International • • • 🌿 Progressive

Calle de La Habana al atardecer con peatones de espaldas y una patrulla policial desenfocada al fondo
Una calle habanera al atardecer, con vecinos caminando y presencia policial al fondo. · Imagen generada por EPM

Cuba: 387 repressive actions recorded in October, OCDH reports

The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights recorded at least 387 repressive actions in Cuba in October, with 30 arbitrary detentions, 357 abuses, 145 sieges at…

--- The context --- The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights released its October report on Cuba. According to the report, at least 387 repressive actions were recorded against activists, opponents, independent journalists, religious leaders and political prisoners. --- The facts --- The register distinguishes 30 arbitrary detentions and 357 abuses within the total. The organisation reported that it received 73 complaints made by political prisoners, common prisoners and their relatives. It also counted 145 actions of surveillance and police siege at homes, a practice that, according to the Observatory, sought to restrict the movements of critical people and prevent their participation in public, religious or judicial activities. The provinces with the most complaints were Havana, Matanzas and Villa Clara. The report includes threats, harassment and police summonses. Among those detained were Abdiel Cedeño Martínez and Dairon Yunior Labrada Linares, protesters from 11 July 2021, detained, according to the report, while complying with reporting obligations after their releases. The survey documented at least 63 abuses against political prisoners, with complaints of assaults, threats, isolation in punishment cells, lack of medical care and medicines, restrictions on family contact and arbitrary transfers. On the judicial front, the report documented at least 35 people charged in four proceedings with prosecutorial requests. In Granma, sentences of up to ten years were sought in a case linked to critical videos, private conversations and phone top-ups. In Ciego de Ávila, up to 13 years were sought for 18 people over the protests of 13 March 2026 in Morón. In Bayamo, up to five years were sought against nine citizens over the protest of 23 May 2025. --- The positions --- Yaxys Cires, the Observatory's Director of Strategies, attributed the increase in repression to an intention to force activists to leave the country and to intimidate the population, and to pressure the United States and the European Union, according to the complaint. Cires also held, in attributed indirect terms, that those actions will not resolve the grave structural crisis or the mistrust within the elite itself. The Observatory highlighted the arrest of evangelical pastor Rolando Fidel Pérez Lora on 1 October, when, according to the complaint, he was detained while heading to a court in East Havana to accompany an activist and her mother at a trial. It also noted that Camila Acosta, Yoani Sánchez, Ángel Santiesteban-Prats, Reinaldo Escobar, Berta Soler and Ángel Moya suffered police sieges. --- What remains unknown --- The material does not detail the judicial progress of the four proceedings or the status of those detained in October. Nor does it specify what response the 73 complaints by prisoners and relatives received, or how the medical care claimed will be verified. --- Unanswered questions --- How many of the 30 detentions recorded ended in release, precautionary measures or prison? What follow-up will the at least 63 abuses against political prisoners receive? How will the four proceedings covering at least 35 charged people move forward? Will the sieges at homes, which according to the report totalled 145 actions, be lifted? --- EPM analysis --- The report combines three planes. The first is control on the street and at home, expressed in surveillance and sieges. The second is prison, with complaints of isolation and lack of medical care. The third is the judicial plane, with requests of up to ten years in Granma, up to 13 years in Ciego de Ávila and up to five years in Bayamo. Havana, Matanzas and Villa Clara concentrate the most complaints. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, the figures attributed to the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights describe a pattern that goes beyond isolated incidents and that requires verification, follow-up and effective protection for the people affected. When a report brings together detentions, sieges at homes, abuses in prison and high prosecutorial requests, the central concern is the guarantee of basic rights such as moving freely, expressing oneself, attending a hearing or staying in contact with family. No figure replaces case-by-case checking, but the documented accumulation requires the whole picture to be taken seriously, testimony to be preserved and clear answers to be sought on every complaint recorded during October in Cuba.
📤 Share on Telegram

¿Te gustó este artículo? Recibe cobertura global en tu correo.

Suscríbete gratis / Subscribe free