The IACHR asked the Cuban authorities to adopt measures to protect the life, integrity and health of both beneficiaries.
MIAMI, United States. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and granted precautionary measures in favor of the Cuban political prisoner Duannis Dabel León Taboada and his mother, Yenisey Taboada Ortíz, considering that both are in a situation of “seriousness and urgency” and that their rights to life, personal integrity and health are at risk of “irreparable harm.”
The decision responds to a request submitted on November 13, 2025 by the Cultural Rights Observatory. The IACHR explained that it requested information from the Cuban State on January 9, but that Havana did not respond.
In your Resolution 5/2026the IACHR asked the Cuban authorities to adopt measures to protect the life, integrity and health of both beneficiaries; ensure detention conditions compatible with international standards; carry out “immediately a comprehensive medical assessment” of León Taboada’s physical and mental health and guarantee timely care and treatment, with results reported to family members and representatives; guarantee that the prisoner is not subject to “violence, threats, intimidation and attacks” within the prison; and apply measures, “with a gender focus,” so that the mother can carry out her work in defense of human rights without “threats” or “harassment.”
The Commission also requested that the measures be agreed upon with the beneficiaries and their representatives and that Cuba report on investigative actions to avoid repetition of the events.
León Taboada, 27 years old, participated in the historic protests of July 11, 2021 (11J). He was arrested on July 16 and taken to the 100 and Aldabó detention center, where he remained for three weeks without his family knowing his whereabouts. On May 27, 2022, the Supreme People’s Court sentenced him to 14 years in prison for sedition. Later, he was transferred to the Combinado del Este, where he remains.
The resolution summarizes complaints of beatings, punishments and alleged torture practices. Among the alleged facts, the IACHR mentions that, after a hunger and thirst strike that began in May 2022, León Taboada would have remained in a punishment cell for around six months; and that in July 2022 he would have been beaten by more than 10 guards.
It also states that, in October 2022, after trying to demonstrate wearing a T-shirt with the word “freedom”, he was allegedly beaten and returned to the punishment cell, with the application of a method described in the application as “the wheelbarrow”, which “would consist of handcuffing the person with his hands behind his back and tying them to his feet” and throwing him down the stairs, which would have dislocated his collarbone.
In April 2023, according to the document, officers allegedly removed the prisoner from a family visit and made threats against his mother linked to public complaints about the prison. The IACHR points out that, that month, State Security agents interrogated him with the aim of pressuring him to convince his mother to leave the country, with threats of incriminating her in a common crime to imprison her and insinuations of physical harm.
The text also alludes to an episode from October 2024, in which León Taboada would have protested the lack of medical care for recent detainees who arrived at the prison during a national blackout. In response, according to the resolution, he received a beating, pepper spray, and blows to his torso, arms, and legs. The document states that, “according to the mother’s testimony, from that day on he began to experience loss of vision in his left eye” and that he had not been evaluated by an ophthalmologist despite requests. The IACHR adds that, upon learning of these facts, the mother “suffered cerebral ischemia.”
The IACHR also indicates that in April 2025 a cellmate died suddenly and that the prisoner suffered a “strong emotional impact” and a picture of “severe depression,” without the prison providing him with psychological care, according to the request. Later, on July 18, he reportedly began a hunger strike that lasted 12 days due to “physical and psychological violence.” Meanwhile, the young man’s mother was detained the same month “allegedly in an arbitrary and violent manner”, taken to a police station and subjected to interrogations and threats when she tried to see him and confirm his state of health.
After the end of the strike, the IACHR states that León Taboada was left “weakened and extremely thin” and that a guard hit him when he placed the mattress on the floor due to the lack of a board for the bunk bed. In response to the family claim, the officials would have said that “it had been a mistake and would not be repeated,” but the request maintained that the violence continued and that the prisoner was placed under a stricter regime, with limited outings, reduced calls and “extreme surveillance.”
The resolution also describes detention conditions that the requesting party described as precarious: overcrowding with more than 30 inmates, recurrent outbreaks of scabies, bedbugs and diseases, poor ventilation, high humidity, lack of adequate access to sunlight, toilets such as “holes in the floor”, limited drinking water and “poor and poor quality” food. In a visit on December 6, 2025, the prisoner reportedly said that he could not distinguish “figures, letters or numbers” with his left eye and that he only saw spots.
The IACHR also highlights that the prisoner has pre-existing diseases, including chronic arterial hypertension, polycythemia and congenital kidney conditions, and that, according to the request, he does not receive the corresponding treatment or the required specialized studies, such as ophthalmology, nephrology, cardiology and hematology evaluations. On a psychological level, the document indicates episodes of “anguish, depression and confusion” and adds that, in the last reported month, the prisoner stopped calling to “avoid problems,” which, in the opinion of the requesting party, could reflect fear of retaliation.
Regarding Yenisey Taboada Ortiz, the IACHR expressed “special concern” considering that she faces harassment and threats for her reporting and defense work, and concluded that both are “totally defenseless and unprotected” as long as the risks described persist.
The IACHR indicates that at least 543 people remain deprived of liberty due to their participation in protests, with 360 linked to July 2021 and 183 to subsequent demonstrations. It also states that 101 received sentences of between 10 and 22 years, in addition to complaints about trials without due guarantees, restrictions on prison benefits, limitations on family contact and inhumane prison conditions.
