The organization Prisoners Defenders submitted a report to the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
14ymedio, Havana, October 15, 2024 — The organization Prisoners Defenders (PD) has once again brought the human rights situation in Cuba before the UN. In the 89th session of the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) this Monday, they presented two reports: one on femicides on the Island and the other on the conditions suffered by women political prisoners.
From Geneva, where other civil society organizations and some affiliated with the regime also met, Javier Larrondo, president of the PD, said that there is a “dark figure” in the number of femicides on the Island, which doubles the official count.
“While the Cuban Government claims that they do not have a problem of femicide, civil society organizations verify almost 100 femicides a year, ten times the rate in Spain. Documents from the State itself lead to the conclusion that the real figure could be double,” Larrondo said during his speech at the CEDAW session.
A report made by PD in conjunction with the Alas Tensas Gender Observatory presented to CEDAW, entitled “The Reality of the Current Femicide Crisis in Cuba,” says that on average 195 women are killed annually because of “intra-family” or “passional extra-family” violence, euphemisms with which the regime tries to hide the real number of femicides. This comes after an investigation based on deductive work that uses international official sources in addition to official data from the regime in its crusade to hide the truth.
“While the Government claims that they do not have a problem of femicide, civil society organizations verify almost 100 femicides a year, ten times the rate of Spain”
“Everything points not only to hiding the real number of femicides in Cuba, made evident by the work of independent NGOs, but also to the fact that we are facing a problem of critical magnitude, which has been going on for years in Cuba, at least since 2019,” reads the document.
If the situation of women on the Island is overshadowed by silence or insufficient data, that of women prisoners is deplorable, especially those who suffer from an illness. In addition to the usual harassment to which the regime subjects dissidents, Prisoners Defenders explains, they must endure a whole series of humiliations just because of their gender.
For prisoners of conscience in Cuba, the days go by very slowly, because in addition to the usual harassment to which the regime subjects its detractors, they also have to endure extra humiliations because of their gender, as documented by the Prisoners Defenders organization in a study. In addition, the physical and sanitary conditions for women in Cuban prisons are deplorable and unhealthy, especially for those who suffer from a chronic disease or are about to give birth.
According to Prisoners Defenders records, the provinces with the most women prisoners of conscience in Cuba are Havana (25.21%), Matanzas (15.97%) and Mayabeque (12.61%), followed by Artemisa (9.24%), Camagüey (7.56%) and Santiago de Cuba (7.56%). The current ages of the 119 political prisoners range from 20 to 67 years.
The figure of 119 political prisoners that PD has documented includes women who were arrested as minors and trans women. All trans women have been and are imprisoned among men, suffering horrible situations of abuse, including rapes by other inmates.
The NGO estimates that up to 70.59% of political prisoners suffer from systematic deprivation of medical care
Once locked up in an unhealthy cell, women are victims of physical, psychological and sexual abuse. If they require a doctor, they must get used to the idea that they will not receive adequate care, much less obtain the necessary medications to cure themselves or at least make their condition more bearable, says Prisoners Defenders in a report entitled “The Reality of Human Rights Violations for Women of Conscience in Prisons in Cuba.”
The NGO estimates that up to 70.59% of political prisoners suffer from systematic deprivation of medical care. Specifically, it has managed to document 31 prisoners of conscience who suffer from serious diseases such as pneumonia, epilepsy, asthma, diabetes, hypertension and some psychological disorders, mainly linked to depression and suicide attempts.
Among the mistreatment documented by PD for political prisoners, the deprivation of any type of communication with family, defense attorneys and relatives stands out at 94.12 percent. Other forms include verbal abuse (88.24%), torture (70.59%) and physical aggression (58.82%).
Translated by Regina Anavy
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