The Latin American affiliate of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) expressed its concern on Friday about the “alleged cases of detentions of children reported in Cuba” after the peaceful protests that took place on the island on May 11. July.
“We call on the Cuban authorities to provide additional verified information on children allegedly in this situation,” they added in a text posted on their Twitter account.
The statement is the first that this UN agency makes publicly and comes after multiple claims by independent Cuban civil society.
The Justice 11J platform reminded that entity, among others, of some specific cases such as those of 16-year-old Brayan Piloto Pupo, with a prosecutor’s request for 16 years of deprivation of liberty for the crime of sedition; Alexander Morejón Hernández, 17, also accused of the crime of sedition; and Jonathan Torres Farrat, also 17, who is being prosecuted for public disorder.
The Cuban authorities have denied the incarceration of minors for the 11J demonstrations, but independent activists and organizations keep detailed records of the cases and have documented each of the requests for deprivation of liberty and sentences.
In the case of Justice 11J, it has already denounced the detention of 45 minors under 18 years of age, of which it has been able to verify 43. Its list includes 29 detained minors who have been released, exonerated, fined or are pending sentence, while Amanda Hernández Celaya, Gabriela Zequeira and Katherine Martín, all 17 years old, were processed in summary trials.
They point to the case of Hernández Celaya, who was the only acquitted, while the other two adolescents were sentenced to one year of deprivation of liberty
They point to the case of Hernández Celaya, who was the only acquitted, while the other two adolescents were sentenced to one year of deprivation of liberty, a measure that was replaced by correctional work after an appeal was made.
The registry shows that 15 minors are still detained and that nine have been released. One of them, Kendry Miranda Cárdenas, 17, has a prosecutor’s request for 20 years of deprivation of liberty and is accused of sedition and theft.
The Justice 11J group asked for solidarity with the defendants of that day of protests in a petition that is promoted on the Change platform “for the freedom of the 11J protesters” and which points to the cases of minors arrested.
The most recent example of an arrest of this type at the hands of the Cuban authorities occurred this week when, before the call for the Civic March for Change in Cuba of 15N, the repression reached the 15-year-old boy Reniel Rodríguez, after having called for a protest in Cárdenas, Matanzas, and having gone out on the streets dressed in white on that day.
Rodríguez was transferred to a juvenile detention center and there he was detained for two days until the intense campaign that was unleashed on social networks managed to release him from the authorities.
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