MIAMI, United States. – The non-governmental organization Prisoners Defenders reported this Monday that at the end of August 2024 there were 1,105 political prisoners in Cuba, 14 fewer than the previous month.
In your monthly reportThe Madrid-based NGO noted that two new prisoners were added for political reasons, while 16 were removed from the list due to suicide, forced expatriation or having fully served their sentences.
In the statement, the organization highlighted the “horrible situation that prisoners live in, starving, sick, without medical care and tortured.” It also warned about the “hell” suffered by at least 62 prisoners with mental health disorders, who do not receive psychiatric care or medication and are often victims of abuse.
According to the report, lack of medical care, malnutrition and the absence of medicines are “factors of habitual torture” for political prisoners on the island.
Prisoners Defenders also revealed that 329 of the 1,105 prisoners suffer from “serious pathologies that put their lives at risk,” including diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, hepatitis B, malnutrition, anemia and cancer, among others.
The NGO also denounced that 30 minors remain in prison for political reasons, of which 28 have already been convicted and two are being prosecuted under precautionary measures without judicial protection.
On the other hand, the report highlighted the “discriminatory and abusive” treatment they suffer. The 117 women on the list of prisoners for political reasonsSince the anti-government protests in July 2021, “Cuba has held a total of 1,583 political prisoners in its jails,” the statement concludes.
