To promote a peaceful transition to a Cuba that respects human rights
and political and economic freedoms
Cuba ranked as the worst country in the Americas for internet freedom. PEN International calls on Cuba to end harassment of journalists, writers, and artists. CPJ denounces Havana’s efforts to squash independent reporting
Cuba’s communist dictatorship is stepping up its draconian restrictions against Cubans who express themselves freely on the internet, as well as independent journalists in general. This is in the midst of one of the worse ongoing crackdowns in Cuba’s history with 1,113 political prisoners identified.
On October 16, 2024 Freedom House released its 2024 Freedom on the Net report. The report mentions that ” Cuban authorities sentenced a woman to 15 years in prison for sedition and “enemy propaganda” after she shared images of protests on social media, including a video recording of police attacking demonstrators.”
The woman, Mayelín Rodríguez Prado, was 22 years old at the time of her arrest, and mother to a daughter less than a year old. Mayelin was arrested at her home, and held in solitary confinement at a State Security facility, reported Carla Gloria Colomé for EL PAÍS on May 2, 2024.
The Freedom on the Net 2024 regional snapshot found that Cuba was the lowest scoring country in the Americas with 20 out of a possible 100 score, followed by Venezuela 30/100 and Nicaragua 41/100.
On the same day, PEN International, PEN Cuba Writers in Exile, and the Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) jointly condemned a fresh round of attacks on independent voices. In recent weeks, journalists, artists, and authors have protested arbitrary arrests, intimidation, and threats by authorities, pointing to a trend of suppression as new laws restrict free expression. They called for an end to the harassment of journalists, writers, and artists, and highlighted left wing critics targeted and harassed by agents of the Cuban dictatorship.
Writer and academic Alina Bárbara López Hernández was kicked out of the official government union, the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), for a post on social media. Four others were subjected to harassment and are highlighted in the PEN International report.
Felix Navarro is a member of the Frankfurt based International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) board of directors. He has been arbitrarily jailed since July 12, 2021. Sayli Navarro became a Lady in White, together with her mom. campaigning for her dad’s release following his arrest in the Spring of 2003.
Sayli was also detained on July 12, 2021, but was released hours later, and had been staying with her mother, who is in poor health. She has also spoken out against her father’s arbitrary imprisonment. Sayli was taken, with her hands and feet chained, to prison on April 18, 2022.
On March 18, 2023, a recording was released of Sayli stating that state security is pressuring her to go into exile in order to get out of prison, and that she rejected their offer. They are also members of the Cuba Decide campaign.
3. Yandier García Labrada
Yandier García Labrada serving an unjust five year prison sentence.
“On October 6, 2020, my brother was detained for claiming his rights in a queue (line to obtain food and basic necessities). A repressor pushed him and assaulted him, and then more State Security agents arrived and called the police. He was shouting ‘Down with the dictatorship’,” Iran Almaguer Labrada says.
Yandier García Labrada is serving a five-year sentence for the crimes of contempt for authority and propagation of epidemics. Since the beginning of his imprisonment, he has been transferred to various prisons and has suffered isolation, transfers to punishment cells, denial of medical attention, and restrictions on communication with his family members.
Since January 19, 2023, he has been held in the Guabineyón 8 correctional work center in the province of Las Tunas. The prison authorities have denied him the benefits of home visits and parole, even though he meets the regulatory requirements.
5. Maykel “Osorbo” Castillo Pérez
Zoila Rodríguez Marzo and her children Katia, Exen together with their father Fredi Beirut. Foto © Facebook/Zoila Rodríguez
Court in Havana confirmed the 20-year prison sentence for Katia Beirut (age 36) and her father Fredy Beirut for their participation in public protests in La Güinera on July 12, 2021. Katia and her father took to the streets to protest the arrest of Exen Beirut, Katia’s brother and Fredy’s son, which occurred in the city of Guantanamo on July 11, 2021. Exen’s prosecutor’s request is for 7 years of prison and It will be confirmed on December 29 by the Guantánamo prosecutor’s office.
“My children just went out to the streets and demonstrated peacefully. There is no proof that my kids have thrown a rock or done anything wrong. I think there is no reason for a people to go out onto the streets and say ‘Homeland and Life’ or we want a change […] there are no reasons for these people to be sentenced for that many years. That is unfair, what was seen in that trial is unfair. It was a theater. There they read a paper. Those people who were reading that paper were shaking, their hands were shaking, it was clear that they did not want to read it. Those people did not want to read that paper, you could see that they felt bad because they knew that they were committing an injustice to all those people who were there, ”Zoila Rodríguez Marzo, mother of the Beirut siblings, reported from Havana through an interview conducted by Palenque Vision and published by Cubanet. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE91ArgqeiA)
The trial of Katia and her father Fredy Beirut began on December 20th and the sentence was handed down on December 23rd by the Havana prosecutor’s office.
According to Zoila Rodríguez, her relatives were tried along with 17 other Cubans implicated in the massive July demonstrations. “My family, like all the others, collapsed. Those children who go to school, how, in what way can they force those children to say “Homeland or Death”, how are they going to say “Homeland or Death”, if these children do not know how to explain that their mother has to serve a 20-year sanction . […] That is why I ask the world, all the institutions, I ask the UN, human rights, I ask everyone, please cooperate with us, help us. […] Please, there are many mothers crying, there are many families suffering ”, added Zoila Rodríguez.
Brothers Frandy González, Santiago Vázquez and José Antonio Gómez are political prisoners
Victim of brutal attack in prison
On December 1, 2023 his family alerted the international community over social media that Luis was the victim of a brutal attack on November 30. 2023 by common prisoners. His daughter Janie Frometa posted the following message on Facebook in Spanish and Germantranslated here to English: “We just received news from Cuba that dad was brutally beaten by other prisoners, they even held him down so he couldn’t defend himself. Two of Dad’s jailed friends called and informed our family. Unfortunately, we don’t know anything else. Please share this message to highlight the brutality in the prisons.”
Brizaida Abad Igarza, wife of Frómeta Compte, from the Combinado del Este, in Havana, released a video on Facebook with Luis’s sister, Ramona Frómeta Compte, in which they express concern for not knowing his health status after the attack.
Janie Frómeta, in German on Facebook denounced the physical assault against her dad, and called for German authorities to intervene in the case, to ensure that her father returns to Europe. Through tears, she asks for the freedom of all Cuban political prisoners.
On December 2, 2023 over X she gave an update on her father’s plight. Brizaida Abad Igarza, wife of Frómeta Compte and Luis’s sister, Ramona Frómeta Compte are still at the Combinado del Este prison waiting to see Luis Frómeta Compte in person, and ascertain what condition he is in. “My family continues at the Combinado del Este. They continue waiting to see our father in person. They will not return home until they see my father in person. Right now they need all your support. Therefore I ask you to share this video. Please share this video. Thank you.”
Eventually it was learned that Luis had suffered serious injuries, including a fractured nasal septum.
“Donaida Pérez Paseiro:: “My husband, Loreto Hernández García, is dying in prison”
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