The human rights organization Cubalex documented 19 deaths under state custody in Cuba linked to medical negligence or lack of care in the year to date in 2026, according to a report published this Monday.
Of that total, 17 deaths correspond to individuals deprived of liberty distributed across eight correctional facilities in the country, while the other two occurred at a police station in Havana and at the Psychiatric Hospital in Cienfuegos.
The Provincial Prison of Las Tunas, known as El Típico, has the highest number of cases with four documented deaths, followed by the Combinado del Este and the Boniato Prison, with three each, and the Provincial Prison of Guantánamo, with two.
Among the most serious cases in El Típico is that of Yoandry Cutiño Oliva, 34 years old, who died in August in a state of severe malnutrition: he was approximately 1.78 meters tall and weighed only 32 kilograms.
The prison authorities attributed his death to cancer, but Cubalex points out that his physical deterioration was a direct result of the conditions of confinement.
In the same penal facility, José Rivero Consuegra, 63 years old and from Manatí, also passed away two days after suffering a heart attack, and a third unidentified inmate died of malnutrition.
The food situation in El Típico is alarming: according to reports received by Cubalex, the main dish served to the inmates is a flour paste that contains worms and emits a strong odor, and in response to complaints about food scarcity, the authorities tell them to "drink plenty of water."
Outside of the correctional facilities, Cubalex also documented the death of Ferrer Ortiz Alayón, 37 years old, a resident of Los Palos, Mayabeque, who was detained by the police in Havana on August 16 following a traffic incident, despite showing visible injuries to the head.
Instead of taking him to a hospital, the officers took him to the Zanja police station, where he remained for more than 17 hours without receiving urgent medical attention.
Ferrer was presented with cerebral edema, bruises, and three clots in the head, and he died as a result of these injuries.
In May, Arelis Pérez, a woman almost 60 years old, was allegedly beaten to death inside the Cienfuegos Psychiatric Hospital, reportedly by another patient admitted to the facility.
The report also includes the case of Roberto Álvarez Ávila, a member of the vessel from Florida that was attacked by Cuban Coast Guard forces in February 2026 near Cayo Falcones, Villa Clara, who died in March while hospitalized under state custody.
"They informed us that Roberto passed away, but we still do not know exactly what happened," his family stated.
A report by Prisoners Defenders from April 2026 estimated that the daily diet in Cuban prisons provides between 250 and 353 kilocalories, barely 10-14% of the minimum required for an adult, affecting around 90,000 inmates.
Cubalex warned that "the conditions of nutrition and the lack of medical attention endanger the life and health of the prison population and require an immediate response from the authorities," and called for independent and impartial investigations to clarify each of the documented deaths.
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