Amnesty International criticized the “lack of transparency” in the announcement, particularly regarding whether those released were “people deprived of their liberty for political reasons”
The Government of Cuba announced the release “in the next few days” of 51 prisoners as a sign of “goodwill” towards the Vatican, historic mediator between Havana and Washington.
“In a spirit of good will, and within the framework of the close and fluid relations between the Cuban State and the Vatican (…) Cuba has decided to release 51 people sentenced to prison sentences in the next few days,” Cuban diplomacy said on Thursday.
The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that these are prisoners who have served “a significant part of their sentences” and who have demonstrated “good conduct in prison.”
“This sovereign decision is standard practice in our criminal justice system,” the ministry added, in a statement that did not identify those arrested or the reasons for the convictions.
The decision was announced amid strong pressure from Washington on Havana and hours before an unusual appearance by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, scheduled for this Friday.
Amnesty International criticized the “lack of transparency” in the announcement, particularly regarding whether those released were “people deprived of their liberty for political reasons”.
The human rights organization also denounced the “dehumanizing” use of prisoners “as bargaining chips in a political game” and insisted on the “immediate and unconditional” release of all those “unjustly imprisoned in Cuba”.
Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that since 2010, the Government has granted pardons to 9,905 prisoners, while in the last three years another 10,000 prisoners have been released under various conditions.
The Catholic Church has played a mediating role in the release of political prisoners on the communist island and in diplomatic relations between Washington and Havana.
On February 28, during a diplomatic visit to Europe, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez was received in audience by Pope Leo XIV.
A week earlier, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, Paul Richard Gallagher, had received two American diplomats: the chargé d’affaires in Havana, Mike Hammer, and the ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burh.
According to the human rights organization Justicia11J, based outside the island, 760 people are imprisoned in Cuba for political reasons, including 358 for participating in the historic anti-government protests of July 2021.
The United States has imposed an energy blockade on Cuba since January, citing the “exceptional threat” that the communist island, located just 150 kilometers off the coast of Florida, poses to American national security.
The country of 9.6 million inhabitants, under a US embargo and already plagued by a deep economic crisis, faces a significant fuel shortage and frequent blackouts.
