MIAMI, United States. – The Cuban regime added eight new political prisoners last March, keeping the number of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience on the island at 1,066, according to the most recent report from the NGO Prisoners Defenders.
“With data closure as of March 31, 2023, the list of political prisoners in Cuba contains a total of 1,066 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience suffering judicial sentences or provisions to limit their liberty by prosecutors without any judicial supervision or defense. law, in flagrant violation of international law that protects due process and effective defense,” denounced Prisoners Defenders.
According to the organization, only in the last 12 months 250 new political prisoners have been confirmed.
“This month of March, eight new political prisoners have entered our list, including various types of activists, but also civilians who were trying to leave the country and have been criminally charged and placed in pretrial detention without judicial protection just because Cuba violates article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and prohibits leaving the country under prison sentence, which makes Cuban territory similar to a prison,” Prisoners Defenders clarified.
“There are hundreds of people in the country who are languishing in prison for the crime of ‘illegal exit.’ It is unheard of that Cuba prohibits the exercise of such a fundamental right as leaving your country when you do not have a pending criminal case or ongoing Military Service,” the NGO also lamented.
Of the 1,066 political prisoners verified by Prisoners Defenders, 33 are minors (29 are still serving sentences and four are being criminally prosecuted).
“It must be taken into account that this high number, however, does not include many other children who have already left the list for having fully served their sentences. A good part of the minors are found in prisons that are presumably for minors, but they are completely penitentiary centers that are euphemistically called ‘Comprehensive Training Schools’, the organization specified.
Of the current list of political prisoners, 204 are protesters who have been accused of sedition. Of these, at least 202 have already been sentenced to an average of 10 years in prison each.
On the other hand, with the entry into prison of four women in March, there are already at least 120 who are still with orders and political and conscience convictions. “All trans women in prison of conscience have been and are incarcerated among men, which also happens with common prisoners of trans identity,” laments the Prisoners Defenders report.
Finally, the 1,066 political prisoners currently verified in Cuba are divided into convicted of conscience (790), convicted of conscience (246) and other political prisoners (30).
