E/CN.4/1994/31 page 43 193. Luis Alberto Pita Santos, President of an organization calling itself the "Asociación Defensora de los Derechos Políticos", was allegedly given a severe beating in December 1992 in Boniato prison which left him with a fractured arm. It is reported that he was later moved to the Camagüey maximum security prison, where he was imprisoned for months with his feet shackled from 5 a.m. until 9 p.m., and that, on 22 April 1993, he was wounded as a result of another beating given by a prison guard for having refused to wear a uniform. 194. José Pascual Castillo, a detainee in the Manacas provincial prison, Villa Clara, was allegedly beaten on 15 February 1993 by several guards. According to the information received, Mr. Castillo was handcuffed and beaten with rubber truncheons and kicked until he almost lost consciousness; afterwards he was moved to a solitary confinement cell. 195. Gerardo Montes de Oca, a detainee in Block 2 of the prison, was said to have been severely beaten in May 1993 guards. He was then apparently moved to a sealed-up cell after which he had to be admitted to the prison infirmary injuries he had suffered. Combinado del Este by four prison for three days, because of the 196. Juan Carlos Aguiar Beatón a detainee in the Guanajay prison in the province of Havana, was allegedly subjected to a severe beating on 15 July 1993 by several guards, who beat him with rubber truncheons and other blunt objects. It was reported that the beating was prompted by Mr. Aguiar Beatón’s refusal to stop speaking to another prisoner through the window and that, as a result of the injuries he suffered, the prisoner died a few days later. 197. The following two cases were also transmitted to the Government: (a) Heriberto Arce Vázquez was reported to have been brutally beaten on 24 May 1992 in Santa Clara, Villa Clara, by several police officers when he was in the street with a group of young people, one of whom had shouted "Down with Fidel". It was alleged that he was then taken to the third police unit, where he was also beaten, and that, as a result, he had to be taken to hospital, where he was issued with a medical certificate because of his injuries and prescribed complete rest. (b) René Contreras Blanch, a member of the "Partido Cubano de Derechos Humanos", was reportedly assaulted on 16 March 1993 in Aguila Street, between Estrella and Reina streets in Central Havana, by several police officers who beat him and hurled a stone at him which caused a serious head wound. Urgent appeals 198. The Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal to the Government on 16 December 1992 on behalf of Elizardo Sánchez Santa Cruz, leader of the group known as the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, who was detained at his home in Havana on 10 December 1992 by members of the State security forces. It was alleged that at the time of his detention Mr. Sánchez Santa Cruz was beaten and had to be taken to hospital.