Prisoners Defenders denounces that the released prisoners were banned from giving interviews or contacting human rights NGOs

14ymedio, Havana, 4 February 2025 — Prisoners Defenders (PD) confirmed on Tuesday a total of 200 political prisoners among the 553 released by the Cuban government through an alleged agreement with the Vatican. Of these, the organization said that at least 94% already had the right to parole, to an open regimen or even to immediate freedom. All this then, says PD, has been nothing more than “a macabre game of the regime.”
In a statement published on Tuesday, when the NGO counted 198 political prisoners released from prison, they said that 31 (15.66%) of the 198 “had already served their sentences but were still imprisoned”; two others (1.01%) would complete their sentences in four months or less, and 57 (28.79%) still had between six and 18 months left to serve. Another 67 (33.84%) had between 18 and 42 months left.
“Only 12 of the total number of political prisoners released in Cuba (6.06%) had sentences of up to 15 years, and their release can be considered a ’measure of grace’,” said the organization.
Those released, in most cases, “are obliged to perform forced labor assigned by State Security.”
Therefore, Prisoners Defenders stressed, the releases are not a real liberation. The prisoners are now in “home detention,” under draconian conditions. These restrictions include “the prohibition of leaving their city of residence, expressing themselves on social networks, giving interviews or contacting human rights organizations.”
Those released, in most cases, “are obliged to perform forced labor assigned by State Security.” The objective is to keep opponents in a state of constant surveillance and fear, preventing them from resuming their political activity or denouncing human rights violations.
The NGO also criticized the lack of transparency in the process, since many families of the inmates were not informed in advance. On the other hand, the figure of 553 released prisoners that the Government of Cuba publicized includes common criminals, without their proportion having been clarified.
As part of this “fraud,” PD adds, the regime leaked names of people who were never in prison, with no other intention than to confuse public opinion and divert attention.
It was Javier Larrondo himself, president of Prisoners Defenders, who told this newspaper on Tuesday that they had reached the figure of 200 confirmed political prisoners. It was the number he had already estimated for 14ymedio on January 23, when he emphasized that the total number of released prisoners that the regime had given was “very symbolic,” because it was the same one given by both his organization and included the imprisoned demonstrators from the Island-wide 11 July 2021 protests. “What they have done is, subliminally, let us deceive ourselves into thinking that they are all 11J prisoners.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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