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Cuba: Hundreds of participants in mass protests in court
Charges against participants in the mass anti-government protests that took place in Cuba last summer. As announced by the Attorney General in Havana, a total of 710 people have to answer to the court in a first wave of four collective lawsuits. They are accused of inciting riots, sabotage, public unrest, property damage and violent robbery. In a tweet, Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez contradicted allegations that international children’s rights were being violated. As a result, according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, young people are only criminally responsible from the age of 18 and are usually judged according to juvenile criminal law. In Cuba, 14-year-olds are also in prison because of the protests. According to the Attorney General, the majority of the accused are in custody and more than 170 people have already been convicted. According to observers, prison sentences of up to 30 years have been pronounced. Human rights groups, the US government and the European Union have criticized the trials for lacking transparency and for lengthy prison sentences disproportionate to the crimes committed. On July 11, 2021, mass protests spontaneously formed. They were the largest demonstrations since Fidel Castro’s socialist government came to power in 1959. People took to the streets against repression and mismanagement. However, the protests were immediately broken up by security forces, some of them violently. The Cuban government has claimed that the United States orchestrated the mass demonstrations.
A first wave of four collection processes is underway against participants in the mass protests that took place last summer.