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The organization Justicia 11J confirmed that 20 political prisoners have been released in Cuba since the start of the process announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) on March 12.
The update, published on their website, includes a list of 18 verified names, while two identities remain protected for security reasons.
The confirmed releases are: Adael Jesús Leyva Díaz, Ariel Pérez Montesino, Deyvis Javier Torres Acosta, Eduardo Álvarez Rigal, Felipe Almirall, Franklin Reymundo Fernández Rodríguez, Hansel Felipe Arbolay Prim, José Luis Sánchez Tito, Juan Pablo Martínez Monterrey, Léster Ayala Alarcón, Luis Esteffani Hernández Valdés, Miguel Enrique Girón Velázquez, Oscar Bárbaro Bravo Cruzata, Roberto Ferrer Gener, Ronald García Sánchez, Wilmer Moreno Suárez, Yussuan Villalba Sierra, and Renán Julio Vilches Wong.
"It is worth noting that the Cuban regime did not acknowledge that it would benefit individuals imprisoned for political reasons, in line with its systematic practice of denying the existence of such detentions and subsuming these cases within the general population of the penitentiary system," the platform specifies.
Regarding the sentences that the recently released prisoners were serving, the message details: two had been sentenced to six years of imprisonment; another two, to nine years; five, to ten years; two, to eleven years; four, to thirteen years; one, to fourteen years; one, to fifteen years; two, to sixteen years; and one, to eighteen years.
"This distribution confirms that the majority were not close to fulfilling their sanction," the text states.
All the inmates were sentenced for their participation in the protests of July 11, 2021 (11J). They are all male, and apparently, the regime prioritized profiles with less public visibility or lower levels of confrontation during their imprisonment.
"The concern remains that these measures have not constituted full releases, but rather conditional and revocable penitentiary benefits, which prolong mechanisms of state control over the released individuals," emphasizes the information.
Justicia 11J is a collaborative platform and program of the Mexican civil association "Iniciativa para la Investigación y la Incidencia," specialized in documenting and bringing to light state repression and human rights violations in Cuba following the events of 11J.
On March 12, the MINREX announced the release of 51 inmates, linking it to the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025 of Pope Francis and the mediation of the Holy See. Miguel Díaz-Canel denied the following day any connection with pressures from the United States, describing the measure as a "sovereign decision."
However, Prisoners Defenders warned from the outset that only between 19 and 27 of the 51 announced were political prisoners; the rest were common inmates, highlighting the lack of transparency with which the regime manages the process.
The releases do not amount to a real amnesty: the judicial sentences remain in effect, and those released remain under revocable parole, meaning they can be re-incarcerated at any time if the authorities decide to do so.
Justicia 11J and other organizations are using the hashtag #NiLibresNiTodos to denounce precisely that condition, demanding that the process be carried out without transparency or accountability.
This process occurs simultaneously with the mass pardon of 2,010 prisoners announced on April 2, which the regime presented as a humanitarian gesture for Holy Week; however, no political prisoner was granted any benefit from this pardon, as those convicted of crimes against authority were explicitly excluded.
Meanwhile, at least 760 political prisoners remain incarcerated in Cuba, according to data from the organization itself.
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