The causes that led to the social uprising of July 11, 2021 remain relevant today.
This report is a partial overview of the investigation initiated by Cubalex in collaboration with Justicia 11J and the first approach to analyzing the Cuban state's use of criminal law to restrict and, in many cases, prevent the exercise of human rights by individuals under its jurisdiction. It begins with a brief review of constitutional history to analyze the legal mechanisms used to protect the constitutional order and its inviolability, as well as their relationship to the protests of July 11, 2021. This analysis is based on official documents issued in the legal proceedings against 182 individuals convicted of sedition in the provinces of Havana, Matanzas, and Holguín. The report addresses the context before, during, and after the July 2021 protests, the facts established by the courts, the assessments of the evidence presented, and the arguments for sedition as a crime that protects state security.
To this day, confiscation and the death penalty for political reasons remain in effect, basic due process guarantees have not been restored, and discrimination persists against anyone who does not comply with or disagrees with the political or economic decisions of the ruling group. Criminal law and the courts are tools for controlling the citizenry. Protests are considered seditious acts.
All the sentences analyzed were permeated with stigmatizing and discriminatory language based on political and racial grounds. The incriminating evidence was insufficient to prove the participation of the sanctioned individuals in the violent acts attributed to them, beyond a reasonable doubt. The witnesses were mostly state agents who also happened to be the victims. The courts failed to address the order given by superiors to prevent the exercise of a constitutional right. Nor did they mention the actions carried out by state agents for this purpose, the death of Diubis Laurencio Tejeda from a gunshot wound, and the intervention of civilians who acted violently. These individuals, acting under the orders of state agents, committed serious human rights violations, including enforced disappearance and torture during detention.
The court supported abusive conduct by those in political power and guaranteed impunity. To date, no investigation has been opened to prosecute and punish those responsible for serious human rights violations. However, the underlying causes of the social uprising that began on July 11, 2021, remain unresolved today.
You can read the full report here.