the police, presented a gunshot wound to the back, which suggests that in fact he was fleeing from Minint agents.
“The photographs also showed bruises on the face and sutures closing a cut on the head (possibly post-mortem). His family members said his body was reportedly quickly cremated after pressure from the government. ”
The murder of the young man received great international attentionIt happened almost at the same time as the case of the murder of the African American George Floyd in the United States.
It is worth mentioning that while the Castroist press supported and justified the violent protests That this caused in North American territory, on the island the regime dedicated itself to repressing any protest in favor of Hernández at all costs.