Cuba announced on Monday, March 10, that 553 prisoners had been released, as the country engaged there in mid-January following the decision of ex-President Joe Biden to withdraw the island from the list of countries supporting terrorism.
“In January, 378 requests [de remises en liberté] were submitted in court and in February, 175 requests, which made a total of 553 people (…) The process has successfully ended “said on state television the vice-president of the Supreme Court, Maricela Soza Ravelo. However, the list of people concerned was not made public.
The Cuban government had announced on January 14 its intention to gradually release 553 prisoners sentenced to “Various crimes” Within the framework of an agreement concluded with the Vatican, and just after the withdrawal of the island from the American list of countries supporting terrorism by President Joe Biden (2021-2025).
The release had started the next day, but had been interrupted on January 21 after Donald Trump revised the decision of his predecessor. They had then repeatedly resumed, according to several human rights organizations.
The Cuban authorities have never made a list of prisoners – politicians or ordinary law – having to be released, nor a calendar.
The vice-president of the court also recalled that these were conditional releases which could be “Revived” and that liberated people had to “Maintain social behavior in accordance with our socialist standards of living together” during their probationary period.
For its part, the Todos platform, bringing together several human rights NGOs, hitherto recorded 212 releases from political prisoners, mainly concerning Cubans who participated in the antigensal demonstrations of July 11, 2021. Thousands of people had then descended in the streets of the island to demand more freedom and better living conditions.
Demonstrators sentenced to sentences up to twenty-five years in prison
Among the people freed since mid-January are the historic dissidents José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro, declared “Prisoners of opinion” by Amnesty International. On the other hand, the dissident artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara and Maykel Osorbo, also declared “Prisoners of opinion” By Amnesty, and sentenced respectively to five and seven years in prison, were not released.
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Rewarded in 2024 by the Norwegian RAFTO RAGTO RIGHT RIGHTY, the performer Otero Alcantara was sentenced to insulting the symbols of the fatherland, contempt and public disorder, crimes prior to July 11, 2021.
Maykel Osorbo, song co -author Patria y vida (“Fatherland and life”), which has become a symbol of antigenish manifestations in Cuba, was arrested in May 2021 and sentenced to public order disorder, courts and aggression.
On X, the NGO Justicia 11 days, based outside the island, expressed Monday evening of its ” concern “ and demanded from “Transparency” from the Cuban authorities. “The testimonies received suggest that the number of common law prisoners released is higher” that that of political prisoners, said Justicia 11 days, which urges “International actors and human rights organizations to act urgently and to demand from the Cuban state the official list of beneficiaries”. She notably claims “Clear information on the selection criteria and compliance with the commitments made to the international community”.
According to official figures, around 500 demonstrators of July 11, 2021 were sentenced, sometimes to sentences up to twenty-five years in prison. Some of these demonstrators were released after serving their sorrows.
Human rights organizations and the United States Embassy on the island consider the total number of political prisoners in Cuba to a thousand. The Cuban government denies the existence of political prisoners and accuses opponents of being “Mercenaries” in the balance of the United States.