Report on Human Rights Violations in Cuba: January 2021
A Report on Human Rights in Cuba for the month of January 2021 was recently published by the Cuban Center for Human Rights. It is the result of a joint collaboration between a network of democracy activists across Cuba and it is comprised of a vibrant team of pro-democracy defenders that include the active participation of Dr. Nelva Ortega Tamayo (coordinator of the Patriotic Union of Cuba), and Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, democracy activist and founder/director of the Cuban Institute of Independent Economists.
The 80 pages report offers detailed descriptions of gross human rights violations and examples of serious social and economic conflicts in Cuba as denounced by Cubans in the island during the first 30 days of 2021.
In terms of repression to critics of the regime, the report shows that in January of 2021 there were 84 politically motivated short-term arrests and 117 incidents of harassment of pro-democracy activists. On prisoners of conscience, there are 136 prisoners of conscience in Cuba: 70 are prison and 36 in-house arrests. Whereas the number of arrests and reports of harassment in January 2021 was slightly lower than in December 2020 (103 arrests; 144 cases of harassment), the persecution and intimidation of critics and the criminalisation of ideas continues to be part of a systematic policy of repression by Cuba’s ruling regime.
Find copies of the Human Rights Report on Cuba in English and Spanish.
Luis Robles Elizástegui in a peaceful protest in Habana on December 4, 2020 demanding the end of repression and the release of activist Denis Solis from prison. He is imprisoned and charged with contempt and public disorder. He was arbitrarily charged with “contempt” and “public disorder.”
After 62 years, the dictatorship in Cuba has turned repression into a specialty and understands the importance of diversifying its coercive methods. When long term jail imprisonment raised red flags in the international community, the regime started to reduce the length of prison sentences and in recent years they have changed the sentences of prisoners of conscience with international recognition to house arrest. More recently as the incidence of short-term arrests has become more prevalent and have led to “recommendations” for change in the Universal Periodic Review, the regime has resorted to other methods. They have therefore adapted and applied a wide range of repressive methods such as forced house arrests of dissidents, harassment, fines, intimidation. The aim (regardless of the repressive methods) is to silence calls for democratization and trample on the rights of ordinary Cubans to raise a voice in defense of fundamental human rights.
Upon close examination of the list of prisoners of conscience and political prisoners one finds that the fabricated charge of “contempt” (desacato) is the most widely used. It has been applied in approximately 27 cases. The “crime” of contempt is contained in Article 144.1 of the Cuban Criminal Code and it has historically been used by the regime to convict human rights activists, journalists and independent trade union members. It states:
CONTEMPT
200.1 “Whosoever threatens, slanders or libels, defames, insults, abuses or in any other way outrages or offends, orally or in writing, in his dignity or honor, an authority, public official, his agents or assistants exercising their functions or due to them, shall be subject to a punishment of deprivation of freedom for a period of from three months to one year, or a fine from one hundred to three hundred quotas or both.
2. Should the act provided for under the preceding paragraph be performed with reference to the President of the Council of State, the President of the National Assembly of People’s Power, the members of the Council of State or the Council of Ministers or the Deputies of the National Assembly of People’s Power, the punishment shall be the deprivation of freedom for a period of from one to three years.
In essence, it gives the government broad discretionary powers to punish any form of criticism against a regime official or those in the power elite.
The other most widely used fabricated charge against dissidents is “Public Disorder” used in at least 10 cases. This “crime” is found in article 200.1 of the Criminal Code on at least 10 instances:
PUBLIC DISORDER
148.1 “Whosoever, in public places, shows or large meetings gives alarm screams, threatens with a common danger or performs any other act in order to cause panic or a riot, shall be subject to a punishment of deprivation of freedom for a period of from three months to one year, a fine of one hundred to three hundred quotas, or both.”
The “Public Disorder” article in the criminal code gives the Cuban regime powers to arrest and imprison anyone taking part in a peaceful protest on the streets calling for the respect of human rights. Luis Robles Elizástegui is a recent example in which this charge was applied. In December, Robles basically took to the streets in the San Rafael Boulevard in Habana with a placard that called upon the regime to release artist/activist Denis Solis from arbitrary arrest and asked that fundamental human rights are respected in Cuba. Both the “contempt” and “public disorder” articles constitute violations to the right to free speech enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
POLICE SALARIES ON THE RISE
A doctor (identified as Alberto Diaz) complained about being paid 48 pesos for a 12 hours shift on emergency duty, while driving to work cost him 40 pesos. In contrast, entry level cops (without completion of high school) are paid 4,000 pesos a month and upon completion of a 5 month course they are promoted to the suboficial rank and receive a salary of 6,690 pesos, in addition to other bonus payments depending on rank and seniority.
WORKERS’ GRIEVANCES/PROTESTS:
Screen capture of a video reporting a workers’ strike at the Port of Habana due to low salaries. Video uploaded on Youtube on December 26, 2020.
One of the key revelations of this report is the emergence of a culture of dissent that moves beyond traditional opposition groups and extends to workers in different sectors. They have raised a voice against arbitrary changes in wages/salaries under the so called “monetary ordering,” system recently implemented by the Cuban government.
