On the critical situation in Cuba
B-9-2024-0148
on behalf of the Renew Group · Rapporteur: Javier Nart, Petras Auštrevičius, José Ramón Bauzá Díaz, Jordi Cañas, Fabio Massimo Castaldo, Dita Charanzová, Olivier Chastel, Karin Karlsbro, Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Dragoş Pîslaru, Frédérique Ries, María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos, Dragoş Tudorache, Hilde Vautmans
Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.
A resolution on the critical situation in Cuba. It condemns human rights violations, calls for the release of political prisoners, demands access for Parliament delegations and sanctions on officials, and asks the EU to trigger the PDCA urgency clause.¶¶¶
Key points
- Regrets that the situation of lack of democracy and freedoms in Cuba has not improved since the PDCA entered into force and has further deteriorated.¶
- Stresses that all parties must fulfil the binding provisions of the PDCA and uphold the universality of human rights.¶
- Condemns systematic human rights violations against protesters, dissidents, religious leaders, activists and artists, and urges Cuba to end its policy of repression.¶
- Calls for the immediate release of people detained for exercising their rights, the dismissal of unjust charges and support for the return of exiles.¶
- Denounces the exclusion of legitimate civil society organisations and the democratic opposition from EU-Cuba civil society seminars and political dialogues.¶
- Condemns Cuban state-driven forced labour in medical brigades, noting that 78 % of volunteers said they were deployed against their will or under coercive conditions.¶
- Rejects Cuba's refusal of an ad hoc Parliament delegation visit, urges access to the country, and calls for banning Cuban delegations from Parliament in the meantime.¶
- Demands that Cuba grant access to Parliament, EU and member state delegations and human rights organisations to monitor trials and visit imprisoned activists.¶
- Reiterates its call on the Council to apply the EU Global Human Rights Sanction Regime and sanction Miguel Díaz-Canel and other high-ranking officials.¶
- Reiterates its call to trigger Article 85(3)(b) of the PDCA for an urgent joint committee meeting, which may lead to suspension of the agreement.¶
Who is affected
- Cuban authorities, including the government and security forces, are urged to end repression and release detainees.¶¶
- Political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Cuba, whose release is demanded.
- Cuban civil society organisations and the democratic opposition, excluded from EU-Cuba dialogues.¶
- Cuban medical brigade workers, described as subjected to forced labour.¶
- Miguel Díaz-Canel and other high-ranking Cuban officials, targeted for sanctions.¶
Figures and deadlines
- 1 066 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience on 31 January 2024, including 33 who were minors at detention.¶
- More than 11 000 cases of 'pre-criminal' convictions documented.
- An average of 3 850 new 'pre-criminal' detentions every year under Article 72 of the Cuban Civil Code.
- Prisoners increased from 57 000 to 90 000, giving an incarceration rate of 794 per 100 000 inhabitants.¶
- 5 499 individuals arbitrarily detained in 2022.
- Femicides rose to 89 in 2023 and eight new cases reported so far in 2024.¶
- 78 % of 'volunteers' in international missions stated they were deployed against their will or under coercive conditions.¶