The United Nations Committee against Enforced Disappearances (CED) activated an Urgent Action following a request submitted by Cubalex regarding the detention and incommunicado detention of Cuban independent rapper Andrés Matos Alcántara, known artistically as Matos MC K-Libre or Matos Klibre.
The application was registered in accordance with Article 30 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, under file number AU No. 2345/2026. Through this measure, the UN agency immediately required the Cuban State to take urgent action to search for, locate, and protect the artist, granting it a non-extendable deadline until [date missing]. July 14, 2026 to submit an official report on the case.
False summons, arrest, and concealment of whereabouts
According to the documentation submitted to the Committee, the events began on June 25, 2026, when Andrés Matos Alcántara voluntarily went to a National Revolutionary Police (PNR) facility in Havana, after receiving an official summons for a supposed “interview.” However, once he appeared before the authorities, he was detained and taken away in a patrol car.
From that moment on, a campaign of disinformation began, orchestrated by state agents. When Matos's relatives and representatives went to the police station, they only received verbal and informal responses indicating that the rapper had initially been transferred to the Third and 110th Street unit in the Playa municipality, and presumably later relocated to the police station known as "La Quinta.".
Upon arriving at the center on June 26, the unit's authorities categorically refused to provide official information, did not confirm his detention there, and denied access to family members to verify his presence or confirm his life.
Although on June 26 the rapper managed to make a brief call from a mobile phone that was allegedly provided to him circumstantially by an agent, Cubalex emphasized to the UN that said communication does not meet the guarantees of an official call nor does it interrupt the situation of incommunicado, since his family is still prevented from seeing him or independently verifying his real whereabouts and physical condition.
International concern and critical medical conditions
The United Nations Committee expressed its deep concern regarding the lack of transparency from the State Party, which has not issued a single official document validating the deprivation of liberty, the legal grounds for the detention, the assigned case number, or the authority in whose custody the individual is held. While there are informal allegations that he is being charged with the alleged crime of “public disorder” for his supposed participation in the recent protests in the Barbosa neighborhood (Playa), there is no legal confirmation of the charges.
Matos MC K-Libre's situation is alarming due to his health condition. The independent rapper suffers from... type 1 diabetes and of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), He suffers from severe conditions requiring specialized medical treatment and daily access to regulated medications. By keeping him incommunicado, Cuban authorities are violating his right to health and directly endangering his physical integrity and his life.
The Committee reminded the Havana regime that, under Article 2 of the International Convention, any deprivation of liberty carried out by agents of the State that is followed by a refusal to acknowledge it or by concealment of the whereabouts constitutes a enforced disappearance, which removes the victim from the protection of the law.
Demands on the Cuban State and active surveillance
Following the activation of Urgent Action No. 2345/2026, the UN Committee has transmitted a series of binding recommendations to the Permanent Mission of Cuba in Geneva, demanding that the State:
- Report without delay the exact location, name and address of the detention center where Mr. Andrés Matos Alcántara is located.
- Formally specify the criminal charges brought and the legal grounds invoked for his arrest.
- Guarantee relatives and representatives immediate access to information about their legal situation and allow periodic visits from their family members and a lawyer of their choice.
- Provide urgent access to medical care and essential medicines required by their delicate clinical condition.
Cubalex will continue to rigorously monitor the case and will forward any comments or additional evidence regarding the independent rapper's situation to the UN Committee. The organization also notes that it is awaiting a response from the international body regarding another Urgent Action request submitted on behalf of several young people and minors detained en masse in the municipality of Contramaestre, Santiago de Cuba, following this week's citizen protests.
We hold the Cuban State fully responsible for the life, safety, and physical and psychological integrity of Andrés Matos Alcántara.
Cubalex
June 29, 2026
Press and complaints contact: