An Ocac report reveals that suicide is the leading cause of death, with 33 cases, and warns of sentences of up to ten years for those who survive an attempt
14ymedio, Madrid, July 20, 2026 / At least 97 young people have died while performing Active Military Service (SMA) in Cuba between 2001 and 2026. The figure appears in a report from the Cuban Citizen Audit Observatory (Ocac) – an independent entity run by the think tank Cuba Siglo 21 – which also concludes that suicide is the leading cause of death among recruits and warns of an increasingly restrictive system, with little transparency and no mechanisms for accountability when a tragedy occurs.
According to the report published this Monday, drawn from a registry of cases verified by Archivo Cuba and independently cross-checked, of the 97 deaths of young recruits, 33 correspond to suicides, or 34% of the total. The report also notes an increase in reported suicides in recent years and highlights that 2025 was the year with the most cases: 22 – although the authors note that this increase may also reflect a greater ability to document and publicize these events.
The study stresses that these figures represent a documented minimum. The organization notes that the Cuban state does not publish official statistics on deaths during military service and states that there are dozens of additional cases still pending verification. Victims’ families frequently report contradictory official accounts, difficulties accessing forensic reports, and a lack of independent investigations that would reveal what actually happened.
The report also notes an increase in reported suicides in recent years and highlights that 2025 was the year with the most cases: 22
Of the 97 deaths reported since 2001, the report attributes 25 to “serious negligence,” 22 to accidents, six to lack of medical care, six to killings, two to disappearances, and in three other cases the cause of death could not be determined. In the 63 cases where age could be confirmed, the average is 18.7 years, and seven of the deceased were under 18.
Ocac also charges that, rather than seeking solutions to this alarming situation, Cuban law has toughened penalties against those who try to avoid military service. The law keeps service mandatory for men from age 17, requires registration starting at age 16, and expressly denies the right to conscientious objection. The Military Penal Code, passed in 2023, stiffened penalties for those who attempt to evade military service, with sentences of up to five years in prison, and also punishes self-harm, feigning illness, or falsifying medical documents to obtain a discharge.
The report further states that the Military Prosecutor’s Office can treat a suicide attempt as an act of desertion, with sentences exceeding ten years in prison for those who survive.
Testimonies gathered by the researchers describe extreme methods used to try to leave military service: self-inflicted wounds with weapons, swallowing sharp objects, machete wounds to the ankles and knees, or deliberately caused fractures. Several former recruits said that, for many young people, self-harm ends up being the only way out of a system they describe as oppressive and degrading. When that path doesn’t work either, the report adds, some come to see suicide as the only way out.
The Military Prosecutor’s Office can treat a suicide attempt as an act of desertion, with sentences exceeding ten years in prison for those who survive
The document argues that Cuba’s legal framework conflicts with several international commitments taken on by Havana, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and International Labour Organization conventions, by allowing the enlistment of minors under 18 and the use of recruits for agricultural, construction, or guard duties that, according to the authors, go beyond the strictly military nature of the service.
Ocac also warns of repeated reports of young people sent into military service despite suffering from psychological problems or illnesses incompatible with handling weapons. As an example, it cites the case of Dailier Rodríguez Tamayo, a 19-year-old who died in March of this year at a military unit in El Cotorro, Havana. The recruit had a ruling from the Naval Hospital advising against his carrying weapons due to his mental health, but he remained assigned to the unit regardless.
Another point the report highlights is the opacity surrounding recruits’ deaths, as in the case reported by Mercedes Roque, mother of Antonio Alejandro Rossi Roque, another young man who died during military service under circumstances that have still not been clarified. The woman blamed the unit’s commanders and said that “they all keep covering for each other,” while she continues to wait for a convincing explanation of her son’s death.
The absence of independent investigations and the lack of oversight mechanisms have allowed these events to be repeated for decades
The report also recalls two of the best-known tragedies of recent years: the deaths of four recruits in the fire at the Matanzas Supertanker Base in August 2022, and the explosion at a military warehouse in Melones, Holguín, in January 2025, which killed nine young people performing military service along with four officers.
The authors contrast the evolution of military service on the island with that of other Latin American countries, where mandatory conscription has been reduced or eliminated in recent decades. Cuba has gone the opposite way, strengthening criminal penalties and maintaining one of the most rigid recruitment systems in the region. The report concludes that the problem extends beyond the military sphere and also affects the rights of young people and their families. In its view, the lack of transparency, the absence of independent investigations, and the lack of oversight mechanisms have caused these events to repeat for decades without any fundamental change to the system.
Translated by GH.
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