HAVANA- The United Nations (UN) recently accused the Cuban regime of “serious systemic violations of due process” on the island, as reported this Monday by the NGO Prisoners Defenders (PD).
Prisoners Defenders filed a complaint on the issue in July 2023 before the global entity, which led to an accusatory letter signed by six UN rapporteurs. “The United Nations fosters hope for the release of political prisoners in Cuba,” says the NGO.
The organization’s report highlights the lack of independent lawyers in Cuba, the deprivation of liberty without judicial protection, the dependence of prosecutors and judges on political power, the use of State experts and witnesses as the only source of accusation, the criminalization of the exercise of fundamental rights, military courts and summary cases.
Prisoners Defenders maintains that the Cuban regime systematically violates due process to violate “the rights of all those it considers disaffected to the revolution, whether or not they are human rights activists, whether or not they are protesters.” This situation affects all criminal cases in Cuba, in particular the more than 1,500 political prisoners documented by PD since 2021.
The signatories of the UN letter noted that “the information received is sufficiently reliable to indicate that there is an issue that warrants immediate attention.”
Javier Larrondo, president of Prisoners Defenders, expressed “the commitment to continue working to eradicate the procedural framework of violation of the rights of all those prosecuted, convicted and political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Cuba.”
The UN statement added that the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions could refer a mass case through its ordinary procedure to rule on whether the deprivations of liberty were arbitrary or not. “The regime is obliged to respond separately to the letter of allegation and the ordinary procedure,” the letter indicated.
Despite the explicit condemnation of the rapporteurs, there is no record on the UN website that the Cuban regime has responded within 60 days, which suggests that such a response has not occurred.
Source: With information from Diario de Cuba
