At the end of November 2024, the number of political prisoners on the island amounted to 1,148, an increase of 34 arrests compared to the previous month.

For more than two years, Cuba has been experiencing a scenario marked by increasing repression against those who dare to question or challenge the regime. According to a recent report by the non-governmental organization Prisoners Defenders, at the end of November 2024 the number of political prisoners on the island rose to 1,148, which represents an increase of 34 arrests compared to the previous month.

In the last year the list of Cuban political prisoners has increased by 155 new cases, which gives an average of 13 new arrests per month. Prisoners Defenders emphasizes that repression has not stopped and that prisoners, all of them subjected to inhuman treatment and torture, continue to be victims of a system that persists in silencing its opponents.

Since July 2021, after the massive protests that shook the island, the Cuban regime has intensified its attack on opponents, turning Cuba into a country where dissent is paid for in prison. Throughout these three years and five months, the total number of political prisoners who have passed through Cuban prisons amounts to 1,785, according to the report. Of these, approximately 650 suffer from serious medical conditions, many of them caused or worsened by the extreme conditions of mistreatment and torture in prison.

In the month of November 2024, 34 new political prisoners entered prison. The Prisoners Defenders report highlights that 30 of these arrests occurred in response to recent spontaneous mobilizations in different regions of the country. For the most part, these demonstrations have been motivated by the demand for basic services such as electricity, water and food, conditions that have seriously deteriorated due to the economic crisis affecting the island.

Faced with the protests, despite their peaceful nature and, for the most part, localized, the regime has unleashed relentless repression.

The report also specifies the geographical distribution of the new political prisoners, mentioning especially Villa Clara, where 17 people were detained, and Santiago de Cuba, with 7 new prisoners. Arrests were also recorded in other provinces such as Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey and Pinar del Río.

Prisoners Defenders reports that detainees are subjected to extreme physical and psychological torture, including beatings, prolonged isolation and deprivation of access to food and medical care, which in some cases has led to death.

In addition to overcrowded conditions, political prisoners are subjected to degrading treatment, with no guarantees of a fair trial or access to independent defense lawyers.

The report also highlights that many of the prisoners suffer from chronic illnesses that are aggravated by prison conditions, where they are rarely provided with the necessary treatment.

You can view the additional data at Prisoners Defenders Website

HAVANA (AP) — Non-governmental organizations monitoring Cuban prisons demanded an investigation Tuesday into the death of a man imprisoned since 2021 after being arrested for participating in historic protests against shortages and blackouts.

Authorities say 29-year-old Manuel de Jesús Guillén Esplugas committed suicide in prison. However, relatives claim he succumbed to injuries sustained during a failed escape attempt at Combinado del Este prison in Havana, where he was serving a six-year sentence.

Guillén, a member of an opposition group called the Patriotic Union of Cuba, died on Saturday and his remains were returned to his family over the weekend.

“What we were able to find out, through various sources, is that Manuel was trying to escape from prison, and was caught in the act,” said Camila Rodríguez, representative of Justicia 11J, an NGO that keeps track of the situation of detainees in Cuba. “We will never know for sure what happened, unless they let us enter the prison and interview and reconstruct the events independently,” she added.