Release of 20 Political Prisoners in Cuba Confirmed by Justice 11J Since March

The organization Justice 11J has confirmed that since the beginning of the process announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 12, 20 political prisoners have been released in Cuba.

This update, published on their website, lists 18 verified individuals, while the identities of two others remain confidential for security reasons.

The confirmed released individuals include: Adael Jesús Leyva Díaz, Ariel Pérez Montesino, Deyvis Javier Torres Acosta, Eduardo Álvarez Rigal, Felipe Almirall, Franklin Reymundo Fernández Rodríguez, Hansel Felipe Arbolay Prim, José Luis Sánchez Tito, Juan Pablo Martínez Monterrey, Léster Ayala Alarcón, Luis Esteffani Hernández Valdés, Miguel Enrique Girón Velázquez, Oscar Bárbaro Bravo Cruzata, Roberto Ferrer Gener, Ronald García Sánchez, Wilmer Moreno Suárez, Yussuan Villalba Sierra, and Renán Julio Vilches Wong.

According to the platform, "It should be noted that the Cuban regime did not acknowledge that it would benefit individuals imprisoned for political reasons, consistent with its systematic practice of denying the existence of such detentions and subsuming these cases within the general prison population."

Details on Sentences and Releases

Regarding the sentences being served by the recently freed prisoners, the statement outlines: two had been sentenced to six years of imprisonment; another two to nine years; five to 10 years; two to 11 years; four to 13 years; one to 14 years; one to 15 years; two to 16 years; and one to 18 years. "This distribution confirms that the majority were not close to completing their sentences," the document highlights.

All the released individuals were imprisoned for their involvement in the July 11, 2021 protests (11J). They are all male and reportedly, the regime prioritized those with lower public visibility or lesser confrontation levels during their incarceration.

Conditional Releases Raise Concerns

"There remains concern that these measures have not constituted full releases, but rather conditional and revocable prison benefits, which extend state control mechanisms over the released individuals," the information emphasizes.

Justice 11J functions as a collaborative platform and program of the Mexican civil association "Initiative for Research and Advocacy," specializing in documenting and highlighting state repression and human rights violations in Cuba post-11J.

Background on the March Announcement

On March 12, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the release of 51 prisoners, linking it to the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025 of Pope Francis and the mediation of the Holy See. The following day, Miguel Díaz-Canel denied any connection to U.S. pressures, describing the measure as a "sovereign decision."

However, Prisoners Defenders warned from the start that only between 19 and 27 of the 51 announced were political prisoners; the rest were common inmates, highlighting the lack of transparency with which the regime manages the process.

Amnesty vs. Conditional Freedom

These releases do not equate to a genuine amnesty: the judicial sentences remain in effect and those released are under revocable conditional freedom, meaning they can be re-imprisoned at any time if the authorities decide so.

Justice 11J and other organizations use the hashtag #NiLibresNiTodos to denounce this condition, demanding that the process be conducted with transparency and accountability.

This process coincides with the massive pardon of 2,010 prisoners announced on April 2, which the regime presented as a humanitarian gesture for Easter. However, no political prisoner was included in this pardon, as those convicted of crimes against authority were explicitly excluded.

Meanwhile, according to the organization's data, at least 760 political prisoners remain incarcerated in Cuba.