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ARCHIVE - Three years ago, thousands of Cubans demonstrated against mismanagement and for freedom. Photo: Ramon Espinosa/AP/dpa
Keystone
Three years after historic mass protests in Cuba, activists have denounced repression by the state. On the anniversary of the protests on Thursday, police officers stood outside the doors of several independent journalists, activists and relatives of detainees and prevented them from leaving, the human rights group Justicia 11J reported. According to activists, it is common for the Cuban secret police to monitor government critics and threaten them with arrest on certain days if they leave their homes.
In a statement, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights demanded the release of detainees who had been arrested for their participation in the protests. The body of the Organization of American States condemned "the increasing state repression against activists and human rights defenders and the deterioration of conditions that led to the demonstrations".
The largest demonstrations since the revolution
On July 11 and 12, 2021, thousands of Cubans demonstrated peacefully in numerous places against mismanagement and for freedom. These were the largest protests since the 1959 revolution, which the communist government of the Caribbean one-party state portrayed as an attempt by the USA to destabilize Cuba and responded with a harsh response. According to activists, more than 600 participants are still in custody. According to the organization Prisoners Defenders, there are 1117 political prisoners in Cuba.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention investigated the cases of 17 Cubans who had been sentenced to between 8 and 18 years imprisonment for rioting because of their participation in the protests. According to the report published in June, they were arbitrarily detained and their human rights violated.
German-Cubans imprisoned
One of them is the German-Cuban Luis Frómeta Compte. The 62-year-old German citizen is serving a 15-year prison sentence after filming one of the demonstrations on his cell phone. At the time, he was visiting relatives in Havana from Dresden, where he had moved as a guest worker in 1985.
12.07.2024, 08:08
