Juan Carlos González Leiva

Who is Juan Carlos González Leiva?

Juan Carlos González Leiva is a blind lawyer and human rights activist in the communist Cuba. He created the Fraternity of the Independent Blind of Cuba and the Cuban Foundation of Human Rights.

He has accused the regime of harassing and torturing him.

Speaking about the torture of prisoners in Cuba, he said, "Day and night, the screams of tormented women in panic and desperation who cry for God's mercy fall upon the deaf ears of prison authorities. They are confined to narrow cells with no sunlight called "drawers" that have cement beds, a hole on the ground for their bodily needs, and are infested with a multitude of rodents, roaches, and other insects.... In these "drawers" the women remain weeks and months. When they scream in terror due to the darkness and the heat, they are injected sedatives that keep them half-drugged.