Amnesty International calls for entry into Cuba to follow the 11J trials

Havana, 25 Mar The organization Amnesty International (AI) asked to enter Cuba this Friday to continue the trials against protesters accused of the anti-government protests of July 11.
In a statement on its website, AI reported that it also requested the Cuban government to let other human rights monitors in to follow up on the trials.
The London-based organization called the proceedings “unfair” and “opaque”.
“The Cuban authorities have continued their criminalization campaign with the sole purpose of restoring the culture of fear,” Erika Guevara Rosas, director of AI for the Americas, criticized in the document.
Since December, the trials of protesters on July 11 have taken place in Cuba, involving hundreds of accused. Several NGOs — just as AI does now — have denounced lack of guarantees, the manufacture of evidence and very high penalties.
According to the NGOs Justicia 11J and Cubalex, a total of 1,442 people have been arrested in connection with the protests. Of these, at least 756 remain in detention centers.
On the other hand, Prisoners Defenders points out that at least 842 people were in prison on the island at the end of 2021 for political reasons, mostly because of the events of 11J.
The Attorney General’s Office of Cuba assured that 790 people have been prosecuted for the July 11 protests, 55 of whom are between 16 and 17 years old.
On March 16, a sentence was released in which 127 people were sentenced to a total of 1,916 years in prison for events related to the protests in Esquina de Toyo and La Güinera, two humble areas of Havana.
The defendants, investigated mainly for sedition and theft, were accused of “serious disturbances and vandalism, with the aim of destabilizing public order, collective security and citizen tranquility,” according to the Supreme Court.
According to AI, these types of accusations serve to “silence dissent”.
The NGO also recalled that Cuba is the only country in the Americas where it is not allowed to enter.
He also mentioned the opponents Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, of the San Isidro Movement, and Maykel Castillo Pérez, co-author of the song “Patria y vida”, imprisoned since last year and who he describes as “prisoners of conscience”. CHIEF
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