Cuban police detained more than 50 dissidents in Havana during a march on Sunday ahead of Pope Francis' visit this weekend.
The activists were "brutally detained" by the police, said Berta Soler, leader of Damas de Blanco, or the 'Ladies in White', a popular opposition group of wives and relatives of jailed political prisoners formed in 2003. When protesters sat on the ground, police dragged them away and released them about four hours later, Soler said.
"#Cuba sending exactly the wrong signal in advance of @Pontifex visit by detaining @DamasdBlanco for marching in street," tweeted Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
As part of a campaign to force the government to release political prisoners, the 'Ladies in White' have been marching down one of Cuba's main thoroughfares every Sunday since April. For the past 22 weekends, a number of participants have been detained and beaten by police, said Soler, adding that hospital staff has refused to give injured dissidents certificates confirming their injuries.
Police also beat up and threatened to kill Rosa Escalona, the 'Ladies in White' coordinator for the Holguin province, according to Soler.
Cuban authorities contacted by BuzzFeed News denied a request for an interview.
On Sept. 11, the Cuban government had announced that it would release 3,522 prisoners including women, those older than 60 and younger than 20, and with chronic illnesses. The humanitarian gesture has become routine: the Cuban state released a number of prisoners just before the arrival of Pope Benedict in 2012 and Pope John Paul II in 1998.
Still, members of 'Ladies in White' fear that the state would continue to crack down on dissidents. The group plans to attend the papal mass on Sunday and have requested a private audience with the Pope.
"When we are in front of a totalitarian regime, a dictator regime, a bloodthirsty regime, we have to expect the worst," Soler said.