US Holds Cuban Regime to Account for Human Rights Abuses

The State Department has designated four Cuban regime officials for their involvement in the arbitrary detention and sentencing of Luis Robles Elizástigui. He was arrested while protesting in Havana, Cuba, in December 2020 while holding a sign that read “Liberty” and “No more Repression.” Robles Elizástigui was charged with “disobedience” and “enemy propaganda,” according to rights groups.

Robles Elizástigui was released in January on parole after serving most of his sentence. But the regime has severely limited his freedom of movement and expression.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a statement, accused “Cuban judges and prosecutors of being “agents of the regime,” playing “a critical role in these arbitrary detentions and prosecutions.”

“They are responsible for the sham legal processes that unjustly target, convict, and sentence individuals for peaceful expressions and activism,” he said.

Secretary Rubio also drew attention to the recent re-arrests of two political prisoners who he said are being returned to jail on “frivolous grounds.” The first is human rights activist José Daniel Ferrer, who founded an opposition group called the National Patriotic Union in 2011. Ferrer was re-arrested in April for allegedly violating the terms of his parole, a mere three months after his release.

The second dissident re-arrested in April was Félix Navarro. He was detained after allegedly violating the terms of his parole. Navarro was initially arrested and sentenced to nine years in prison after the July 11, 2021, nationwide demonstrations against the government, the largest since the 1959 Cuban revolution.

In response to such rights abuses, the State Department designated prosecutor Yanaisa Matos Legrá and judges Gladys Maria Padrón Canals, Maria Elena Fornari Conde, and Juan Sosa Orama. As a result, these regime officials and their families are ineligible for entry into the United States. All four work at the People’s Provincial Court of Havana, where they oversaw the prosecution, conviction, and sentencing of Robles Elizástigui on behalf of the regime.

“These designations are further proof that the Trump Administration is committed to holding accountable Cuban regime officials involved in violating human rights,” declared Secretary Rubio. “We continue to use all available tools to stand up for the human rights of the Cuban people and encourage our allies and partners to do the same.”