The report gathers instances of discontent and protests. In addition to the dissident artists protest i front of the Ministry of Culture on January 27, there were also reports of major grievances by coal workers in Las Tunas province, fishers in the Isle of Pines, dockers in Santi Spiritus province and private taxi drivers in Holguín. Overall, it is interesting to note how in a totalitarian typed of regime, where there is a prohibition to constitute independent trade unions and striking is prohibited altogether, workers nevertheless take risk and in the process discover how change can only be exerted through pressure.
“Fishers in Nueva Gerona, Isle of Pines protested against the new salaries assigned after the new salary restructuring in Cuba. The fishers are refusing to go into the sea as the compensation in CUC (dollars) was cancelled. As a consequence the local government, the municipal communist party and the State Security attempted to coerce workers who in response returned the keys to their fishing boats. The workers’ grievance is logical if one considers that lobster and seafood constitute a key export area for the country.”
“Dockers in a Loading and Unloading Center in Sancti Spiritus province are outraged. The government under the new “ordering system” pays them fifty cents for each bag and their wages depend on how many bags they can move each month. It is a new contract called “by piecework” that eliminated the minimum salary of 2,100 (Cuban pesos) which is paid in other state run enterprises … [Also], in other state run companies each sack is paid at $2.16 per bag (Cuban pesos) plus a basic salary.
Private taxi drivers in Holguín went on a strike due t0 a disagreement with the new taxi fares. Dr. Alexander Raúl Pupo Casas, dismissed from his job in retaliation for his political views, reported that the peaceful demonstration succeeded in fulfilling their demands for slightly higher tax fare. He also said that the population eventually lost in this process as fares would cost 10 pesos instead of 7 pesos.
A coal worker decided to join a group of co workers for a work stoppage in a Comprehensive Agricultural Enterprise in Las Tunas Province, until a favorable response was received about their salaries. The worker stated that with a salary of 113 pesos a month he cannot make ends meet. Workers filed a complaint against the farm administrator, an officer with the Ministry of Interior by the name of Jaime García Oquendo and Vladimir Rodríguez Acosta the representative of coal workers to the company’s management. In both cases the complaint was for stealing workers salaries and corruption and for not paying a bonus as it was established in the contract. After the work stoppages due to low salaries, the state enterprise managers decided to meet the workers demands. They pointed out that by February 10 they will start receiving a minimum salary of 2,100 Cuban pesos and production on top it wold be paid extra as a stimulus. The coal workers agreed to go back to work even though the company’s mangers refused to pay extra for work related to exports. The main cause of their decision was the threat they received from their bosses who threatened to fire them and accused them of being counterrevolutionaries.
POPULAR DISCONTENT WITH RISING FOOD COSTS
The report devotes a section to numerous instances of grievances and popular discontent across Cuba with the exponential increases in food prices due to the so called Ordering of the System,¨ For example there is cause of popular discontent with the rising cost of food in “social dining rooms” (comedores sociales). Food served in those establishment went from 2 pesos for a standard dinner to 26 pesos. Likewise in workers’ diners such as the Miramar Business Center, the cost of lunch went up to 85 Cuban pesos.
Another cause of popular discontent is the the elevated cost of subsided food in Cuba during the first days of 2021. A young person for example complained that two bottles of cooking oil, 10 pounds of sugar and beans in a rationing system for 6 people cost him 270 Cuban pesos. The cost of bread is also reported to have been increased 20 times its price. Duviel Ordóñez Ricart also complaints the high cost of subsided food. He explained the subsidized food for 4 people now costs 505 Cuban pesos and consider this increase excessive.
In Mayabeque for example, 6,000 units of bread were left in the bodegas due to their elevated price.
Mothers also complaint about the rising cost of school meals. Arachi Haron, a single mother complaints that school meals for her daughter went up from 10 to 22 Cuban pesos.
HEALTH CARE DEFICIENCIES
Some of the deficiencies and complaints noted are references to a chronic shortage of ambulances which have led to reports about Covid-19 patients taken instad by public busses. The report also refers to a 5 year old who died in Matanzas due to an ambulance that took 5 hours to arrive and take her to the Children’s Provincial Hospital. Other deficiencies include long delays to receive Covid-19 test results, deficiencies in diagnostics, negligence in the care for people with disabilities, long queues in hospitals and people complaining about the need to offer “gifts” to doctors in order to get better medical attention.
OTHER KEY ISSUES
Other major issues reported are the incidences of feminidades (five so far in January 2021), housing shortages, instances of police abuses and brutality.
CONCLUSIONS
Upon reading this report it becomes evident that the obsolete/closed and dictatorial system in Cuba is at the root of the economic, social and political crisis as the regime continues to exert a monopoly over the economy/production and people are left in a state of defencelessness. Cubans are denied their civil liberties and fundamental human rights are systematically violated. Independent institutions to address grievances are non existent in the island and therefore Cubans lack the means to change the system through free and fair elections. They don’t have access to a free press to foster public debate and criticize the arbitrariness of those in power. As long as Cubans are deprived of the power and freedom to change the political system, individual and collective progress will not be possible.