Animal rights association raises alarm about repression, intimidation, and attacks on the families of its members

A Cuban animal rights association denounced on Tuesday an escalation of repression, intimidation, and harassment against its members and their families, in a context they describe as increasingly suffocating for those defending civic and social causes on the island.

The complaint was made public by the Animal Welfare Association of Cuba (BAC) through a message shared on Facebook, in which its members report constant pressure, individual persecution, and actions aimed at causing emotional strain and disbanding the group.

According to the organization, speaking out in Cuba comes at a high cost, and the authorities aim to eradicate the association without a trace, targeting its members one by one and directly affecting their families as a method of intimidation.

"The world cannot continue to ignore this. It cannot look the other way while we ask for visibility, while we ask for help, while we are being silently killed," emphasized the statement.

BAC questioned the legitimacy of the official discourse on democracy and human rights while, they claim, those who merely demand justice, respect, and dignity are being pursued and harassed. They also called on the international community not to ignore what is happening.

The association warned that silence in the face of these events also has consequences and demanded visibility and external support regarding a situation that they claim can no longer continue without witnesses or answers.

"We are tired, yes. Stubborn as well. Tired of seeing how they try to dismantle this association, how they strike at its members one by one, how they seek for us to disappear without a sound, without witnesses, without consequences. They want this to end today, right now. They want to shut down this association and for no one to speak up for us," they emphasized in the statement.

In January, the animal rights organization reported a new wave of harassment against its members.

According to the association, over 60 women had been summoned by the political police and State Security agents in an operation they describe as a "sustained campaign of harassment" aimed at dismantling the movement.

In a statement released on its social media, BAC affirmed that the summonses are not isolated incidents, but rather part of a "structured and sustained" pattern of repression that has persisted since its founding.