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Freedom House demanded the immediate release of Jonathan Muir Burgos, a 16-year-old Cuban teenager imprisoned since March 16 in the maximum-security prison of Canaleta, Ciego de Ávila, after participating in protests against blackouts and shortages in Morón.
The pro-democracy organization based in Washington D.C. published a message on X in which it described the imprisonment of the minor as "a chilling reminder that the Cuban regime is willing to imprison even minors for exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly."
"No child should face imprisonment for raising their voice. Cuba must immediately free Jonathan Muir and all political prisoners," stated Freedom House.
The statement came on the same day that Jonathan's father, the evangelical pastor Elier Muir Ávila, reported that his son is being physically assaulted by common prisoners at the instigation of State Security.
"Dad, they are already throwing the inmates at me, so they can hit me, so they can hurt me," the teenager confessed to his father, according to Elier's testimony.
"His life is in danger. They want to accuse him of being one of the main leaders of the protest and of having set fire to the Party," warned the father, who held the Cuban government, State Security, and the prison authorities directly responsible.
Jonathan was arrested along with his father on March 16 when they went to a police summons in Morón, days after participating in the protests on March 13, triggered by daily blackouts of over 26 hours and extreme food shortages.
The father was released hours later; the minor, on the other hand, was first taken to the DTI in Ciego de Ávila and then to Canaleta, an adult penitentiary, despite being only 16 years old.
The Municipal Prosecutor's Office of Morón accuses him of sabotage, a charge that can carry a prison sentence of between 7 and 15 years.
The Provincial People's Court rejected a habeas corpus filed in his favor on March 26.
The regime ignored both a request from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) sent to Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez and Resolution 30/2026, through which the IACHR granted precautionary measures to the minor, considering their rights to life, personal integrity, and health to be at irreparable risk.
Jonathan's health situation is critical: he suffers from severe dyshidrosis, infections caused by streptococcus and staphylococcus, two untreated intestinal parasites, and vasovagal crises with episodes of disorientation and malnutrition.
He receives only one meal a day in a disposable cup, and none of the four medical specialists he needs have been provided to him, according to his father who reported this after the visit last Tuesday, during which he saw him crying behind bars.
José Daniel Ferrer García, leader of UNPACU, shared the testimony of the father and denounced: "Only a criminal tyranny orders what is being done to Jonathan Muir Burgos, a 16-year-old teenager, who is sick and has serious health problems in Canaleta prison."
Freedom House's statement coincided with the release of the monthly report by Prisoners Defenders, which documented a new record of 1,260 political prisoners in Cuba as of the end of April 2026, including 35 minors, 142 women, and 449 individuals with serious illnesses.
Jonathan has a medical appointment scheduled at a hospital in Washington D.C. for next Wednesday, May 20, rescheduled for the eighth time since 2023 due to delays in the humanitarian visa.
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