1/ Several Cuban prisoners of conscience have gone on hunger strike to protest their unlawful detention and the inhumane conditions of their imprisonment. Some of them have gone more than three weeks without food and are approaching critical condition.
Yosvany Rowell García Caso was detained for participating in Cuba’s landmark 11J protests in 2021. His family is calling for urgent solidarity and support as his hunger strike reaches its 27th day. He and other hunger strikers have been kept isolated despite growing concerns for their health. (martinoticias.com)
García Caso is one of nearly 1200 prisoners of conscience being held arbitrarily in Cuban prisons in violation of their due process. Reports of ill-treatment and torture are widespread. Any form of dissent, including protesting the regime-made humanitarian crisis and the island’s deteriorating living conditions, can lead to harsh retaliation. (English El Pais)
HRF condemns the Cuban regime’s systematic violations of the rights of prisoners of conscience and calls for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained for opposing dictatorship. Democracies must exert pressure to stop the regime’s inhumane treatment and persecution of dissidents.
