MADRID, Spain.- The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, Tomoya Obokata, condemned the forced labor to which political prisoners are subjected in Cuban jails. This denunciation has been supported by a report presented by the organization Prisoners Defenders (PD) last June, which was included in the recent report to the UN Human Rights Council.
According to PD on Wednesday, the report exposes the serious situation faced by inmates in the penitentiary centers Cubans, highlighting a worrying disconnect between legal regulations and the cruel reality experienced by prisoners, especially those of conscience and political prisoners.
Javier Larrondo, president of the NGO based in Madrid, explained to Marti Newss that the Special Rapporteur adopted the allegations of his organization, revealing specific cases of a small sample of the thousands of prisoners who are forced to perform forced labor during their imprisonment.
Larrondo stressed that two of the main forced labors imposed on political prisoners in Cuba include the production of charcoal from marabú and the cutting of sugar cane in the sugar harvest. The PD report recalls that these activities constitute a contemporary form of slavery, carried out under the direction of the Cuban regime, which violates at least nine fundamental rights of prisoners.
The violations listed by PD include the lack of safety and health measures at work, the absence of adequate remuneration, the obligation to perform these jobs, and child exploitation. In addition, threats of reprisals and the denial of prison benefits for those who refuse to participate in these tasks are reported. The lack of training and capacity building is also mentioned, which leads to sanctions for alleged “labour indiscipline”.
Previous complaints
Last Maythe Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) filed a formal complaint with the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights, accusing the Cuban government of violating the labor rights of hundreds of prisoners. The complaint also alleged that these prisoners are subjected to forced labor in the production of marabú charcoal, destined for export, under conditions described as inhumane.
The OCDH stressed that these jobs are often carried out under duress or intimidation, taking advantage of the vulnerability of prisoners within the Cuban penitentiary system. Many of these inmates, faced with precarious living conditions, are forced to accept this work as their only option.
The organization also denounced that this practice, which is not new in Cuba, has been previously condemned, but continues due to the impunity of those responsible. Among those accused are the General Directorate of the penitentiary system, the Company of Various Productions (PROVARI) and other government entities.
The complaint is based on investigations carried out in several provinces, highlighting Matanzas, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila and Camagüey as areas where these practices are common. The OCDH estimates that around a thousand prisoners are forced to work in conditions that violate international law.
The organization called on the UN to examine these allegations and take legal and political action against those responsible, stressing that slavery and forced labor are absolutely prohibited under international law.
On the other hand, a recent report by the media Cuba Diary presented in March of this year, it exposed how thousands of prisoners in the country produce marabou charcoal to export to Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Spain and Portugal, in conditions of overcrowding, repression, mutilation and wage theft, while European companies display the product as a “sustainable agricultural practice” on the Island.
