A comprehensive comparison conducted by Cubalex among the 2,010 beneficiaries of Presidential Decree 1212/2026 And the registry of victims documented by the organization revealed that at least four people included in the recent list of pardoned individuals were previously monitored for suffering serious human rights violations in Cuba.
The matches identified correspond to Ana Laura Parra González, Maikel Seara Padrón, Yudimar Barallobre Columbie and Kevin Lay Laureido Rojas.
Documented cases
In the case of Yudimar Barallobre Columbie, It was revealed that he was arrested and physically assaulted by agents of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) and high-ranking State Security officials on November 14, 2021, at his home in Ciego de Ávila, in the context of the repression related to the civic march called for November 15. The organization has not been able to verify the crimes he was charged with or whether his inclusion on the 2026 pardon list corresponds to that arrest.
Another case is that of the young man Kevin Laureido Rojas, He was tried in 2025 in a military court in Isla de la Juventud for deserting the unit where he had been assigned to mandatory military service. The prosecution requested a four-year prison sentence for him.
“They took him away against his will, he couldn’t stand it and escaped to his home. They went there to find him and arrested him,” a source from the Isle of Youth told Cubalex a year ago.
According to information available in the press, a medical commission had previously declared the young man unfit for military service due to psychiatric and orthopedic problems he had suffered for years.
About Maikel Seara Padrón, In 2025, the family of a man from Nuevitas, Camagüey, publicly denounced that he had been held in pretrial detention for almost two years for an alleged theft at the municipal meatpacking plant, without a trial or sentencing. According to his family, the proceedings were conducted without sufficient evidence to overcome the presumption of innocence.
Regarding Ana Laura Parra González, Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented that a protester from the July 11th demonstration in Matanzas was arrested along with her brother during a peaceful protest, accused of “public disorder,” and placed under house arrest pending trial. On September 20, 2021, she was fined 1,000 pesos, and an officer informed her that her criminal case would be dismissed. It has not been possible to verify that the person included in Decree 1212/2026 is the same individual, nor that her inclusion is related to those events.
The inclusion, among those pardoned, of cases previously documented by human rights organizations as not being deprived of their liberty—without the decree allowing for confirmation of identities or charges—highlights the difficulties in monitoring and documentation stemming from the opacity with which the Cuban state operates. This restricts citizens' access to information of public interest and results in much of the available information coming from underreporting rather than official sources, despite the state's duty to be transparent.
Pardons with cases tried in military courts and in Courts for Crimes against State Security
The analysis of Presidential Decree 1212/2026 also made it possible to identify the presence of people convicted in cases linked to military courts and courts for crimes against the security of the State.
Cubalex identified 95 people with at least one case tried in these types of courts, for a total of 102 cases. This figure represents 4.71% of the total number of people pardoned.
The above could contradict the statements Statements made by the regime the previous month, confirming that it would not consider so-called "crimes against authority" for release, have not been sufficiently substantiated. While these courts have jurisdiction over cases involving crimes against state security, they also handle, under criminal law, certain serious offenses unrelated to that category. Since the pardon decree does not identify the specific crimes for which the beneficiaries were convicted, the available information does not allow for the conclusion that these were indeed convictions for crimes against state security.
The Decree only refers to the corresponding cases, courts, and tribunals by the names of those pardoned. Based on available information, Cubalex has not identified any of the July 11 protesters or any other individuals sanctioned for crimes against State Security in its records within this group.
Likewise, the analysis detected 286 people (14% of the total pardoned), with several cases processed in military courts, accumulating 300 cases.
The data also show a temporary concentration in recent causes, especially between 2023 and 2026, and a territorial concentration in provincial and municipal courts in Havana, as well as in several provincial criminal courts. A significant number of beneficiaries with more than one associated case were also identified. The State does not explain why it selected these cases for review and pardon and not others, nor does it make transparent the criteria used to choose the beneficiaries.
Cubalex concludes from its analysis of this information that the pardons were heavily concentrated in recent cases filed in ordinary criminal courts, although there is a subset of cases in military courts and other courts specializing in crimes against state security. However, the lack of information on the specific crimes It prevents us from establishing how many of these cases actually corresponded to military crimes or crimes against the Security of the State, since both bodies can also be aware of other conduct classified under criminal law.
The figures also show a sustained increase in the number of people sentenced by military courts among those most recently pardoned. While cases from 2020 to 2022 represented between 21% and 3.61% annually, in 2023 they rose to 7.81%, in 2024 they reached 17.61%, and in 2025 they climbed to 20.61%. In other words, approximately one in five people pardoned for cases from that year had been sentenced by military courts. By 2026, the figure had reached 161%.
The high concentration of cases originating from military courts also suggests that a significant portion of the crimes may be related to economic activity. This is because this jurisdiction can hear cases involving conduct covered by ordinary criminal law. when The involvement of individuals subject to military jurisdiction or the occurrence of events within entities and spaces under military jurisdiction are relevant. In Cuba, a significant portion of economic activity is controlled by business conglomerates linked to the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), whose workers and operations may fall under this jurisdiction. Consequently, the numerous cases filed in military courts suggests that a significant number of these cases could involve common crimes linked to these structures and not necessarily military offenses.
Cubalex has also documented cases in which military jurisdiction has been used to punish critical expression and ideologically discipline former members of the state apparatus. However, the lack of information about the alleged crimes makes it impossible to determine their nature with certainty.
It is also relevant that of the 1,222 unique cases registered in the list, 39% (482 cases) involved the pardon of several people. Furthermore, 31 cases were identified, dated between 2023 and 2025, in which the number of beneficiaries exceeded ten in a single case, indicating the existence of mass pardon processes.
Finally, it is noteworthy that several repeat offenders were pardoned, despite the official statement indicating they would not be eligible. In total, 407 people, equivalent to 20%, appear with more than one record, and 173 people have multiple cases within the same year. For example, two people with eight and nine cases were released, and another ten with between five and six.
The analysis carried out by Cubalex reveals profound contradictions between the official discourse on the pardon process and the actual composition of the people who benefited, casting doubt on the official characterization of the measure as a “humanitarian gesture”.
These contradictions reflect the instrumental nature of prison releases in Cuba. As Cubalex has previously indicated, Measures such as mass pardons have historically been used as foreign policy tools, crisis management mechanisms, and resources for international legitimacy. The lack of transparency and information surrounding the crimes, or other circumstances surrounding the beneficiaries, muddies this process, which is deeply connected to a pattern of political instrumentalism identified by the organization, where The releases, far from being a humanitarian gesture, constitute a control mechanism and a bargaining chip to satisfy the interests of the Cuban regime.
Conclusions
Analysis of Presidential Decree 1212/2026 reveals that the officially released information on the pardon process is insufficient to independently verify the criteria used to select the beneficiaries. The lack of data on the crimes committed, the reasons for each pardon, and the parameters used to determine eligibility limits the transparency of a measure of clear public interest.
The findings also reveal discrepancies between official statements and the actual composition of the group of pardoned individuals, including beneficiaries with cases processed in military courts, specialized courts for crimes against state security, and individuals with multiple criminal records. While the available information does not allow for determining the exact nature of all the convictions, it does highlight the lack of transparency and accountability that characterizes this process.
Taken together, the results confirm that the The Cuban criminal justice system continues to operate under high levels of opacity., hindering public scrutiny of state decisions with a direct impact on fundamental rights and limiting the capacity of civil society to fully document and assess their effects.