Cuban Political Prisoners Increased 5-Fold in 2021

CUBAN POLITICAL PRISONERS INCREASED. The count from Nov. 2020 to Dec. 2021 went up from 134 to 805 political prisoners in Cuba. In fact, the watchdog group Prisoners Defenders (PD) said that amounted to only a fraction of the real numbers.

PD finds it hard to verify numerous other cases of political prisoners. But it does say that the majority are prisoners of conscience. That includes many in prison due to charges that are false or fabricated or of a non-criminal nature.

Pastors detained and persecuted

Moreover, in July, protests broke out over food & medical shortages, and authorities detained multiple pastors. Yet they were “peacefully…calling for greater respect for human rights,” said USCIRF’s James Carr. The wife of detained Pastor Yeremi Blanco Ramirez called for all Christians to intercede. For “they are killing people, disappearing people, beating them, murdering parents in front of their children.”

Cuba declared itself a secular instead of an atheist state in a 1992 constitutional amendment. Since then, the percentage of Christians has risen to about 59%. But government surveillance and infiltration of Christians is growing with it.

Yet in December, President Miguel Diaz-Canel claimed, “There are no political prisoners in Cuba.” So we must pray that the truth will set the wrongly imprisoned free.