The Cuban regime committed at least 1,949 repressive actions against citizens during the first six months of 2026, according to the semiannual report from the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) published on July 7 from Madrid.
The figures include 257 arbitrary detentions and 488 illegal house arrests, with at least 50 cases in which the regime used direct violence against the detainees.
The provinces most affected were Havana, Camagüey, Santiago de Cuba, Matanzas, and Villa Clara, while January, April, and May saw the highest peaks of repression during the semester.
36.5% of the repressive actions targeted women, while 63.5% targeted men. The OCDH also documented at least 300 actions in the prison context, primarily directed against political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, and received 50 reports of reprisals against the families of these inmates.
One of the most affected sectors was independent journalism, with 91 reported cases in the semester. Among the most notable incidents are the three arrests of Henry Constantin, director of La Hora de Cuba, just in January, and the arrest of journalist Ángel Cuza Alfonso in front of his young daughter in Havana on April 30.
Yoani Sánchez, founder of 14ymedio, was also detained on January 28 to prevent her from attending a diplomatic reception.
In June alone, 299 repressive actions were recorded: 47 arbitrary detentions and 252 additional abuses, including 60 violations against political prisoners, common prisoners, and their families, as well as summonses, threats, and systematic harassment.
Most of the arrests that month were in response to peaceful protests sparked by prolonged power outages, food shortages, and the widespread deterioration of living conditions.
The 107 protests recorded in Cuba during June included mass operations in Contramaestre, where the regime deployed forces following local demonstrations, and the harassment of detained religious leaders while they were conducting worship activities.
Among the most severe cases documented in June were the arrests of teenagers and minors in Havana and Santiago de Cuba, the arrest of content creator Eddy Ceballos due to his satirical channel, and the repeated detention of evangelical pastor Alian López Rodríguez in Sancti Spíritus.
The report arrives just days before the fifth anniversary of the massive protests on July 11, 2021, the largest in Cuba in decades.
Prisoners Defenders confirmed as of July 9 a historical record of 1,306 political prisoners on the island, among them 40 minors and 458 with serious medical conditions. The mass pardon in April 2026, which released 2,010 inmates, explicitly excluded those convicted of "crimes against authority," the legal figure used to imprison demonstrators from the July 11 protests.
The OCDH warned that its data always reflects an underreporting of reality and made a direct statement: “As we approach the five-year anniversary of the massive protests on July 11 in Cuba, we denounce the serious repressive situation in the country, especially the brutality against political prisoners: they are being slowly killed.”
"The collected data demonstrates that the Cuban regime persists in its repression against the population and has no intention of implementing changes in political matters and human rights. While official and unofficial representatives of the regime claim they want to engage in dialogue with the United States, what the people face is hunger and repression," concluded the Observatory.
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