The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) asked Cuba to avoid “unfair trials” of those who participate in social protests, after expressing its “concern” for sentences of up to 30 years in prison for those who attended last July's demonstrations on the island.
The IACHR, an organ of the OAS, “expresses concern over the first instance conviction of 128 people who participated in protests on July 11,” with sentences ranging from four to 30 years in prison that were announced on March 16, he said Monday on Twitter.
“It is the obligation of the State to take necessary measures to prevent those who legitimately claim their rights through social protest from being subjected to unfair or unfounded trials,” he added, urging Cuba to “guarantee due process,” including “the right to appeal to the judgment before a higher court.”
On Tuesday, Stuardo Ralón, one of the seven commissioners of the IACHR and responsible for monitoring Cuba, condemned the rulings.
“As the IACHR's rapporteur for Cuba, I express my condemnation of the disproportionate penalties that have been imposed on citizens on the island for exercising their right to demonstrate and demand freedoms and democracy,” he said on Twitter.
The IACHR had already issued a wake-up call to Cuba on February 16, in a statement in which it also expressed its “concern” for people still detained for participating in the July protests, which numbered more than 700, and demanded that Cuba be released.
Massive demonstrations took place on July 11 and 12, 2021 throughout Cuba, where the Castro revolution of 1959 established a one-party regime, the Communist. According to the Miami-based Human Rights Defense Office Cubalex, the protests left one dead, dozens injured and 1,377 arrested.
On March 16, the Supreme People's Court (TSP) of Cuba, the island's highest judicial authority, reported on 129 people prosecuted for demonstrations in two neighborhoods of Havana. Of the 128 found guilty, two were sentenced to 30 years in prison and dozens, to more than 20 years and more than 10 years. They're still eligible to appeal.
Cuba was suspended from the OAS in 1962 but that sanction was lifted in 2009. So far, Havana has not asked for its reintegration into the regional bloc, for which it should sign the Inter-American Democratic Charter. The IACHR states that its competence to monitor respect for human rights throughout the continent includes Cuba.
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