It may have fallen more than a bit short of being a riot, but guards at the Combindado de Guantánamo prison took no chances Tuesday morning when they put down a protest that started after a political prisoner tried to inform a human rights activist about abuses at the prison.
Guards surrounded and then began beating José Ángel Simón Rodríguez as he spoke via telephone with a representative of the Cuban Council of Human Rights Rappateurs. In response, Simón responded with cries of "Down with Fidel!" and "Down with the dictatorship," according to a report from Juan Carlos González Leiva.
Soon after, other prisoners responded with their own protests.
A source told González Leiva that in return, officials ordered guards to swarm the prison to quell the protests. At least six political prisoners — including José Daniel Ferrer García, Claro Sánchez Altarriba and the injured Simón Rodríguez — were handcuffed, according to the report.
UPDATED, June 5, 2008
The six political prisoners have been transferred to other jails, according to González Leiva.
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