The US criticizes the “scandalous abuse” of human rights in Cuba after demonstrations on July 11

The United States criticized thescandalous abuse” of human rights in Cuba, for which he called for the release of the hundreds of political prisoners, including minors, detained after the anti-government protests of July 2021 (J11).

This was stated by the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Brian A. Nichols, in an appearance before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States House of Representatives.

Nichols placed the number of political prisoners in Cuba at around 700, and considered “a scandalous abuse of human rights“That among those convicted of the July protests there are minors who face sentences of eight and ten years in prison”under harsh conditions”.

On July 11, the largest anti-government protests in decades took place in Cuba, spontaneous and massive demonstrations linked to the serious economic crisis that the country is going through.

In his appearance, Nichols, the head of the State Department for Latin America, highlighted the “multiple rounds” of sanctions imposed by Washington against the armed forces and the Cuban Ministry of the Interior in the face of repression by the authorities in Havana.

For there to be a rapprochement between Washington and Havana, Nichols pointed out that “a first step” would be that the Cuban authorities to “release the hundreds of political prisoners detained“, as well as “allow greater freedom of expression and access to the internet”.

This week is the fourth in a row in which criminal proceedings are held in Cuba for these acts. In total, since last year’s protests, at least 440 people have been tried, according to the count of the Justice 11J collective and the legal NGO Cubalex.

The trial that began this Monday, and will last until next week in the municipal court of October 10 in Havana, is a single common cause for all those investigated, who are accused of an alleged crime of sedition.

The sentences requested by the prosecution range between 13 and 25 years in prison, and for minors they are between 13 and 23 years.

Neither the Cuban authorities nor the official press have provided specific information on this trial, although the Cuban Attorney General’s Office reported last week, in an unusual gesture, on the total number of those investigated.

According to Justicia 11J and Cubalex, a total of 1,393 people have been detained in connection with the July 11 protests. Of these, at least 730 remain in detention centers, including 15 under 18 years of age.