Havana, Cuba. – Despair, stress, agony, anguish and psychological terror. With those words, Several relatives of political prisoners described the days they lived after The announcement of the Cuban regimeon January 14, of the release of 553 people deprived of liberty.
Although Havana said that it was a promise to the Vatican as part of its “narrow and fluid relations”, the release of political prisoners of July 11, 2021 (11j) They began a few hours after the then president of the United States, Joe Biden, took the island out of the list of terrorism sponsorship countries.
“He gave us an immense joy because we saw the possibility of being returned to our daughter at home,” Annia Zamora, mother of the political prey and member of the ladies of Blanco Sissi Abascal Zamora told this newspaper, sentenced to six years of deprivation of deprivation of deprivation of Freedom in the province of Matanzas.
“Then came terrible days,” he continues to report. “We spent the news to the news and stuck to the phone waiting for a call that never arrived. They were days of a very large psychological terror for all the families of political prisoners. Being pending a phone call, in which they let you know that you can go to prison to your child or family, has been cruel and inhuman. ”
From Holguín, Mailín Rodríguez Sánchez, wife of Yosvany Rosell García Caso, manifestant of 11J sentenced to 15 years in prison, says he was very “overwhelming”, especially for his three minor children.
“They said that Dad would come for the house soon. We were unable to sleep for days, anxious for the phone to sound and give us the good news, ”he said.
For his part, Meibel Gelín, mother of José Alejandro Rodríguez Gelín, a 25 -year -old who is serving a five -year prison sentence after 11J, says he also had the hope of having his son back at home, despite that this one left for extinguishing his sanction.
“My family and I lived several days of psychological torture, were days of despair, of anguish; Days of waiting for a call that never arrived, we did not sleep because we knew that some relatives had been called late at night. I am very happy for everyone who could leave because they should never have been imprisoned. But what my family lived has no name, because it was tremendous stress, because we thought about us but also how he would be feeling, even if he is strong, this could affect his mental health, ”said the mother.
The releases lasted less than a week; The Cuban regime, without offering statements or explanations, stopped the progress despite having been far from the promised figure. The pause or cancellation happened after the inauguration of Donald Trump, who returned to Cuba to the list of terrorism sponsors and canceled the rest of the measures taken by his predecessor with respect to Cuba, just a week earlier.
“We are in a very large uncertainty because we do not know what will happen in the coming months, there is a total silence,” says Annia Zamora.
“As we suffer in those days – and we continue to suffer,” our prisoners also, in addition to being supporting subhuman conditions such as cruel hunger. This is desperate, ”he concluded.
Ailex Marcano, mother of Ángel Jesúz Veliz Marcano – who is serving a six -year prison sentence for participating in the protests of the 11J in Camagüey – keeps hopes of seeing his son and the rest of the political prisoners free.
“This dictatorship is completely suffocated and something must happen. All we have left is to trust God, ”he added.
Maibel Gelin states that his family continues to be distressed already waiting for some information about whether they will resume the releases. “I must say that there are not 553 political prisoners in Cuba, but more than 1,000, and we love them all free, not a freedom with conditions, we want them at home. I will continue to demand the freedom of my son and all political prisoners until they leave that hell, ”he said.
“Fraudulent release”
Just 209 political prisoners were released by the Cuban regime, less than half of the 553 figure announced, according to reported The NGO Prisoners Defenders (PD). Of the total released, 91% already had the right to an open regime, probation or immediate freedom for even more than a year.
“Once again, the Cuban regime has played with the perversion he exercised since time immemorial against families of protesters and human rights defenders,” PD said. The NGO cataloged this process as a “fraudulent release.”
He also said that the Cuban regime would have completed the remaining prisoners released (up to 553) “with an still undetermined amount of common criminals who have been released (…) with the same alleged measures ‘grace’ as the political prisoners released in Cuba” .
Pause alarm or cancellation of release
A month after the Cuban regime Pausara or cancels the release of political prisoners, the authorities continue without offering explanations in this regard. They have not even issued an official statement to expose whether they culminated the process or will continue in the coming months.
Taking this into account, Ana Piker, director for the Americas of Amnesty International (AI), He said that the suspension of releases “would seem to show that people prey for political reasons have been once again used dehumanizing, as sheets of change in a political game, without their lives, their physical integrity and their rights being taken into account ”
Through A statementThe organization also stated that the release process was marked by irregularities and lack of transparency.
“The Cuban authorities have not recognized the existence of people detained for political reasons, a list of names of those who will be included in this process has not been published and have not had the will to guarantee an immediate and unconditional freedom of prisoners of prisoners Consciousness such as Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel Castillo, Loreto Hernández, Roberto Pérez Fonseca or Saylí Navarro. They and all people detained just by lifting their voice must be released, ”added Piquer.
On the other hand, none of the releases received unconditional freedom. All will continue to fully comply with their convictions under two types of subsidy-“probation” and “extrapenal license”-, so they have passed to a regime that PD qualifies as “prison-domiciliary.”
In this way, the threat of returning to prison remains and, in addition, they must meet a series of requirements such as not moving from their city of residence, working in state centers assigned by state security, not expressing or publishing their opinions on social networks or publicly demonstrate critical attitudes with the government, not give statements to the independent or foreign press and not communicate with human rights organizations. They must also appear regularly before the authorities and may be summoned as part of a police monitoring.
The opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer García, one of the releases, has refused to meet those requirements and, for this reason, has been constantly cited by the authorities. “We barely sleep guard because we fear we are thrown [nos envíen a la Seguridad del Estado] at night to take me, ”he told Cubanet. His son, just five years old, perceives these pressures and walks all the time attached to him.
Javier Larrondo, president of PD, considers that these “draconian conditions are undoubted and tortured the more than 1,801 innocent political prisoners of their positions present in their prisons from July 11, 2021 until the end of December past, in just three years and six months. ”
