The Action Forum for Amnesty 2026 is working to draft a preliminary bill for Amnesty and Decriminalization of Dissent in Cuba, aiming to have it ready by mid-May of this year, as Eugenia Gutiérrez explained, communication director of the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC), the driving force behind the initiative.
Established on February 5, 2026, the forum brings together more than 50 organizations from Cuban civil society and individual participants. Among its founding organizations are CTDC, Ciudadanía y Libertad, V Formation, Red Femenina de Cuba, Cuba en Familia, NaturPaz, and Di.Verso, in addition to family members of political prisoners and activists from inside and outside the island.
"The forum is a space where we collaborate, a platform for civic engagement with over 50 organizations and individual citizen participants working towards a draft Law for Amnesty and the decriminalization of dissent," Gutiérrez explained in an interview with CiberCuba.
The draft proposal has two fundamental components. The first is a full amnesty: unconditional release of all political prisoners from 1959 to the present, expungement of criminal records, and restoration of civil and political rights. The second is the decriminalization of dissent, which would eliminate the possibility of imprisoning any citizen for exercising freedom of expression, opinion, assembly, or association.
"The decriminalization of dissent is important because it addresses at its root any crime related to the exercise of freedom of expression, freedom of opinion, assembly, or association, among other rights," emphasized Gutiérrez.
The forum explicitly rejects the so-called "half-measures," such as conditional extrapenal licenses or exiles, which the regime has historically used as tools of control.
During April, the forum will operate through five working groups: civic, communication, constitutional and human rights, international, and citizen mobilization. To present the draft proposal to the National Assembly of People's Power, 10,000 signatures are required, although each one must include electoral certification and this registration, which could previously be done in all municipalities, can now only be carried out in Havana, complicating participation for Cubans from within the country as well as those from abroad.
The initiative arises at a critical moment. Prisoners Defenders reported 1,207 political prisoners in Cuba in January 2026, a record number, while Justicia 11J estimates about 760 remaining prisoners as of March 2026 following selective releases. Meanwhile, it is unclear whether the discussions between the Cuban regime and the Trump administration explicitly include political prisoners, but officials in Havana have been quick to categorize this issue as an "internal matter."
The Venezuelan process serves as a reference and warning for the forum. Venezuela approved an Amnesty Law on February 20 under the leadership of Delcy Rodríguez, benefiting between 600 and 700 political prisoners, but it was developed by sectors linked to Maduro's own regime. The Cuban forum aims to avoid such a scenario.
"The American administration, the administration of Trump, must know that there is a civil society that is advocating for this amnesty law and they will understand it perfectly because it is also happening in Venezuela," asserted Gutiérrez.
The Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC), whose new board led by Manuel Cuesta Morúa took office on January 10, 2026, had already drafted a first bill for amnesty in 2021, which it now seeks to enhance with contributions from other organizations. Any Cuban citizen, both inside and outside the island, can join the forum via email at foroxamnistia@gmail.com.
"Cubans have already become a transnational nation where we all must work on the rebuilding of our country. And this is the first measure," Gutiérrez concluded.
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