SRFOE Condemns New Wave of Repression in Cuba and Urges the State to Respect the Right to Freedom of Expression

February 13, 2026

Washington D.C. – The Special Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression (SRFOE) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemns the new wave of state repression in Cuba against journalists and citizens who are legitimately exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. The Office calls on the State to immediately cease these practices of persecution and censorship, aimed at imposing an information blockade over the country’s situation.

So far in 2026, the SRFOE has received information about a new escalation of repression against independent press and various sectors of civil society in Cuba. Reports document processes of criminalization, including criminal proceedings and convictions primarily based on the alleged crime of “propaganda against the constitutional order,” in response to the expression of critical opinions and political positions on social media. Arbitrary detentions, summonses, surveillance operations, house sieges, and restrictions on movement have also been reported, aimed at preventing participation in political and social activities and discouraging journalistic work, in the context of a severe social and economic crisis affecting the country.

Among the recent incidents are the detentions of journalists and media collaborators, including Henry Constantín Ferreiro, Alejandra García, Yoani Sánchez, Reinaldo Escobar, Ángel Cuza Alfonso, and Jorge Fernández Era. The Special Rapporteurship observes with particular concern the six-year prison sentence imposed on writer and journalist José Gabriel Barrenechea Chávez for the alleged crime of “public disorder,” after being detained in 2024 for participating in a peaceful protest in Encrucijada.

Furthermore, according to the Office’s monitoring, repressive practices extend to various sectors of civil society, including human rights defenders, activists, artists, and individuals perceived as opponents. Within this framework, on February 6 in Holguín, the arbitrary detention of Ernesto Ricardo Medina and Kamil Zayas Pérez, members of the independent audiovisual project El4tico (El Cuartico), was reported during a police operation in which electronic equipment was allegedly confiscated.

The Special Rapporteurship condemns these acts and warns that they are part of a systematic pattern of persecution by the Cuban regime, aimed at restricting participation in matters of public interest and discouraging coverage of social issues affecting the island. These practices have a chilling effect on the population and severely affect access to pluralistic information.

Consequently, the Office urges the Cuban State to immediately cease all forms of censorship and repression, including the abusive use of criminal law to criminalize legitimate expression. It also reiterates its commitment to continue highlighting the situation of freedom of expression in Cuba and calls on the international community to maintain active monitoring of human rights conditions in the country and to express the strongest rejection of restrictions and violations of freedom of expression.

The Special Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression (SRFOE) is an office created by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to promote hemispheric defense of the right to freedom of thought and expression, considering its fundamental role in the consolidation and development of the democratic system.

No. R027/26

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