Cuba: Demonstrations

(asked on 27th June 2022) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Cuban counterpart on the imprisonment of Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara and Maikel Osorbo Castillo Perez following recent protests in that country.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 4th July 2022

We are clear that human rights must be respected by the Cuban Government; that all Cubans have the right to protest peacefully and that the threat of arrest and excessive sentencing must not be used as a tool to restrict freedom of expression or the right to assemble. The sentences handed down to Luis Manual Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo are a clear violation of these principles.

In conjunction with the UK and other international partners, the British Embassy in Havana sought to attend the trial of Otero Alcántara and Castillo but were refused entry. The UK was one of the first countries to call for the Cuban people to be allowed to express their views freely and peacefully following the Cuban Government's response to demonstrations on 11 July and we continue to raise the detentions of protestors and excessive sentencing directly with the Cuban Government, both in London and Havana.

Reticulating Splines