2010 Death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo

Six years ago, on February 23, 2010, Cuban dissident and political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo, recognized by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience, died at the age of 42 after an 85-day protest hunger strike. In March 2003, he was arrested while on a hunger strike in support of Cuban dissidents. Zapata was charged with insulting the authorities, organizing public disorder and disobedience and was sentenced to 36 years in prison. According to a number of testimonies, he was beaten and tortured in prison. During the hunger strike, Zapata demanded the same conditions for himself and other political prisoners as Fidel Castro was in when he was imprisoned after the attack on the Moncada barracks in 1953.