Cuban protesters report being sent to jail without fair trials

MIAMI – Video shot by Elizabeth Cintra Garcia shows her before she presented herself at a military unit after she was cited following the widespread protests in Cuba earlier this month.

Her mother Maidelki Garcia Guzman says Elizabeth remains detained in a women’s prison in Santa Clara, charged with disrespect of authorities, epidemic spread, public disorder and inciting others to protest.

Reports keep coming out of Cuba that protestors are being sentenced to jail without fair trials.

The Cuban government is reportedly using summary trials, quick procedures with little documentation or the ability of the accused to prove their innocence.

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Elizabeth Cintra Garcia’s mother says she has no words to express her pain.

Her 20-year-old daughter is now awaiting trial simply for protesting the government.

She’s calling on the international community to speak on behalf of all the young people in Cuba who will be unjustly prosecuted.

According to Cubalex, a human rights organization that has been monitoring the detentions, more than 600 Cubans across the island were detained following the protests that sparked July 11.

Local human rights attorneys have started filing complaints with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

But Cuba will likely not cooperate with such investigations or allow them on the island.

From Havana, Cuban government officials say that some people have been arrested, but they don’t specify how many or address why Cubans are being sentenced so quickly.


About the Author:

In January 2017, Hatzel Vela became the first local television journalist in the country to move to Cuba and cover the island from the inside. During his time living and working in Cuba, he covered some of the most significant stories in a post-Fidel Castro Cuba.