Cuba: Amnesty declares four new prisoners of conscience in midst of new wave of state repression

Widespread state repression has been enforced since the July 2021 protests, but a renewed effort to suppress dissent began this September

Félix Navarro, Dama de Blanco Sayli Navarro, Roberto Pérez Fonseca and Luis Robles have been named as prisoners of conscience

‘This is a recognition of the courage and resistance of the people of Cuba who … are fighting for their rights and the rights of all people’ - Ana Piquer

Amnesty International has declared political dissident Félix Navarro, independent journalist Dama de Blanco Sayli Navarro, 11J protester Roberto Pérez Fonseca and activist Luis Robles as prisoners of conscience.

These designations come in the context of renewed repression by the Cuban authorities against activists, human rights defenders, journalists, intellectuals and independent media in the last weeks of September. This includes an alarming increase in ill-treatment, harassment, arbitrary detentions, new threats of criminalisation, denial of prison benefits and worrying reports of deterioration in the health and physical integrity of detainees.

Ana Piquer, Director of the Americas at Amnesty International, said:

“These designations are a recognition of the dozens of people who remain in prison in Cuba for peacefully exercising their rights, and of all those who live under constant surveillance, harassment and the threat of criminalisation. This is a recognition of the courage and resistance of the people of Cuba who are standing up to constant and generalised repression and fighting for their rights and the rights of all people.

“Following the widespread state repression unleashed by the July 2021 protests, and with many activists, political opponents and dissidents unjustly imprisoned, the Cuban state seems intent on eradicating any capacity for resistance within Cuban society, which now extends to projects, spaces and activism not linked to traditional political opposition or dissidence.

“It is imperative that the international community show solidarity and demand the immediate release of those imprisoned for exercising their rights, and an end to the repression and harassment of dissidents in Cuba.”

Prisoners of conscience

• Félix Navarro is a 71-year-old political dissident and founder of the “Pedro Luis Boitel” Party for Democracy. For over 30 years, he has been the coordinator of the Patriotic Union of Cuba and has been associated with the Cuba Decides platform and the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba. Félix is currently serving his third prison sentence for political reasons. He was imprisoned in 1992 on charges of “enemy propaganda” for putting up “anti-revolution” posters in his hometown. In 2003, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the criminal proceedings following the crackdown known as the “Black Spring”, along with 75 other dissidents, journalists and activists. In this context, he was declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty. He was released on extra-penal leave on 23 March 2011, together with fellow prisoner of conscience José Daniel Ferrer, as the last of the group of 75 to be freed after previously refusing to be released in exchange for exile.

• Sayli Navarro, Félix Navarro’s daughter, is a 38-year-old activist and co-founder of the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White), a group of mothers, wives and daughters of the group of 75 people arrested during the “Black Spring”. Sayli has lived with the consequences of the state repression exercised against her father since she was a child. She was expelled from university in 2010 because of her “counter-revolutionary links”, and has been arbitrarily detained, subjected to interrogation and threatened on a number of occasions by state security agents and police authorities.  

Félix and Sayli Navarro were sentenced in March 2022 to 9 and 8 years in prison respectively for events related to the protests of July 2021. Both were violently arrested on 12 July at their local police station in the town of Perico, Matanzas province, when they went to enquire about the situation of members of their movement who had been arrested during the protests the day before.  

• Luis Robles, 32, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison in March 2022 on charges of enemy propaganda and disobedience for peacefully protesting on a pedestrian street in central Havana in December 2020. Luis was holding up a sign that read “Freedom”, “No+Repression” and “#Free-Denis” while walking in circles as dozens of people began to film him. Luis held up the sign for several minutes until the police approached him, took the sign from him and arrested him, with Luis putting up no resistance. This happened a few days after the San Isidro Movement staged a lockdown and hunger strike to demand the release of rapper Denis Solís. Luis wanted to express his solidarity with the rapper and the San Isidro Movement.

• Roberto Pérez Fonseca, 41, was sentenced in October 2021 to 10 years imprisonment for his participation in the protests of July 2021. Roberto was charged with the offences of contempt, assault, public disorder and incitement to commit a crime, all of which are typically used by the Cuban authorities against those who exercise their right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found Roberto's detention to be arbitrary and motivated by the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of assembly and association, as well as to freedom of opinion and expression. It also found that Roberto's right to a fair and impartial trial had been violated.

Climate of repression

Independent media organisations El Toque, Periodismo de Barrio and Cubanet have claimed in editorials and on social media that their contributors have received threats of criminalisation from the authorities in recent weeks. According to these reports, contributors have repeatedly been summoned by police and state security agents and informed of possible criminal prosecution for “mercenarism”. In addition, activists and independent media contributors reported on their social networks that they had received arbitrary summonses followed by interrogations by the authorities and state security agents about their journalistic work and their links to certain individuals or media outlets considered to be "counter-revolutionary".

Amnesty has had access to the testimonies of at least 20 activists who have reported being threatened with imprisonment, forced to record themselves and sign declarations of self-incrimination, and deprived of their mobile phones and computers. Similarly, Cuban human rights organisations reported that at least three independent media contributors were forced to write public resignations on their social networks, expressing their intention not to work with independent media.

On 16 September, cultural magazine PM Magazine announced that it was closing down permanently due to increasing pressure and harassment against its director by state security agents.

Ana Piquer said:

“This climate of constant fear and intimidation adds to our concern at the continuing reports of the deteriorating health and ill-treatment of prisoners of conscience Loreto Hernández, Pedro Albert and José Daniel Ferrer, and the increasing and systematic harassment of journalist Carlos Michael Morales, and Damas de Blanco leader Berta Soler.”

Amnesty calls for the immediate and unconditional release of prisoners of conscience, and of all those unjustly imprisoned solely for exercising their human rights. The organisation also calls on the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel to respect human rights, including the right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, to repeal repressive legislation, and to end the repression of dissidents.

In order to determine whether a person is a prisoner of conscience, Amnesty uses the information available to it regarding the circumstances leading to their detention. By designating a particular person as a prisoner of conscience, Amnesty is affirming that this person must be immediately and unconditionally released but is not endorsing their past or present views or conduct.