The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations Human Rights Council concluded this week that the arrest and imprisonment of young CubansDenis Solis Gonzalez and Luis Roblesqualify as arbitrary arrests.
The announcement was made by the NGOCuban Prisoners Defenders (CPD), which presented the request for investigation before the international organization.
Although the Cuban delegation to the organization justified the imprisonments and declared them legal, the UN Working Group ruled in an extensive report that in both cases articles 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, given that their sentences represented the deprivation of the "exercise of rights or freedoms" proclaimed in those articles.
The UN report demands that the Cuban Government adopt the necessary measures to remedy the situation of Solís and Robles "without delay, and bring it into conformity with the relevant international standards, including those provided for in the Universal Declaration." It also urges the Cuban government to adhere to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which it is not currently a signatory.
"The Working Group considers that, taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to immediately release Denis Solís and Luis Robles and grant them the effective right to obtain compensation and other remedies, in accordance with the international law," says the text of the resolution.
The organization also urges the Cuban Government to carry out "an exhaustive and independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Denis Solís and Luis Robles and adopt the pertinent measures against those responsible for the violation of their rights."
In addition, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations Human Rights Council sent its report on the cases to the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, the Special Rapporteur on torture and the Special Rapporteur on cultural rights, "to take the corresponding measures."
The imprisonment of the musician Denis Solís, close to the San Isidro Movement, in November 2020 caused a dozen of its members to begin a hunger and thirst strike that ended with an assault by the political police on the group's headquarters.
"Denis Solís is my friend and brother in struggle. They took him to prison today after days of harassment. I will only say one thing: life is worthless when you live in fear and in hiding. There are beings of light and one is Denis, we are connected and we are going for him, his freedom and that of Cuba," the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara wrote on Tuesday, November 10, on his social networks. He then went on strike and was supported by several activists.
Both at the time of his arrest and at the police station to which he was transferred, Solís was beaten. In the Valle Grande prison, where he served his sentence, he was in a punishment cell several times.
Solís was released on July 11, the same day of the massive popular protests on the island, after servingthe eight months in prison to which he was sentenced. State Security threatened to return him to prison if he participated in any public protests.
In the case ofLuis Robles, he was arrested on December 4, 2020 while carrying a sign in protest on San Rafael Boulevard, in Havana, with the phrase "Freedom, no more repression" and "Free Denis Solís."
Initially fined one thousand pesos and detained in Villa Marista, the young man was later transferred to the Combinado del Este maximum security prison, where he remains to this day.
His trial, scheduled for July 16 in the Popular Municipal Court of Diez de Octubre, was suspended.
Last week, the Prosecutor's Officerejected a second request to change the precautionary measure in his favor, indicating that Robles should remain incarcerated until his trial.
The authorities charge him with the alleged crimes of "enemy propaganda" and "disobedience", for which he could receive a joint sentence of six years in prison.
During his stay in the Combinado del Este prison, he has received corporal punishment and was prevented from seeing his family.
ForCuban Prisoners Defenders, the UN conclusion on the cases of Solís and Robles is a boost to the call for the Civic March for Change on November 15.
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