MIAMI, United States. – The magazine Tense wings, the NGO Justicia 11J and the feminist platform YoSíTeCreo in Cuba, among other Cuban civil society organizations, jointly launched a campaign to demand the release of women detained for political reasons, in the midst of the recent release processes that resulted from negotiations between the Government of the Island, the Vatican and the United States.
The groups involved highlighted that they joined together in order to “make visible the situation of women deprived of liberty in Cuba for political reasons.” In a public statement They pointed out that some of these prisoners “are activists, political opponents,” while others “got fed up with injustice and demonstrated peacefully, either in the massive protests of 11J or others that have occurred in recent years.”
In the document they denounced that the repression against incarcerated women “has a clear gender bias that affects their lives and those of their children, along with other dependent people, a reflection of institutionalized machismo.” They also stressed that the authorities, by sanctioning these women, make it difficult for them to participate in public life, which violates fundamental rights.
“#ALL are political prisoners, although the Cuban authorities do not want to recognize them as such. #ALL have received unjust sentences and added violence for gender reasons, whether vicarious against their sons and daughters, health care, sexual violence, among others exercised by the State and its agents, which have been documented by civil society ”, they insisted.
The list of signatory organizations includes MeToo Cuba, Cubalex, the Cuban Alliance for Inclusion, Raíces de Esperanza España, the AYUDA project, the V and Dissidence museums in Cuba, the Cuban Youth Dialogue Table, CasaPalanca, Citizenship and Freedom, Click Cuba, the Citizens Committee for Racial Integration, the Initiative for Research and Advocacy AC, Les Apostates and the Women’s Network of Cuba, among others.
According to the campaign, there are still 37 women imprisoned for political causes, such as Sissi Abascal Zamora, María Cristina Garrido Rodríguez and Saylí Navarro Álvarez, among others.
At the same time, the organizations Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), the PEN Center for Cuban Writers in Exile and PEN International They urged the Government of the Island to include imprisoned creators in the release process. “This announcement marks a crucial opportunity for the Cuban government to reaffirm its commitment to justice and human rights,” said Julie Trébault, executive director of ARC, advocating for the release of artists such as Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Osorbo.
Romana Cacchioli, executive director of PEN International, joined the claim and called for “an end to persecution and censorship in all its forms.” The institutions also recalled that they have documented multiple cases in which the authorities attack cultural workers, limiting their freedom of expression.
Simultaneously, non-state media launched the #ALL platform to monitor political prisoners who receive release benefits. The people released to date remain under legal figures such as “extra-penal license” and “conditional release,” which imply the possibility of returning to prison if they do not comply with government demands.
