Cuba has arrested 525 political prisoners in the past 12 months

In the last year, the number of political prisoners in Cuba has risen to 525, according to Prisoners Defenders. This is an all-time high in the country, as the NGO reports in a report on political repression on the island.

Prisoners Defenders is a human rights and democracy organisation. The European Parliament, the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Washington Congress and the US State Department are among the many institutions that refer to the NGO's reports. It is also a reference in the media such as ABC, Le Monde, Le Figaro, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

"In the last 12 months, 525 political prisoners and convicts in Cuba have been on the Prisoners Defenders list. October 2020 began with 138 prisoners and convicts. Since then, until the end of September 2021, 387 new cases have been added," the institution details. Of these detainees, 288 cases belong to the wave of repression that followed the protests that began in mid-July.

However, Prisoners Defenders warns that it is "impossible to cover all cases among the population", so this number could be even higher. The difficulty in acquiring official data is due, among other things, to absolute state censorship. The organisation lists other reasons, such as the restrictions on movement and communication suffered by members of civil society organisations since the summer demonstrations, as well as problems in obtaining information. "In the 11-J cases in Cuba we find that obtaining documentation is an exception. In the summary trials, this does not exist, as the sentence is oral and this is explicitly stated in the law", points out Prisoners Defenders. 

Of the prisoners, 69 have been able to leave prison, half of them after serving their full sentences. The rest "are those who, since 11 July, reflect the regime's tacit recognition that there was no reason for them to have spent weeks and even months in pre-trial detention", the report explains.

Prisoners Defenders highlights police brutality during the July marches, in addition to the nearly 8,000 arbitrary arrests. All those who managed to be released did so after paying very expensive fines, "equivalent to several monthly salaries in Cuba".  

The organisation highlights the situation of the twins Lisdani Rodríguez Isaac and Lisdiany Rodríguez Isaac, both of whom were arrested during the protests after demonstrating peacefully. The Cuban authorities are asking for 10 years in prison for false offences such as public disorder, spreading epidemics, instigation to commit a crime, contempt of court and attempted murder. "His case is yet another absurdity produced by the regime's system," says Prisoners Defenders.

It also highlights the degree of torture received by the Garrido Rodriguez sisters, both opponents of the Cuban regime. In addition, Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca, an independent journalist, suffered kidney failure during his imprisonment. The illness was allegedly provoked, according to his relatives. This problem caused other health complications, such as inflammation, severe headaches, kidney pain, fever and weight loss. Without any medical examination, a doctor prescribed a course of antibiotics, which his wife brought to the prison on 1 October, but which were not delivered to him until 4 days later.

The responsibility for what happens to these, and other convicts of conscience lies entirely with the Cuban regime and its president, Miguel Díaz-Canel. 

The NGO presents three categories of political detainees: convicts of conscience, sentenced prisoners of conscience and other political prisoners.

The first, convicts of conscience, are arrested solely for their ideology or thought, not for any kind of crime. Sentenced prisoners of conscience are restricted in their freedom or have to do hard labour. "The regime also routinely revokes and sends the activist to prison if he or she does not cease pro-democracy activity. The rest of the political prisoners who cannot be included in the above classes are perhaps because violence has been present in some way in their causes. "However, in all of them the political overtones, the lack of access to effective defence, and the excessive harshness of the sentences make them political and defensible cases," argues Prisoners Defenders.

Latin America Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra