In its April 25th annual report on international human rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights asserted that Cuba is in “serious violation of the fundamental elements and institutions of representative democracy, among them, an abusive exercise of power that contradicts the rule of law in the face of the systematic infringement of the independence of the Judiciary.”[1]
The lack of independence and the abuse of power, which hinder the exercise of human rights by Cubans, are based on the “continuity of a single-party political model; the concentration of faculties and powers for the conduct of public affairs; and the subordination of the administration of justice to political power.”
“Although the Cuban Electoral Law allows the free political participation of citizens,” in practice “the Communist Party continues to regulate, control and direct the electoral processes in the country.”
“The limitations on the exercise of political participation, derived from the single-party system and the monopoly of power in a single political group, result in the emptying of the fundamental essence (minimum content) of political rights.”
Although Article 150 of the 2019 Constitution establishes that “magistrates and judges, in their function of administering justice, are independent and owe obedience only to the law,” in practice, this independence is not respected, as demonstrated by testimonies from former members of the Cuban Judicial System.
In 2023, the IACHR received “”numerous complaints of massive violations of freedom, security and personal integrity; protection against arbitrary detention; the inviolability of the home, and the freedom of movement and transportation of Cuban people.”
“The IACHR also expressed concern about Cuba’s high incarceration rate — which has the second-highest prison population in the world , as confirmed in January by World Prison Brief (WPB)—as well as the deplorable detention conditions that characterize Cuban prisons. and the use of torture and ill-treatment practices against prisoners.”
Similar conclusions were made by the V-Dem Institute at Sweden’s University of Gothenburg, which classified Cuba as a “closed autocracy.”
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[1] IACHR Annual Report 2023 highlights challenges in human rights and democratic institutions (April 25, 2024); Abuse of power, intimidation, high incarceration rate: Chapter on Cuba of the IACHR annual report, Diario de Cuba (April 26, 2024).