(EFE).- Renowned artists such as Gloria and Emilio Estefan have put their voices to the international campaign “Free The Children” (“Free the children”) promoted by the Foundation for Human Rights for Cuba (FHRC) in order to achieve the release of minors imprisoned since the protests of July 11, 2021 on the Island.
In a statement released this Wednesday, FHCR invites you to “sign and share” the “Free the Children” petition on the change.org platform, together with testimonies from “mothers who suffer for their imprisoned children” and messages from the Estefans. Among the celebrities who support the campaign is the marriage of Cuban-American musicians, who declare themselves “deeply moved as parents and defenders of the rights of the Cuban people,” according to the statement.
Among the celebrities who support the campaign is the marriage of Cuban-American musicians, who declare themselves “deeply moved as parents and defenders of the rights of the Cuban people.”
Another of the artists who join the “call for the freedom of Cuban minors” is Yotuel Romero, performer and one of the creators of the musical theme Homeland and Life, winner in 2021 of two Latin Grammand, among these, the Best Song of the Year.
There are also the American actor Tony Lo Bianco and the Cuban activist Rosa María Payá, “among other figures of art and politics in Miami and the world,” according to the foundation.
According to FHRC, The Cuban Prosecutor’s Office acknowledged having prosecuted some 55 minorswhom he has accused of the crimes of sedition, attack and public disorder, after participating in the massive demonstrations on July 11, 2021. The age of majority in Cuba is set at 18 years, although the criminal age begins at 16.
These processes, he details, have been carried out “in violation of the provisions of the Penal Code, the Constitution that governs Cuba and the international treaties that protect the rights of children.” In a message released today on Instagram, Gloria Estefan says she has signed the petition so that “the world opens its eyes to the horrors that are happening (in Cuba), to the injustices in Cuban prisons and particularly to these more than 20 minors. age”.
“These children have been given more than 18 years in prison simply for asking for what is owed to them: freedom and food”
“These children have been given more than 18 years in prison simply for asking for what is owed to them: freedom and food,” says the famous singer, visibly affected, who begins by saying: “I come to you as a mother who has her children living in freedom.”
“We are making a letter to be able to be signed by many people, Cubans, who are not Cubans, from many countries, people who love freedom and denounce to the world that condemnation they have made for so many years,” explains Emilio Stefan.
At least 33 people, including six minors, have been tried since last Monday in Cuba in relation to the anti-government protests of July 11 last year, activists reported.
The trial that started this Monday, and will last until next week in the municipal court of Diez de Octubre, in Havana, it is a single common cause for all those investigated, who are accused of an alleged crime of sedition.
The sentences requested by the prosecution range between 13 and 25 years in prison, for minors they are between 13 and 23, and in six cases the request for conviction is greater than the age of the accused.
This is the fourth consecutive week in which criminal proceedings are held in Cuba for these events. In total, since last year’s protests, at least 440 people have been tried, according to the count of the Justice 11J collective and the legal NGO Cubalex.
The sentences requested by the prosecution range between 13 and 25 years in prison, for minors they are between 13 and 23, and in six cases the request for conviction is greater than the age of the defendant.
According to the FHRC’s online petition, “the Cuban State has manipulated the cases of these children to prosecute them as common criminals, a practice that it has developed for decades to hide the presence of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Cuba.”
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