Demonstrations of this 8M in various countries demand the release of dozens of Cuban political prisoners

Sulmira Martinez or Salem, as she signs herself on the networks, is a young Cuban woman of barely 21 years old, residing in the municipality of Arroyo Naranjo, in Havana. She has been in custody since January 10 because she published three posts on her Facebook profile in which she called for protests against the government. Despite the fact that she does not reach a total of 8000 followers, the girl was accused of “propaganda against the constitutional order”a crime for which he could receive a long sentence.

This is just the latest case of more than a thousand political prisoners on the island (according to a recent report submitted to the UN by the non-governmental organization Prisoners Defender, the current figure is 1,077). They are among them more than a hundred women(137 according to Cubalex’s March 6 update) who are often more vulnerable since they have to face gender-based violence, in addition to that implied in their unjust sentences.

another young one influencer, known as “A girl”he has been in prison since the summer of 2022 for filming a police officer beating two girls during popular protests in the city of Nuevitas.

The vast majority of them spend longer in prison as a result mass protests on July 11, 2021and many, as in the case of men, were sentenced to high sentences in summary and abbreviated proceedings, without evidence and legal guarantees.

Recently, 11 political prisoners from the El Guatao Penal Center wrote a letter signed with their own blood and addressed pope Francis and the Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel. But instead of a solution to their demand for freedom, they were met with reprisals. One of them, Lizandra Góngora, condemned that because of this they were brought to court inside the prison.

Several activists, mostly women, promoted protest initiatives in response to this situation. Among them is the journalist Mónica Baró, who was in charge of publishing the letter and who confirmed that it was different demonstrations this March 8 in cities like New York, Madrid and Montevideo to demand the release of Cuban political prisoners. “In Cuba, there is no right to demonstrate in the streets, so many Cubans in exile think that we should use this right that we have outside of Cuba to make visible what is happening in our country and condemn human rights violations,” he explained.

In the meantime, quite a few on the island will wear black on this day as a sign of mourning. One for prisoners or mothers of female prisoners, the other for victims of sexist violence, which shows alarming numbers this year. But everyone agrees that there is no reason to celebrate this International Women’s Day.