HAVANA.- In Cuba continues the “repression of dissent“, the “obstacles” to the defenders of human rightsand discrimination remains “very widespread,” he denounced International Amnestyin its annual report on the situation of the human rights.
In 2023, “the repression of dissent continued through harassment, persecution and imprisonment of activists, members of the political opposition and journalists,” the report detailed.
Likewise, the NGO denounced that “obstacles were put in place and attacks were made on” human rights defenders, who “in some cases remained in prison without due process,” the report stated in its section on the Caribbean island.
He included that “the humanitarian and economic crisis persists, and there were shortages of food, fuel and electricity.”
Discrimination “very widespread”
For International Amnesty the discrimination in Cuba It affects the Afro-descendant population, women and girls, LGBTI people, political dissidents and members of religious communities.
Regarding the political context, International Amnesty highlighted that Cuba lacks “a national human rights institution in accordance with the Paris Principles.” He added that the island remains closed to international human rights organizations. human rights and that the international media have “impediments from following the trials of dissidents in the political sphere,” he noted.
In November 2023, the European Union (EU) and Cuba They held their fourth dialogue on human rights“in which the EU expressed concern about arrests and long prison sentences related to the July 2021 protests.”
Also, the report indicated that in 2023 a new Penal Code was implemented “that maintained the death penalty, as well as provisions that limited human rights and were used to silence and imprison activists.”
Repression of dissidents
Regarding the repression of dissent, International Amnesty denounced that surveillance and harassment of activists, opponents, journalists and artists remained widespread.
“Arbitrary detention and criminal proceedings without due guarantees continued to be common practices, and those who were deprived of liberty endured harsh prison conditions,” the text noted.
Likewise, he cited studies from the organization Justicia 11J, which said that at least 793 people were still detained in relation to their participation in the protests that occurred on the island on July 11, 2021.
He mentioned that on May 6, 2023, “the government reacted with excessive force to the protest over poor living conditions and the lack of human rights that took place in the municipality of Caimanera, Guantánamo. “Law enforcement agents used physical violence against those participating in the event, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reported the arbitrary detention of at least five protesters and condemned the existence of constant repression.”
Likewise, on May 26, the Cuban legislative body “approved a law on social communication that maintained the ban on privately owned media and established excessive restrictions in relation to public information and the use of the Internet.”
That law, the NGO warned, gave the regime powers “to order telecommunications operators to stop providing their services to those who published information that was considered harmful to public order or morality.”
“José Daniel Ferrer García, a political activist and opposition leader who has been detained since July 2021 – the date on which he had also been subjected to forced disappearance – was held incommunicado while his health deteriorated. At the end of the year, he continued to be deprived of liberty,” the report added.
During 2023, it was common in Cuba “for the police to summon journalists and activists for questioning in relation to their lawful activities.” He cited the case of journalist Yeris Curbelo Aguilera who in May 2023 “was interrogated by state security agents” after having reported on the protests in Caimanera.
Source: With information from martinoticias.com / 14ymedio.com
