OCDH: Almost 400 repressive actions against the population in Cuba, only in October

MIAMI, United States. – The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) denounced this Thursday that during October at least 398 repressive actions against the civilian population have been registered in Cuba, of which, 130 were some type of arbitrary detention and 268, other types of abuses.

According to the information collected by the network of OCDH observers on the island, among the main abuses were the site of activists’ homes (116), harassment (61), police citations, fines, aggressions, travel impediments, lawsuits and dismissal from employment.

“The Cuban regime continues to apply an iron hand not only against activists, but against the entire population that peacefully protests the terrible situation in the country. For this reason, the forthcoming celebration of the EU-Cuba Joint Council, announced by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, should analyze these realities in depth, and move from words to deeds,” said Yaxys Cires, Director of Strategies of the OCDH.

This month marks the fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the Agreement on Political Dialogue and Cooperation (ADPC) between Brussels and Havana, in a scenario of 967 political prisoners, the worsening of repression in Cuba and a new Penal Code that is more dangerous for the exercise of human rights, which even increases crimes punishable by the death penalty.

“The European Union has to demand a real change in Cuba, or else immediately review the validity of the ADPC and impose individual sanctions on the repressors,” Cires concluded.

The increase in repression is one of the regime’s responses to the growth of protests throughout the island.l Cuban Observatory of Conflicts (OCC) document 589 demonstrations in October, a figure that exceeds that registered in July 2021, when the historic anti-government demonstrations of 11J took place in the country.

These 589 protests took place throughout the country, with Havana (179), Matanzas (37), Artemisa (35), Mayabeque (34) and Villa Clara (33) being the provinces with the most demonstrations, the OCC said in its monthly report.

Among them, 71 collective street protests stood out (cacerolazos, road blockades and marches). While more than 500 were of an individual nature: complaints, posters, videos and graffiti, among others.

Street protests increasingly mix punctual demands (“Put on the light”) with political ones (“Freedom”). Of the 589 protests that occurred in the month of October, 263 were related to political and civil rights (DPC 45%) while 326 were caused by demands for economic and social rights (DES 55%), says the OCC report.

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