Legal Analysis

Hasta 10 años de cárcel por expresarse y asociarse: el caso de cuatro activistas de Cuba Primero

20/10/2026

La Fiscalía Provincial de Granma solicitó penas de hasta 10 años de prisión contra cuatro activistas de esa provincia, acusados de pertenecer a la organización opositora Cuba Primero, por los presuntos delitos de «propaganda contra el orden constitucional» y «desórdenes públicos». [...]

Javier Martín Gutiérrez: new crimes, pretrial detention and a trial without a date

16/10/2026

Javier Ernesto Martín Gutiérrez, known as Spiderman, remains in pretrial detention in Cuba, awaiting trial, with no date set or prosecution request submitted. In addition to the initial charge of public disorder, two other offenses have been added: contempt and propaganda [...]

The arrest of Pastor Maikel Pupo Velázquez and the restrictions on religious freedom in Cuba

13/10/2026

Summary: Pastor Maikel Pupo Velázquez has been detained in Camagüey since September 26, after calling several churches to a public prayer for Cuba. Authorities had warned him not to go to the designated location for the religious activity, so he decided to go alone and asked [...]

Death penalty and life imprisonment in Cuba: sanctions incompatible with the protection of human rights

09/10/2026

October 10, World Day Against the Death Penalty, serves as a reminder that no state should have the power to take a life as a form of punishment. Cuba, however, maintains the death penalty in its legislation and includes it for 28 crimes, while also preserving life imprisonment, [...]

The 4tico case: the prosecutor's findings reveal restrictions on freedom of expression

07/10/2026

The young men Ernesto Ricardo Medina and Kamil Zayas Pérez, members of the independent audiovisual project El 4tico, finally received the Prosecutor's Office's provisional conclusions and sentencing requests against them, after being held in pretrial detention since February 2026. The Holguín Provincial Prosecutor's Office is requesting eight years [...]

The use of criminal law to protect state agents: the case of Anna Bensi and Caridad Silvente

05/10/2026

The sentence handed down by the Havana East Municipal Court against Anna Bensi and her mother, Caridad Silvente, imposing two years of restricted liberty on both of them, is part of a systematic pattern of violations of freedom of expression in Cuba. [...]

The manipulation of Article 393 of the Cuban Penal Code and the illegal recordings of the State

01/10/2026

The official publication deliberately omits the fact that Article 393 makes no distinction between citizens and public officials as perpetrators of the crime. By imposing this narrative, the State conceals the fact that its own agents systematically violate this precept. [...]

Interviews in custody and without lawyers: irregularities surrounding the trial against survivors of the Florida boat

30/09/2026

A journalistic investigation published this week by Belly of the Beast revealed, for the first time, the testimony of four of the five survivors of the Florida-registered boat that was intercepted by Cuban Border Guards on February 25. Five people died in the confrontation.

Forced exile in Cuba: a repressive practice without legal recognition

17/09/2026

The departure from Cuba of former political prisoner and activist Aniette González García from Camagüey once again raises the issue of the use of exile as a means of pressuring individuals considered opponents by the authorities. [...]

Sabotage: the word that turns a theft into 20 years in prison

15/09/2026

In Cuba, stealing oil from an electrical transformer was, until recently, theft: a property crime punishable by months or a few years in prison. Today, that same act can be classified as sabotage, a crime "against the security of the State," with sentences ranging from 7 years to [...]

Paying without deciding: Cubans finance the state's losses

14/09/2026

In Cuba, the losses of state-owned enterprises are covered with public funds. Furthermore, their management remains closed to public scrutiny, and the rules governing the economy are approved without the population having any ability to influence them. Such exclusions do not only reflect methods that are not [...]

Reporting is not a crime: Prosecutor requests 10 years in prison for Virgilio Mantilla

11/09/2026

According to an investigation conducted by the Provincial Unit for Crimes Against State Security in Camagüey, the Prosecutor's Office of that province formalized charges against Virgilio Mantilla Arango and Tomás Roberto Agüero Yanes. The indictment demonstrates how the Cuban state uses the Penal Code to intimidate [...]

Cuba Primero members case: 8 sentenced to prison in Las Tunas for expressing opinions and posting on social media

10/09/2026

A new ruling by the Provincial People's Court (TPP) of Las Tunas exposes the continued use of the judicial system in Cuba to persecute and punish political dissent. Sentence No. 10 of 2026 from this court imposed prison terms of between seven and eight years on individuals [...]

Sady Reynaldo Companioni: the punishment of a Cuban mother for demanding basic rights

08/09/2026

The case of Sady Reynaldo Companioni demonstrates how, in Cuba, the exercise of fundamental rights can become grounds for persecution when citizens' demands challenge the actions of the authorities. The woman, a resident of Lawton, in the Diez de Octubre municipality, has been detained since August 28, after [...]

Harassment, arrests and threats: the repressive escalation against Yunia Figueredo and Frank Correa

07/09/2026

Since last July, the Cuban opposition couple Yunia Figueredo and Francisco Correa have faced increased harassment and repression from the authorities, in a context marked by the peaceful protests that took place that month in Jaimanitas, Playa municipality, Havana. [...]

Six years in prison for banging pots and pans: Cuban Supreme Court against the right to peaceful protest

04/09/2026

On July 28, 2026, the Supreme People's Court of Cuba ratified the six-year prison sentence against writer and independent journalist José Gabriel Barrenechea Chávez for the crime of public disorder, as well as the sentences of the other political prisoners for the same offense.

Six months after the protest in Canaleta: new charges are being filed against political prisoners

28/08/2026

More than six months after a major protest at Canaleta prison in Ciego de Ávila province, led by inmates, including political prisoners, authorities have begun filing unfounded criminal charges against the most visible prisoners during the demonstration. [...]

Military tragedy in Melones: state opacity and the breakdown of the duty of custody

26/08/2026

The previous week, more than a year after the fatal accident, several relatives of the victims revealed that a group of young civilians entered the disaster area without specialized equipment to search for scrap metal and military equipment, discovering multiple decomposing bodies in the abandoned tunnels. [...]

The Case of Sulmira Martínez: Criminalization of Conscience in the Enforcement Phase of Cuba's Criminal Process

25/08/2026

The denial of parole to Sulmira Martínez Pérez for the third time demonstrates how judicial control mechanisms in Cuba transform the procedural guarantees of the enforcement phase into tools of continuous ideological punishment, subverting the stated goals of re-education and social reintegration. [...]

Gender-Based Violence, Impunity, and Protection Gaps in Cuba

19/08/2026

This analysis addresses the urgent need to reform the legal response to gender-based violence in Cuba, following an attack in Marianao. It examines gaps in victim protection, police inaction, and the lack of a specific crime for femicide, contrasting these shortcomings with international standards such as [...]