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Cuba: human rights and political prisoners

· Helfen statt Blockieren editorial team

On Cuba this website always names two halves: the US embargo and the failure of the Cuban leadership. Until now the second half appeared in subordinate clauses. This page brings together what independent bodies find on political prisoners, releases and freedom of expression in Cuba, what the government says, and how the figures come about.

1,351political prisoners in Cuba as of 30 September 2026, more than everPrisoners Defenders, 15 Oct 2026
152of them womenPrisoners Defenders, 15 Oct 2026
40were arrested as minorsPrisoners Defenders, 15 Oct 2026
553prisoners released in 2025 after mediation by the Holy SeeVatican News, March 2025

Who counts, and how

There is no official figure, because the government denies that political prisoners exist. The most quoted count comes from Prisoners Defenders, a human rights organisation. It says it verifies each case individually and removes names only once sentence and detention status are clear. For September 2026 it gives 1,351 people, including 152 women and 40 people arrested as minors; 476 are ill. In the twelve months to September 2026, a total of 1,486 people were on the list, with an average of 26.5 added per month.

Political prisoners by group, September 2026

Classification by Prisoners Defenders; 1,351 people in total. The 496 “Condenados de Conciencia” are convicted but not in prison; their freedom is restricted.

GroupPeople
Convictos de Conciencia802
Condenados de Conciencia496
Otros Presos Políticos53

Source: Prisoners Defenders, Presos políticos en Cuba, septiembre 2026, 15 Oct 2026, accessed 3 Nov 2026. The groups carry the organisation’s Spanish labels.

Others count differently. The organisation Justicia 11J, which focuses on the protests of 11 July 2021, gave about 760 people detained for political reasons in March 2026, 358 of them because of the protests. Human Rights Watch cited Justicia 11J for 2025 with 359 people imprisoned over these protests, with sentences of up to 22 years. The figures differ because the organisations cover different groups, for example house arrest or labour without detention. Anyone citing a figure should name the organisation and the date.

Releases and amnesties

On 14 January 2025 the United States removed Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism; Cuba undertook to release 553 prisoners. The Holy See had mediated. On 10 March 2025 a Cuban court official announced completion. On the day it took office, 20 January 2025, the new US administration put Cuba back on the list. Amnesty International took stock in January 2026: the process had been opaque, without clear criteria and with arbitrary conditions; at least 211 people held for political reasons had been freed, but some were pushed into exile or detained again. Human Rights Watch names José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro, re-arrested in April 2025, and Donaida Pérez Paseiro in May 2025. Amnesty called for the release of, among others, Sayli Navarro Álvarez, Félix Navarro, Loreto Hernández García, Donaida Pérez Paseiro, Roberto Pérez Fonseca, Maykel Castillo Pérez and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara.

Further steps followed in 2026. In March the foreign ministry announced the release of 51 convicted persons as a goodwill gesture towards the Vatican, without naming them. In April the government announced an amnesty for more than 2,000 prisoners; President Miguel Díaz-Canel’s decree of 3 April was published in the official gazette on 25 May and calls it a “humanitarian and sovereign gesture”. Reuters could not confirm whether protest prisoners were among them. Prisoners Defenders nevertheless reports a record in September 2026 and records an average of 26.5 new cases per month.

What the United Nations has found

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention examines individual cases. On 13 November 2024, in Opinion 66/2024, it found that the detention of the brothers Jorge and Nadir Martín Perdomo, arrested after the protests of July 2021, is arbitrary, under four of its five categories. The government had replied that the protests involved vandalism, violence against officers and breaches of COVID rules, and that pre-trial detention had been ordered lawfully. The Working Group considered this insufficient. Already in 2020 it had classified the detention of José Daniel Ferrer as arbitrary.

Freedom of expression and daily life

According to Human Rights Watch, the government controls all media and censors critics and independent journalists. When the state telecoms company ETECSA sharply raised mobile internet prices in May 2025, students protested; Justicia 11J counted 46 protests in June. The organisation Cubalex documented at least 203 arbitrary detentions during police operations from January to June 2025.

What the government says

The Cuban government denies holding political prisoners. According to the government, those detained after protests are charged with public disorder, resisting authority, robbery or vandalism. It describes releases as sovereign decisions and as common practice of its justice system. This position belongs in any account, as do the findings of the UN Working Group that contradict it.

The other half

The US embargo

Since January 2025 the United States again lists Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. Executive Order 14380 of 29 January 2026 permits additional tariffs on countries supplying oil to Cuba. On 28 October 2026 the UN General Assembly called for the 34th time for an end to the embargo, 130 states in favour, 17 against, 25 abstentions.

According to Human Rights Watch, power cuts lasted up to 20 hours a day in some areas in 2025; the health minister said only 30 percent of essential medicines were available. How the embargo contributes is shown in “Cuba 2026”.

Responsibility inside the country

Political prisoners, censorship, arbitrary detentions and an economic policy that, according to the lead article “Cuba 2026 as a case”, also slows permitted trade. On 18 June 2026 the European Parliament called for the release of political prisoners, far-reaching reforms and at the same time more aid against the humanitarian crisis.

Both halves are documented, and neither cancels the other. The embargo does not justify political detention, and political detention does not make the embargo effective. Whether sanctions change anything about the human rights situation is a separate, disputed question; see “Do sanctions work?”.

This article is information, not legal advice. It relies on the sources listed; where experts disagree, it names the positions and who holds them. “Helfen statt Blockieren” is non-partisan.

Sources

All online sources accessed on 3 November 2026.

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