The Cuban government announced on Thursday that it has approved the pardon of 2,010 prisoners, a decision it described as a 'gesture of humanitarian and sovereign solidarity' and framed in the context of Holy Week celebrations. 'This humanitarian and sovereign gesture stemmed from a careful analysis of the characteristics of the acts committed by the sanctioned, their good conduct in prison, having served a significant part of their sentence, and their state of health,' stated the official government communiqué released by state media. It indicated that among the more than 2,000 prisoners included in this pardon are 'young people, women, adults over 60 years of age, those who are scheduled for early release in the last half of this year and next year; as well as foreigners and Cuban residents abroad.' It also noted that the list of pardoned individuals excluded those who 'committed crimes of sexual assault, violent pedophilia, murder, homicide, drug trafficking, theft and cattle rustling, robbery with violence or force using weapons or with minor victims, corruption of minors, crimes against authority, recidivists and multiple recidivists, and some who had previously benefited from a pardon and committed new crimes.' Likewise, it emphasizes that this is 'the fifth pardon carried out by the Cuban government since 2011, benefiting more than 11,000 people.' 'This is the second release of deprived liberty persons so far this year, in the context of the religious celebrations of Holy Week, which constitutes a usual practice in our criminal justice system and the humanitarian trajectory of the Revolution,' it added. On March 12, the Havana Executive reported the release of 51 prisoners, who, according to the explanation, had 'served a significant part of the sentence and maintained good conduct in prison' and framed that decision in 'the spirit of goodwill, of close and fluid relations between the Cuban State and the Vatican.' Since then, 24 political prisoners have been released as part of that process, according to the NGO Prisoners Defenders (PD). Most of those released so far participated in the antigovernment protests of July 11 and were serving sentences of between six and 18 years in prison for crimes such as public disorder, contempt, assault, and sedition. The first releases in this process coincided with the Cuban government's announcement that it had begun a dialogue with representatives of the US Administration, although Havana has at no time related both issues.
