The regime disappeared and arbitrarily imprisoned the artist, the commission noted in a resolution.
14ymedio, Havana, June 23, 2026 — The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) [‘CIDH’ in Spanish] demanded that the Cuban government overturn the nine-year prison sentence of artist and political prisoner Maykel Castillo Osorbo, investigate his enforced disappearance for 14 days, and reform the laws that punish protest and dissent. Based on a complaint filed by the organization Prisoners Defenders (PD) in 2021, the Commission concluded that the regime violated the activist’s rights to liberty, integrity, artistic expression, assembly, association, justice, and due process.
In a statement released this Tuesday, PD celebrated the ruling outlined in Report No. 78/26 and noted that the IACHR resolved that the arrest of the co-founder of the San Isidro Movement on May 18, 2021, was illegal. “Maykel Osorbo was not committing a crime, he was not caught in the act, there was no record of an arrest warrant, there was no proven risk of flight, and pretrial detention had not even been ordered yet. He was arrested while having lunch.”
Furthermore, the Commission emphasized that “one of the most serious aspects of the resolution is the enforced disappearance” suffered by the artist. The IACHR concluded that between May 18 and 31, 2021, Maykel Osorbo’s whereabouts remained unknown. “During those 14 days, friends, family members, and advocates sought information at police stations and state agencies without obtaining any real answers.” According to the Commission, by failing to provide precise information about his whereabouts, “the State effectively refused to reveal his location. This, coupled with the fact that the detention was carried out by state agents, constitutes enforced disappearance.”
“During those 14 days, relatives, family members, and advocates sought information at police stations and state agencies without obtaining a real answer.”
The organization also stated that the artist’s subsequent pretrial detention was arbitrary. “The Cuban Prosecutor’s Office upheld the deprivation of liberty without justifying a risk of flight or obstruction of justice, and even refused to replace it with a non-detention measure, despite acknowledging that there was no danger of Maykel leaving Havana, in violation of his personal liberty and the presumption of innocence.”
The IACHR also indicated that the criminal proceedings “were a series of violations.” Castillo was unable to adequately meet with his lawyer during a decisive stage. In addition, his imprisonment far from Havana hampered his defense, his lawyer was disbarred three days before the trial, and another lawyer had to assume representation without sufficient preparation time. The commission also noted that the trial was held behind closed doors, preventing access for diplomats and citizens. Therefore, the IACHR concluded that the Cuban government “failed to guarantee due process or an effective defense for Osorbo,” who was sentenced in May 2022 for “contempt, public disorder, and attacks and defamation of institutions, organizations, heroes, and martyrs.”
Prisoners Defenders emphasized that the commission upheld the core of its complaint: the co-author and performer of ” Patria y Vida,” a song that won two Latin Grammys, was not imprisoned for committing crimes, but for exercising his rights. Therefore, the Madrid-based organization asserted that “the nine-year sentence is legally illegitimate,” as the commission concluded that it resulted from a process lacking due process and that it criminally punished conduct protected by human rights.
The organization demanded that the regime, in addition to overturning the conviction, fully repair the declared violations.
Finally, the organization demanded that the regime, in addition to overturning the sentence, fully repair the declared violations, as well as guarantee physical and mental health care for Osorbo , his daughter – who has been prevented from visiting the rapper in prison – and his partner Anamely Ramos.
In addition, he urged a “diligent and effective” criminal investigation into the enforced disappearance he suffered in 2021; he called for accountability of the officials involved and for them to refrain from arresting, prosecuting, or convicting the musician again for his activities.
He also called for guarantees that such a case would not be repeated, reform of pretrial detention, ensuring real access to defense, repealing the crime of contempt, modifying the crime of public disorder so that it is not used against protest, and refraining from using the crime of assault or other criminal offenses to persecute dissidents, artists, and human rights defenders.
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