Significant human rights abuses continue in Cuba, according to the newly released 2024 State Department Report on Human Rights. These include violence and intimidation against dissidents with impunity, while families of political prisoners face retaliation for their advocacy.
The Communist regime in Cuba harasses worshippers, blocks free association by civil society organizations, and denies free speech, including through limited internet access and the absence of a free press.
The Cuban government harbors fugitives of American justice and fails to meet the basic requirements of a free and just society.
The government did not take credible steps or action to identify and punish officials who committed human rights abuses.
The nongovernmental organization, or NGO, Center for Legal Information Cubalex released a report documenting 56 deaths of persons in detention or under custody of authorities between January 2022 and January 2024. The report stated one of the principal causes of death was use of excessive force. A case in point is that of Roleívis León who died January 7, 2024, in a Colón hospital after being beaten by prison officials while on a hunger strike.
Repression and forced exile were used to harass independent journalists. In June 2024 authorities fined independent journalist Julio Aleaga Pesant 3,000 Cuban pesos ($125) for the crime of “enemy propaganda” because of his social media posts criticizing the lack of rights in the country.
The Cuban regime continues to harass and threaten independent citizen journalists who reported on human rights abuses. As of September 2024, the NGO Instituto Cubano por La Libertad de Expresión y Prensa (Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and Press) registered 99 arbitrary detentions, 179 aggressive actions and threats, 126 physical assaults, and 36 artists, social media influencers, reporters, activists, political prisoners, and religious figures imprisoned or under house arrest for exercising their right of freedom of expression.
The latest Human Rights Report makes clear that life in Cuba remains anything but free. To address this, in June, President Donald Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum aimed at fostering a free and democratic Cuba and easing the Cuban people’s long-standing suffering under a Communist regime.
As President Trump has said, “I will again stand with the people of Cuba in their long quest for justice, liberty, and freedom.”
Significant human rights abuses continue in Cuba, according to the newly released 2024 State Department Report on Human Rights. These include violence and intimidation against dissidents with impunity, while families of political prisoners face retaliation for their advocacy.