There currently are at least 65 political prisoners remaining in Cuba, including nine arrested and imprisoned during the past two months, according to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation.
The count from the opposition group includes 15 people -- all imprisoned and sentenced to lengthy prison terms during the "black spring" of 2003 -- out of jail on a type of parole that at any time could be revoked for any reason.
The nine newest political prisoners, according to a list released Wednesday, are:
- Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, arrested April 2 while out on parole after serving 8 years of a 25-year sentence handed down during "black spring" of 2003 for "acts against the independence or territorial integrity of the state."
- Eider Frometa Allen, sentenced in March to 9 months in prison for "disobedience."
- Sonia Garro Alfonso, in jail since March 18, but no formal charges have been filed.
- Dany Lopez de Moya, sentenced on April 19 to 18 months in prison for "disrespect" and "resistance."
- Niurka Luque Alvarez, in jail since March 17, but no formal charges have been filed.
- Ramon Alejandro Munoz Gonzalez, in jail since March 18, but no formal charges have been filed. (He is husband of Sonia Garro.)
- Bismarck Mustelier Galan, in jail since April 1, but no formal charges have been filed.
- Niorvis Rivera Guerra, arrested March 2 and accused of public disorder, but has not been sentenced.
- Rogelio Tavio Lopez, arrested March 2 and accused of public disorder, but has not been sentenced.
The commission acknowledged there probably are many more political prisoners in Cuba, a nation in which an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 people are in prisons, work camps or some other type of confinement.
The commission's count also does not include the numerous activists arrested but released after a few hours or days, a practice that has become a hallmark of Raul Castro's dictatorship.
For more details on the 65 prisoners, go here and click on the link on the bottom.
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