A group of Cuban women activists formally submitted a citizen petition to the National Assembly in Havana this Wednesday to promote an amnesty law freeing nearly 1,200 political prisoners. Backed by 1,535 verified signatures, the initiative draws on Law 131 of 2019 and addresses the country's humanitarian crisis. The 'For an Amnesty Now!' campaign continues gathering support to meet the required 10,000 signatures.
On February 5, 2024, Yenisey Mercedes Taboada Ortiz—mother of political prisoner Duannis León Taboada—along with Jenny Pantoja and Miryorly García Prieto, formally delivered the documents to the National Assembly. These include a technical-legal brief and a petition letter with 1,535 verified signatures, from a total of 2,514 collected by February 2, though only some provided complete data.
The campaign notes that Law 131 of 2019 allows citizens to request laws with at least 10,000 verified signatures, including identity numbers. About 59% of signatories declare permanent residence in Cuba, and 6% are relatives of political prisoners. The effort echoes opposition leader Oswaldo Payá's 1998 Varela Project, under Article 88 of the then-current Constitution.
"The freedom of our political prisoners, amid the humanitarian crisis the country is experiencing, is an urgent issue that today appeals to the responsibility, sense of justice, and humanism of every Cuban," states the organization's release. The petition arises as the fifth anniversary nears of the peaceful July 11 and 12, 2021, protests, which led to mass arrests and one protester's death by police gunshot, without justice.
Since then, arrests and sentences for exercising rights like free expression and association have worsened. Cuba's only prior amnesty law came in 1955, issued by Fulgencio Batista for Moncada attackers, enabled by public support and advocacy from prisoners' relatives.
The campaign views it as contradictory that the current government, founded by beneficiaries of that 1955 amnesty, now disregards similar calls for justice and humanism. Signature collection remains open to all Cubans, resident or not, with verified submissions to be delivered progressively.
