HAVANA, Cuba. – “It is a torture center,” is how she classified the Ceiba Cuatro women’s prison, located in the province of Sagebrusha prisoner who spoke with CubaNet and requested anonymity to avoid retaliation for his complaints.
“In this place the regime applied to women ranges from abusive to degrading,” he added.
The prisoner explained that they are not allowed to talk, laugh, sing or listen to music; There are also no recreational or leisure activities such as playing sports.
The routine begins at 6:30 in the morning, when the inmates are forced to leave the buildings and, without eating breakfast or washing themselves, they must clean the external areas. While they are at that task, they add the water and, when they return to the cubicles, they remove it. They barely have time to clean themselves or save any of the liquid. Then they must return to their usual tasks or jobs.
They are also denied medical attention, the source said. “There are no medications at the medical station and, when some appears, it is expired; It also does not have the necessary conditions; when Hurricane Rafael hit, some had to take their medicines wet or crumbly. If the inmate brings any medication from her home such as a painkiller or antibiotic, they collect it and deposit it at the medical station for when she needs it,” he added.
The same source exemplified the abuse with what happened to one of the inmates, named Milena Leyva: “She returned from a pass or exit permit with a high fever and they took her to several hospitals where she was not treated properly. On her next pass, she went on her own to a hospital where they gave her several tests and indicated an examination that is carried out through a previous shift, but she had to enter the prison and they did not give her permission to go to the medical shift. . They also didn’t give him a ‘drive’ to take her. Conclusion: Milena still doesn’t know what causes her constant fevers,” she said.
Likewise, he stated that some inmates are harassed by male workers at the center, such as the logistician, but they, out of fear and under threats, do not defend themselves or accuse him.
The source also reported that during Hurricane Rafael, which affected the west of the country at the beginning of November, they spent the night sleeping with wet mattresses on the floor while the men who work there held the door open so that the wind would not blow. I would throw it away.
After the hurricane, the inmates were forced to clean the center under duress; They also suspended their pass without giving any justification. “Women are constantly threatened with being revoked if we complain about any abuse to which we are subjected,” said the interviewee.
Despite the poor quality and scarce food, the prison authorities do not allow them to enter the prison with the food necessary for a month of stay. “For example, you can only take two packages of cookies, a bottle of soda, a stick of butter, a stick of guava and no fruit or anything frozen; In short, almost nothing, that doesn’t even last 10 days,” he said.
Abuse against political prisoner
The same source made reference to the situation of the political prisoner Dayelín Sánchez Fuentesimprisoned in August 2022 for participating in the demonstrations in the town of CEPEM, in the municipality of Caimito (Artemisa), and sentenced to six years of deprivation of liberty for the alleged crimes of “attack”, “disrespect” and “disorders”. public”.
Sánchez Fuentes, known as “La China”, was in Ceiba Cuatro when on November 16 she was “revoked” – that is, returned to a more severe prison regime – and transferred to the Western Women’s Prison, “where She was located in group No. 3 of multiple repeat offenders,” according to the source.
“The justification given by the director of Ceiba Cuatro is that Dayelín disrespected her, which is not true,” the inmate said in an interview with CubaNet.
“Dayelín was revoked because she is one of the political prisoners in Cuba and they deny her the benefits that correspond to her; “She hired a lawyer to defend her right to parole, but this is a benefit that in Cuba is denied to political prisoners even though there is no law that protects that decision,” he explained.
Likewise, he said that Sánchez Fuentes has stated that he will continue fighting for his rights because he meets the requirements of Law 152 of Criminal Execution and, therefore, he should be granted the benefit of conditional freedom.
“For this reason, the director María Elena invented a lack of respect that never existed; This is how the Cuban tyranny acts because it does not support people who are capable of legally defending themselves,” he stated.
“China is well prepared, has studied, knows Cuban laws well and knows that human rights are constantly violated; For this reason, she is hated by the institutions of Artemisa, such as first secretary of the PCC, governor and other bosses; That is why it is an objective of this province to try to disappear it, to keep it confined in prison,” he asserted.
Cuba: second country with the highest prison population rate in the world
Ceiba Cuatro has an open prison regime, characterized by less control and whose objective is the social reintegration of the inmates or assessing their progress in the regime (at lower severity). It was in this center where the political prisoner Angelica Garridoreleased from prison on July 10, served the last few months of her sentence.
Although the information is not public nor is there transparency regarding the subject, in 2013 the official website Cuba Information revealed that there were 155 open prisons on the Island.
For its part, the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) accounts around 300 prisons throughout the country, which would house more than 140,000 inmates. The OCDH considers that in the last six decades the number of prisons on the Island has multiplied by 20.
“In Spain, with a population of 44 million, there are 100,000 prisoners. In Cuba, with a population four times smaller, there are more than 140,000 prisoners. Cuba, in the literal sense, is also a large penitentiary center, since the entire country is filled with prisons and detention centers,” the organization indicated.
In early 2024, World Prison Brief placed Cuba in the second place in prison population rate worldwide. According to the organization, there are a total of 90,000 people in Cuban prisons, 768 for every 10,000 inhabitants. The Island is only surpassed by El Salvador.
Inmates confined in these centers are subjected to constant torture and violations of their human rights. According to the most recent report of the Cuban Prison Documentation Center (CDPC), the complaints received by the organization show a “deterioration of the already precarious living conditions in prisons, due to the energy and economic crisis that the country is experiencing, which directly impacts in vital sectors such as food, access to drinking water and medical care. All of this is made worse by the state’s apathy towards prisoners and the persistence of repressive and harassment practices, in an environment of lack of control and application of justice towards the authorities.
Prisoners Defenders currently registers 1,117 people who are serving prison in Cuba for political reasons.
