NGO reports 71 rights violations and 4 deaths in Cuban prisons

The independent platform Cuban Prisons Documentation Center (CDPC) registered a total of 85 complaints related to people incarcerated in Cuba in September, of which 71 involved some type of rights violation and four deaths. In its new report on conditions in the island's penitentiary centers, published this Wednesday, the CDPC cites that the most frequent complaints referred to harassment and repression (48), violations of the right to health (24), denial or deficiency of medical care (20), poor living conditions (10), and the use of punishment cells (8). One of the deceased inmates, Alfredo Ulecia Planche, was serving a 25-year sentence in Guantánamo Provincial Prison, and according to the organization, he remained "for three days tied by hands and feet, without food or medical attention, until he died". Add that the other three deaths were officially classified as "suicides", but the victims' families reported "signs of violence and manipulation of evidence". This NGO indicated that 73 events of violations occurred in detention centers and prisons in fourteen of the fifteen Cuban provinces and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud.

You can also read: Cuba receives a flight with 136 deportees from the United States

It indicates that the highest number of incidents of violations were recorded in the Combinado del Este prisons (Havana), Mar Verde (Santiago de Cuba, east), Pinar del Río Provincial Prison (west) and Agüica (Matanzas, west). According to the report, at least 55 incarcerated people - five women and 50 men - were victims of some form of violation, and eight of the documented complaints impacted the entire prison population of certain establishments.