Statements

Cubalex issues statements and press releases when events demand a clear institutional stance. Each statement is supported by verified evidence and is addressed to those who have the power and the obligation to act.

Press Releases

Cubalex presents at the ASCE Annual Conference the legal obstacles to humanitarian assistance in Cuba

Cubalex will participate this Saturday, September 26, in the 36th Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE), at Florida International University (Miami). Its executive director, Laritza Diversent, will present the paper "Legal Obstacles to Humanitarian Assistance in Cuba and Their Impact on Policies [...]

Cubalex looks ahead: new identity, same mission, greater impact

On World Humanitarian Day, this August 19, Cubalex presents a new identity that reflects a mission sustained for more than 15 years: to provide legal assistance in response to emergencies requiring constant legal support. [...]

Cuba Before the IACHR: Cubalex to Denounce Social Militarization on August 4

On August 4, 2026, Cubalex will present a comprehensive report to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), based on six months of documentation, on the progressive militarization of civilian life in Cuba. This presentation will take place during the 196th Session. [...]

Inter-American Commission Holds the Cuban State Responsible for Human Rights Violations Against Cubalex

The Cubalex Legal Information Center and the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center welcome the decision published today by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which declares the Cuban State responsible for illegal surveillance, harassment, repression, and arbitrary detention. [...]

UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances Activates Urgent Action for Artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara

The United Nations Committee against Enforced Disappearances (CED) activated an Urgent Action following a request submitted by Cubalex regarding the transfer to an unknown location and the incommunicado detention of visual artist and human rights defender Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. [...]

UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances Activates Urgent Actions for Detainees in Contramaestre, Including Minors

The United Nations Committee against Enforced Disappearances (CED) simultaneously activated ten urgent actions following a formal request submitted by Cubalex, regarding the arbitrary detentions, incommunicado detention, and subsequent concealment of the whereabouts of ten people in the municipality of Contramaestre, Santiago de Cuba province. [...]

UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances Activates Urgent Action for Rapper Matos MC K-Libre

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. [...]

Human Rights in the Cuban Transition: Contributions Toward Real Change

Cubalex welcomes the publication of the report "Consultation with Independent Civil Society on its Proposals and Analysis for a Democratic Transition in Cuba," prepared by Cultura Democrática and Consorcio Justicia. We consider it valuable that actors from independent Cuban civil society are promoting this discussion. [...]

Economic Opening Is Not Enough Without Democracy or Legal Certainty

Comparative experience also demonstrates that economic reforms implemented without democratic institutions, transparency, and citizen oversight tend to favor processes of wealth concentration for the benefit of political and economic elites, rather than genuine economic liberalization based on equal opportunities and the rule of law. [...]

Cuban State Institutionalizes Exclusion and Control Over Citizens Through New Migration Laws

Cubalex expresses its deep concern following the publication this May in Official Gazette No. 39 of 2026 of Law 171 on Migration, Law 172 on Citizenship, and Law 173 on Foreigners, which would reinforce the exclusion and control of citizens both [...]

Cubalex's UN Advocacy Forces Cuba to Reveal Data Pointing to Overrepresentation of Afro-Descendants in Prisons

The participation of the organization Cubalex in Cuba's recent review before the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) had a direct and verifiable impact on the development of the dialogue with the State. An analysis of the transcripts confirms that the rapporteurs systematically incorporated [...]

Supreme Court Upholds Prison Sentence of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara Until July 9, 2026

The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme People's Court of Havana (TSP) rejected on April 7 the appeal filed on behalf of activist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, upholding that his sentence extends until July 9, 2026. The decision is based on the fact that [...]

Stattements and Advocacy

Open letter on our 15th anniversary

Laritza Diversent, Executive Director of Cubalex
On Cubalex's 15th anniversary, Laritza Diversent recounts the story of an organization that was born without permits in Havana, survived a raid in 2016, denounced harassment, resisted forced exile in 2017, and rebuilt itself to become an international benchmark. The letter reaffirms three principles that run throughout Cubalex's history: memory as defense, documentation as resistance, and dignity as its guiding principle.

Working Group on Arbitrary Detention demands “full freedom” for activist Yandier García Labrada

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention called for the immediate release of Yandier García Labrada, a Cuban farmer and dissident sentenced to five years in prison for “contempt,” “assaulting authority,” and “spreading epidemics.” In its Opinion No. 68/2023, issued during the 98th session of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Group called for the immediate release of Yandier García Labrada, a Cuban farmer and dissident sentenced to five years in prison for “contempt,” “assaulting authority,” and “spreading epidemics.”

Cuba: Independent civil society demands the State comply with UPR recommendations

The Cuban State accepted 292 of the 361 recommendations received during the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review. They announced they would take note of 41 and rejected 28, related to the rights to freedom of expression and association. Washington, D.C., March 26, 2024 – After the [...]

Cuba under scrutiny: human rights violations and non-compliance with international obligations 

During the fourth cycle of the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR), held on November 15, 2023, Cuba underwent further scrutiny under this mechanism, which revealed significant challenges for the State in fulfilling its international human rights obligations. Cuba received [...]

Call to Action Against Gender Violence in Cuba  

Given the alarming increase in gender-based violence in Cuba, on this International Women's Day, we call for intensified demands and actions to protect women on the island. Until early March, the Alas Tensas Gender Observatory (OGAT) and [...]

They denounce before the IACHR the increase in state repression against human rights organizations in Cuba  

At a thematic hearing on Cuba before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, organizations denounced the intensification of state repression and human rights violations, and demanded urgent action to support independent civil society in Cuba. A coalition of 13 international and civil society organizations [...]

Laritza Diversent: “The repression of the right to freedom of association in Cuba is continuous and systematic” 

Laritza Diversent, a human rights lawyer and director of Cubalex, highlighted at the thematic hearing “Cuba: Right to Freedom of Association” before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the complex legal landscape that deepens restrictions on fundamental freedoms and obstructs any form of independent association in [...]

Julio Ferrer: “The neutralization of leaders is a key strategy of state repression in Cuba” 

Julio Ferrer Tamayo, a lawyer with Cubalex, presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) the complex situation faced by independent civil society organizations in Cuba due to ongoing harassment by the Cuban state. He emphasized that the systematic implementation of these methods constitutes a pattern aimed at [...]

The defense of human rights in Cuba remains under siege

On the occasion of Human Rights Day and the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we express our deep concern that human rights defenders, journalists, and artists continue to be arbitrarily detained, harassed, and intimidated in Cuba. Despite [...]

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