MADRID, Spain.- The annual report on Human Rights practices carried out by the United States Department of State in its analysis regarding Cuba during 2021, demonstrated the existence of an authoritarian state on the Island and the increase in repression during the last year.
The document, which begins by denouncing that elections in Cuba “are not free, fair or competitive,” was shared this Thursday by the United States Embassy in Havana through Twitter.
The text condemns the fact that in Cuba there continues to be a one-party system in which the Communist Party is the only legal political party, as well as the police, the internal security forces and the prison system are controlled by the Ministry of the Interior.
Human Rights Report: #Cuba
1. The law allows freedom of assembly and association.
2. However, the government restricted these freedoms in practice.
3. The government routinely blocked any meeting attempts it opposed…https://t.co/2fvMYHXvhx— Embassy of the United States in Cuba (@USEmbCuba) April 21, 2022
“There are credible reports that members of the security forces committed numerous abuses, and the number of political prisoners increased dramatically during 2021, many of them in pretrial detention in extremely harsh and degrading conditions,” the information states.
The document analyzes the repression unleashed by the regime as a result of the anti-government protests that took place in July 2021: “In the largest and most widespread demonstrations in decades, tens of thousands of citizens from all over the country they took to the streets to demand an end to the crackdown and criticize the government’s inability to meet their basic needs and its poor response to COVID-19. The security forces responded with tear gas, beatings and arrests.”
In addition, the fraudulent trials against the demonstrators and the long prison sentences, some of up to 30 years, in hundreds of cases, are denounced; as well as the mandatory exile imposed on some activists.
The Government of the United States collects in its investigation torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of political dissidents, detainees and prisoners by the security forces; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrests and detentions; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; retaliation against family members for crimes allegedly committed by an individual; severe restrictions on freedom of expression and the media, including violence or threats of violence against journalists; serious restrictions on internet freedom; severe restrictions on religious freedom; the lack of investigation and accountability for gender-based violence; and human trafficking, including forced labour.
The document insists that the government officials who committed most of these human rights violations have not been investigated and continue to go unpunished, just as official corruption continues to go unpunished.
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