CUBA: PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE RE-IMPRISONMENT

Dear President Miguel Díaz-Canel,

I am writing to express my deep concern over the arbitrary re-imprisonment of Cuban opposition leaders and prisoners of conscience, José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro, on April 29, 2025. Both men had previously been released in January under a conditional regime imposed without their consent.

Their re-arrest—without prior judicial notification or access to legal representation—constitutes a clear violation of their right to liberty and security of person, and contradicts Cuba’s obligations under international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

José Daniel Ferrer remains as a victim of enforced disappearance and is held incommunicado, without access to his family or legal counsel. Such conditions are deeply alarming. Incommunicado detention may facilitate torture, ill treatment, or enforced disappearance. In certain circumstances, it may itself amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, and violates the absolute prohibition of torture under international law.

Félix Navarro, a 71-year-old former teacher and long-standing political activist, has now been imprisoned three times for peacefully expressing his views. He suffers from multiple chronic health conditions, including diabetes and post-COVID-19 pulmonary complications, and was granted precautionary measures by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2022.

I urge you to immediately and unconditionally release José Daniel Ferrer and Félix Navarro; and put an end to the misuse of conditional release as a tool to control the freedom of expression.

Yours sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]