“The US embargo and its brutal oil blockade are not an excuse to keep critics in jail,” HRW stated in a press release. The NGO stated that no human rights group has managed to identify political prisoners among those individuals whom Cuban authorities have released from prison following the announcement of the release of 2,010 inmates on April 2. HRW highlighted that the Cuban government had already indicated that the measure excluded “crimes against the authorities,” which in the island's legislation includes offenses “that the government has used for decades to attack and arbitrarily prosecute critics.” The Cuban government does not recognize that any prisoner on the island is in jail for political reasons, contrary to what various human rights NGOs claim. In this regard, HRW recalled—citing NGOs such as Justicia 11J and Prisoners Defenders, specialized in the situation on the island—that there are more than 700 political prisoners in Cuba, and several hundred more under house arrest or other restrictions. It also denounced that prisoners released in previous processes described “abuses in Cuban prisons, including beatings, solitary confinement, unsanitary conditions, and lack of access to food and clean water.” Furthermore, the NGO explained that these released individuals remain “under constant surveillance” and with restrictions, in addition to fearing being detained again. Three weeks before the announcement of the release of 2,010 prisoners as a “humanitarian gesture” and “sovereign act,” the Cuban government communicated the release of another 51 inmates after talks with the Vatican. At least 27 of them were recognized by human rights organizations as political prisoners, although among them there were no known opposition members or activists. The Cuban government, which does not publish lists of those who benefit from these measures nor explains in detail the necessary requirements, has not publicly communicated that these two processes have concluded. The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) demanded Cuba release “immediately and unconditionally all political prisoners” after failing to identify any inmate with this profile among those benefited by a recent mass release. “Cuba should immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners. Cubans should be able to express themselves freely, without fear.”
