FROM: DECLARATIONS OF ARMANDO VALLADARES BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTER-AMERICAN AFFAIRS AND THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
WASHINGTON, DC , DECEMBER 14, 1982
“… I met in April, May, June, 1981 at the punishment of cells of Combinado del Este [a prison in Havana], a 12-year old boy named Robertico. At night he would cry, asking for this mother and begging to be allowed to go home.
His case is instructive. He was 12 years old when he was walking down the street an d saw a car with a pistol on the passenger seat. The car was unlocked and he grabbed the pistol and, playing, he fired into the air. The owner of the car was a Major of the Ministry of the Interior (political police) who came out, slapped him in the face, and pressed charges. Robertico has been sentenced to prison until he becomes of age (18 years old). In Cuba you have to b e 18 years old in such cases to be released from prison. But 16 years of age is the minimum age required for the death penalty.
When he was imprisoned he was sent to an area of common criminals. A few days later he was raped by four men and had to be taken to the hospital. When he was returned to prison from the hospital a stamp identifying him as a “homosexual” was put on his file and he was moved to a section for homosexuals..
Later, he had to be taken to the hospital due to hemorrhaging. There are many Roberticos in Cuba."
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