Madrid/The Justicia 11J platform and other independent organizations such as Casa Palanca or the Alas Tensas Gender Observatory demanded this Thursday that the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) speak out against the violence and reprisals suffered by the mothers, wives, daughters and sisters of political prisoners on the Island. a letter addressed to the general secretary of the organization, Teresa Amarelle Boué, they denounce that women who bring food and medicine to prisons, or publicly complain for their relatives, are subject to interrogations, surveillance, arrests and threats.
“The Constitution of the Republic establishes that the State protects women from gender violence ‘in any of its manifestations and spaces’,” the letter states. “This mandate does not allow exceptions for political reasons. When State agents use motherhood, threats against children or sexual violence to intimidate and punish these women, repression also takes on a dimension of gender violence.”
In the text, the signatories reproach: “We are not aware of any statement from the Federation regarding the situation of female relatives of people imprisoned for political reasons. An organization that claims to defend Cuban women cannot remain silent when the State punishes them for caring for and defending their own.”
“An organization that claims to defend Cuban women cannot remain silent when the State punishes them for caring for and defending their own”
The document is published the day after the civil association, created as a result of July 11, 2021 to monitor arrests after the historic demonstrations of that day and today integrated into the Initiative for Research and Incidence AC (AC Initiative), registered in Mexico, published an extensive report on the repression against the relatives of prisoners of conscience, coinciding with “the month of fight against violence against women.”
Its main conclusion is that the attacks are not limited to those who are in prison: it also systematically affects those close to them, especially those who denounce the arrests and demand justice. Thus, the research, which is titled Women who sustain the fightdocuments that between July 11, 2021 and October 31, 2026, there have been around 400 repressive events against more than a hundred female relatives of political prisoners.
Most of them have consisted of summonses and interrogations (102), threats (87), arbitrary arrests (77) and police surveillance (69), but they have also recorded around twenty sexual assaults – “forced nudity during interrogations, searches and visits; proposals and non-consensual sexual contacts by agents; physical attacks against a pregnant woman and another who had just given birth, and campaigns to deteriorate relationships” – as well as the use of motherhood as an instrument of pressure, for example, threatening to withdraw custody of the children.
The report also indicates that at least six women who initially accompanied imprisoned relatives ended up being prosecuted, imprisoned or convicted – one of them, Ana Ibis Tristá Padilla, wife of political prisoner Damián Hechavarría Labrada, received a sentence of 14 years in prison – and asserts: “State Security appears responsible for 65% of the documented episodes.”
Since 11J, in short, the number of women who bear the consequences of the imprisonment of their relatives has increased
Justice 11J considers that this repression has three strategies – preventing new actions, responding to complaints and using punishment as a lesson – for an ultimate objective: to dismantle the organization of families, isolate them and discourage their public demands for justice, as the Ladies in White did after the convictions against their husbands during the Black Spring of 2003.
Citing a resolution of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the text claims that these practices “violate Cuba’s international obligations regarding the protection of family ties, dignified treatment of prison visitors, protection of children and adolescents, access to information and protection against reprisals.”
This Thursday’s letter to the FMC is a continuation of this complaint, which is why the signatories summarize the conclusions of the report. Since 9/11, in short, the number of women who bear the consequences of the incarceration of their family members has increased.
And the Federation not only has not defended them, but has contributed to the attacks. In this regard, Justicia 11J points out that FMC leaders in several provinces have been identified as promoters of acts of repudiation against activists.
Given this situation, they demand that the official body publicly condemn the retaliation, recognize forced nudity, sexual coercion and threats related to motherhood as gender violence, and demand that these events be investigated. They also ask that the Women and Family Guidance Houses serve these women without discrimination based on their political opinions or those of their family members.
Their demands also include that the Federation disassociate itself from acts of repudiation and stigmatization campaigns against women who denounce violations of rights, and that it inform the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women of the measures adopted to protect human rights defenders and the families of imprisoned people.
The publication of the letter also coincides with other reports that denounce the growing repression on the Island. The Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) denounced last week that the Cuban regime is increasing repression to force the exile of activists, intimidate citizens and put pressure on the United States and the European Union. In October, the organization documented at least 387 repressive actions against the population, including 30 arbitrary arrests and 357 abuses of various kinds. Among the documented events, there were 145 police sieges of the homes of opponents, independent journalists and members of the Ladies in White, in addition to 63 abuses against political prisoners and 12 police summonses with threats.
In the last six months alone, PD has documented 204 new political prisoners in Cuba, and 346 in the last year, which is equivalent to “an average of 29 new political prisoners per month.”
The data is complemented this Thursday with the report corresponding to that month from Prisoners Defenders, which places political prisoners in Cuba at 1,353 and warns of an “alarming growth in repression that does not distinguish between ages or sex.”
The organization, based in Madrid, documented 37 removals from the list and pointed out that they are due to the “number of political prisoners who, (…) after the criminal proceedings for the peaceful demonstrations of July 11 (11J) 2021, are progressively serving the high sentences imposed.” In the last six months alone, PD has documented 204 new political prisoners in Cuba, and 346 in the last year, which is equivalent to “an average of 29 new political prisoners per month.”
Furthermore, the October additions show “especially significant patterns in the nature of repression” linked to “protests, posters, slogans, graffiti, propaganda, dissemination of critical messages or other forms of political expression.”
“Two out of every three new incorporations in October have their origin in events directly related to the expression of opinions or protest” on the Island, adds the organization, which gives as an example the high prison sentences demanded –up to 13 years– for the protesters from Morón, in Ciego de Ávila, who were arrested last March for demanding light amid extensive blackouts.
The NGO also criticized “the deplorable and inhumane health situation to which political prisoners are subjected,” after documenting 464 cases with “serious illnesses.” Forced malnutrition affects 236 prisoners, but there are also 80 patients with hypertension, 39 with asthma and 24 with diabetes, in addition to several patients with mental disorders.
