BAYAMO — 2012 · Suspicious Death
The Death of Opposition Leader Oswaldo Payá
Oswaldo Payá, founder of Cuba's Christian Liberation Movement and a Sakharov Prize laureate, died in a car crash near Bayamo in Granma province on 22 July 2012; the movement's youth leader Harold Cepero also died. The Spanish politician driving the rental car and a Swedish passenger survived with minor injuries. The Cuban government said the driver lost control and hit a tree, and the driver was convicted in Cuba of vehicular homicide. He later said the car had been rammed off the road by a vehicle with state plates and that his statement had been coerced. Payá's family maintained the crash was deliberate. In 2023 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found serious indications that state agents took part directly in the deaths.
- Date
- 2012
- Place
- Granma, Cuba, Bayamo, CU
- Category
- Suspicious Death
- Case Status
- Unsolved
- Coordinates
- -20.3800, -76.6400 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 22 July 2012Payá and Harold Cepero died in a crash near Bayamo.
- October 2012The Spanish driver was convicted in Cuba of vehicular homicide.
- 2013The driver said the car had been forced off the road by another vehicle.
- June 2023The IACHR held the Cuban state responsible for the deaths of Payá and Cepero.
Sources
- Los Angeles Times — Oswaldo Paya obituary latimes.com ↗
- CNN — Cuban dissident's death edition.cnn.com ↗
- Wikipedia — Oswaldo Payá en.wikipedia.org ↗
- Los Angeles Times
- CNN
- Wikipedia
Source grade A: several independent sources, at least one an official record or reference work. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
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🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.