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The United Nations Committee against Enforced Disappearance (CED) demanded that the Cuban state provide detailed information about the survivors of the armed confrontation between a boat coming from the U.S. and a vessel from the Island's Border Guard Troops on February 25th.
The human rights organization Cubalex reported that the CED issued a direct request to the government of the Island following the complaint presented by the entity regarding the situation of several survivors of the incident that occurred off the coast of Corralillo, in Villa Clara.
According to the statement released by the organization, the international body has granted a deadline until March 19 for the Cuban authorities to provide information on the exact whereabouts of the individuals involved, the charges against them, the legal grounds for their detention, and the corresponding official record.
The files registered by the committee under numbers AU No. 2240/2026 to 2244/2026 pertain to the Cuban citizens Conrado Galindo Sariol, Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara, Leordán Enrique Cruz Gómez, Amijail Sánchez González, Roberto Álvarez Ávila, and José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló.
Cubalex clarifies that in the case of Roberto Álvarez Ávila, one of the injured included in the urgent action, he passed away on March 4th in Cuba.
The human rights organization also noted that family members and legal representatives of the survivors tried for several days to obtain information about their whereabouts in hospitals, police units, and other state institutions without receiving official confirmation about their location or health status.
Cuban authorities, for their part, declared that they have been in contact, from the very beginning, with their U.S. counterparts regarding the incident, a matter that journalist Wilfredo Cancio was able to confirm with a source in Washington, who also stated that “the investigation into what happened is being conducted thoroughly in south Florida.”
According to the documentation sent to the United Nations committee, during one of the attempts to search for relatives, contact was made with the Arnaldo Milián Castro Hospital in Santa Clara, where it was initially indicated that one of the injured might be in intensive care; however, the center later denied that he was admitted.
In light of the lack of official information, on March 2, family members and legal representatives attempted to file a Habeas Corpus petition before the Provincial Popular Court of Camagüey to demand information regarding his whereabouts, as reported by Cubalex. However, according to the submitted document, the court's administration refused to accept the request, arguing that they were unaware of any details regarding “that case.”
The organization then resorted to the Urgent Action mechanism provided for in Article 30 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, a procedure that allows the committee to intervene when there are indications of disappearance related to an unacknowledged detention.
The case originates from the incident that occurred in the early hours of February 25th, when a vessel registered in the state of Florida was intercepted by a unit of the Border Guard Troops of the Ministry of the Interior of Cuba in the vicinity of Cayo Falcones, in the municipality of Corralillo, Villa Clara province.
According to the official Cuban statement cited by Cubalex, there were ten people on the boat, and during the operation four of them died, while six were injured and were detained.
The CED indicated that it will continue to monitor the case until the whereabouts and situation of the individuals included in the urgent actions recorded are clarified.
Amid rising tensions between Washington and Havana, as the multidimensional crisis on the Island reaches critical moments, and sectors both within the Island and among the emigrants call for a change in the dictatorial regime, the confrontations between vessels have added more uncertainty and exacerbated political narratives on both sides of the Florida Strait.
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