One NGO Figures 909 People Have Been Convicted Since the July 11th Demonstrations in Cuba

Arrest of protester in Villa Clara, on July 11, 2021. (Captura)

14ymedio biggerEFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 7 June 2023 — Justicia 11J reported on Wednesday that, since the antigovernment demonstrations of July 11, 2021 (11J), a total of 909 people have been tried or convicted in Cuba.

In its May update, the group of activists added that 1,845 people have been arrested for political reasons since those protests, and in 2023 will mark their second anniversary.

Justicia 11J stated that the people arrested are being held in seven prisons spread throughout the country.

The NGO added that since the demonstrations in the summer of 2021 — the most numerous in decades — it has registered another 236 protests, 33 of them so far in 2023.

In its April report, Prisoners Defenders, an NGO based in Madrid, increased the number of political prisoners on the island to 1,048, 35 of whom are minors younger than 18 years of age.

The organization stated that in April, 24 new names were added to the list while 42 others “were removed” after having completed their sentences.

Last year, Cuba’s attorney general reported on the proceedings against 790 people related to 11J, 55 of whom were between 16 and 17 years of age (the minimum age of criminal responsibility in Cuba is 16).

During his visit to the island at the end of may, the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, stated that the European bloc’s delegation and the Cuban government spoke about the “situation created before, during and after” 11J.

In November the European Union’s Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore, will visit Cuba to follow up on the situtation of those sentenced for 11J.

Translated by: Silvia Suárez

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