, Dec 7 () –
More than 800 people have been imprisoned in Cuba in the last year for political reasons, according to the NGO Prisoners Defenders, which has found an increase in repressive activity as a result of protests called by opposition movements in July and November.
In November 2020 there were 134 “political prisoners”, but by the end of October another 671 had been registered, bringing the total balance for the last year to 805. Prisoners Defenders points out that full verification is “unattainable”, so he fears that the data is only “a small fraction” of the real one.
The organization has warned of the repressive upswing after the July 11 demonstrations, which resulted in more than 1,500 arrests and caused the list of “political prisoners” to include 712 names in November of this year. Of these, 562 belong directly to the repression of July.
The criminal prosecutions include at least 23 minors between the ages of 14 and 17, while the average age of the incarcerated protesters is around 34, a figure that, according to Prisoners, is “well below the demographic profile” of the island.
Among the most significant cases for the organization are those of the leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), José Daniel Ferrer, arrested in July, and that of the playwright Yunior García, who after promoting the November 15 mobilizations fled to Spain. victim of “forced expatriation” to avoid persecution.
Discussion about this post