We are raising the alarm about reports received from Cuba suggesting that state institutions, particularly the Ministry of the Interior, are mobilizing armed personnel and rapid response brigades. The objective is to promote national hatred and incite hostility and physical, verbal, and psychological violence against those exercising their right to peaceful protest in support of the release of Denis Solís and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and an end to the repression against the San Isidro Movement. Those who have demanded that the Ministry of Culture fulfill the public functions for which it was supposedly created are also being targeted.
Given this information, we alert the international community and urge them to remain vigilant regarding the situation in Cuba. The Committee Against Torture (CAT) has expressed concern that “acts of repudiation” continue to occur in the country and has warned of alleged collusion between the perpetrators and the police.
That the violence perpetrated by rapid response brigades constitutes a violation of the right to liberty and personal security, as well as the right not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, recognized in the current Constitution, a right that does not admit restrictions or suspension in times of crisis.
We remind the Cuban state of its human rights obligations and that under no circumstances should it permit meetings or demonstrations that promote "the glorification of national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility, or violence." These are prohibited by law.
The state is obligated to comply with the recommendations made by the CAT regarding ensuring that these acts of repression, intimidation, and harassment are properly investigated and those responsible are punished. The state must protect all persons from this form of intimidation and violence to which they were exposed due to their activities or simply for exercising their freedoms of opinion and expression, and their rights to association and peaceful assembly.