The Gender Observatory of the magazine ‘Alas Tensas’ and the YoSíTeCreo platform in Cuba identified 42 political prisoners, but assured that “there are more.”
MIAMI, United States. – The magazine’s Gender Observatory Tense Wings and the feminist platform YoYesTeCreo in Cuba asked this Wednesday that “the freedom of Cuban political prisoners be on the negotiating table” and demanded “freedom without conditions” for women imprisoned or with criminal sanctions for political reasons.
In his pronouncementboth organizations mentioned 42 political prisoners “identified by the different organizations dedicated to these records,” although they specified that “there are more,” and pointed out that the list is based on records from Justicia 11J, Cubalex and Prisoners Defenders. They also highlighted the cases of women who “have received serious violations in prisons and/or suffer from health problems.”
Both feminist organizations spoke out in the midst of the regional debate on releases, particularly in Venezuela and Nicaragua, and a year after the island’s regime will announce the “gradual release” of 553 people following an agreement with the Vatican, at a time when Prisoners Defenders registered 1,161 political prisoners in the country.
One year after that announcement, Amnesty International (AI) held that the process “was marked by opacity, lack of public information, absence of clear criteria and use of arbitrary conditions,” and called for the “full and unconditional” release of prisoners of conscience.
In a statementAI regional director for the Americas, Ana Piquer, stated: “Sayli Navarro Álvarez, Félix Navarro, Loreto Hernández García, Donaida Pérez Paseiro, Roberto Pérez Fonseca, Maykel Castillo Pérez (Maykel ‘Osorbo’), and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, should not spend another day in prison.”
Various organizations have not only denounced that there are more than 1,000 people deprived of their liberty in Cuba for political reasons, but also the treatment they receive. Human Rights Watch has documented complaints from those released from prison that include beatings, punishments with solitary confinement and unhealthy detention conditions, as well as restrictions after release from prison.
The organization also noted that, according to estimates by independent Cuban organizations, approximately 200 of the 553 people released in January 2025 were political prisoners, while the rest corresponded to people imprisoned for common crimes.
