IACHR expresses concern over actions of the Cuban regime against the right to protest

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed its concern about the violations of due process and the disproportionate penalties denounced by social organizations in Cuba and pointed out that their mission is to discourage the right to protest.

As part of its 181st regular period of sessions, which began this Thursday, the Commission hosted a public hearing dedicated to the “human rights situation in the context of the protest in Cuba,” in which different civil organizations participated and no representative of the Government of the island.

“Cuba has human rights obligations that it must comply with,” said the IACHR rapporteur for Cuba, Edgar Stuardo Ralón, in his speech.

The Caribbean country experienced an unusual day of protests on July 11 that occurred as a reaction to the crisis and scarcity that Cuba is experiencing.

Regarding the mobilizations, the Cuban lawyer Laritza Diversent, from the organization Cubalex, indicated that since that day 1,130 people have been arrested, of which 572 are deprived of liberty.

In this regard, Ralón said “extremely” concerned about the complaints about “a series of violations of due process and disproportionate penalties”, which he considered have the “sole purpose” of discouraging “the free exercise of the right to protest.”

The official regretted that “summary proceedings, where there are no guarantees” have taken place on the island in which prison sentences of “18 years in prison or several years” have been imposed for exercising the right to demonstrate, which he assured “It should be protected and guaranteed.”

For her part, activist Katherine Mojena Hernández expressed in her presentation her “deep concern over the serious human rights violations that have occurred and continue to occur to date” on the island.