Relatives of Cuban prisoners ask European Parliament to pressure Cuba to release political prisoners

By Rebeca Crespo

Fifty relatives of Cuban political prisoners on Wednesday asked Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, to demand that Havana comply with the resolutions approved by the European Parliament and that the European Commission use the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement to call for the release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Cuba.

In a letter delivered to that headquarters by the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights, the signatories indicate that they come “seeking solidarity in our tireless efforts to achieve the release of our loved ones unjustly imprisoned”.

The document recalls that in September 2021, the European Parliament passed a resolution on government repression of protests and citizens in Cuba that has not yet obtained the desired results.

“When 18 months have passed since that resolution, we humbly ask you to reiterate to the Cuban authorities the demand for the release of our relatives,” they request.

The signatories, among whom are members of the group Cuba de Luto [Cuba in Mourning], have recalled:

“Cuba is the country in the Western hemisphere with the most political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in its jails, and this should concern democracies.”

They point out that the poverty of most Cubans is a reality despite “the official Cuban discourse and that of certain European sectors.”

They recall the conditions of the prisoners “who suffer starvation, lack of medical care and diseases of all kinds, intimidation with common prisoners, beatings and extreme punishments, including threats to their families.”

“President, for us, the European Union is important, and it is important, among other things, because of the values it represents.”

“No matter how many challenges, even internal, no Founding Father would have abandoned the cause of freedom in the world, especially where there are men and women who suffer oppression for the simple fact of demanding freedom for all their fellow citizens,” they conclude.

With information from LGI