translated from Spanish: Protests in Cuba: The IACHR warned of “serious violations” of human rights.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has expressed its “concern” over what it considers to be “serious violations” of human rights registered in Cuba following the protests against the government, which began on July 11. In a statement, the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the IACHR reiterated its rejection of “actions of repression during the demonstrations” and warned that the complaints received by civil society “are serious and deserve the attention of the Cuban authorities and the international community.” According to the information received, the days of protest were followed by a police deployment both in the streets and in private residences, which would have lasted for several days,” the text states. Thus, the IACHR has indicated that the denounced acts “include the arrests of hundreds of demonstrators, the incommunicado detention of the persons detained, and the uncertainty of family members about their whereabouts.” The IACHR has also pointed out that there have been acts of “surveillance and monitoring of residences,” as well as the opening of judicial proceedings “without adequately guaranteeing the right of defense of persons in state custody,” as reported by radio television station Martí.” In this context, the Rapporteurship has been informed about the first prison sentences following the protests of July 11, which would have been issued after a summary trial in which most of the defendants did not have a legal defense and in which twelve people received sentences of 10 months to 1 year in prison” , has alerted. In this regard, he stressed that there is a lack of information on the part of the Government: “police authorities and the Prosecutor’s Office denied that there was a single missing person, they affirmed that there are no unknown or secret places of detention on the island.” For this reason, he has called on the countries of the region to “fulfill their international duty to act on the basis of the legality of the protests and under the assumption that they do not constitute a threat to public order.”

Original source in Spanish