IACHR Extends Precautionary Measures in Favor of Marienys Pavó Oñate in Cuba

May 15, 2024

Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Resolution 29/2024 on May 11, 2024, to extend precautionary measures in favor of Marienys Pavó Oñate in Cuba (granted as PM-96-15), in the belief that she faces a serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to her rights.

The party who requested this extension alleged that Pavó Oñate is being harassed by officers of the State in retaliation for the fact that her husband Julio Alfredo Ferrer Tamayo, a member of the Cubalex Legal Information Center, is currently doing human rights work outside the country. The beneficiary has allegedly received insistent calls and other threats from officers of the State, who have also gone in person to the place where she works to intimidate her and to obtain information about her husband, with a view to making sure he will not return to Cuba or to ensuring he never again leaves the country.

The State failed to provide information to prove that the risk factors that had been identified had been adequately mitigated.

The IACHR noted that the beneficiary's issues have arisen in a context where repression of dissidents is getting worse in Cuba. Pavó Oñate is reportedly being followed by officers of the State who know not only where she works, but also her working hours and the specific office where she carries out her tasks.

Although the IACHR tried to obtain a response from the State, it did not receive any information about protection measures that might have been adopted in favor of the beneficiary. The available data suggest that officers of the State have been targeting her, which has increased the risks she faces.

The Commission therefore demands that the State of Cuba take the following action:

1. Adopt any measures necessary to preserve Pavó Oñate's life and personal integrity
2. Come to an agreement with the beneficiary and her representatives concerning any measures that need to be taken
3. Report on any actions adopted to investigate the events that gave rise to the adoption of these precautionary measures, in order to prevent such events from happening again in the future

The fact that these precautionary measures have been granted and their adoption by the State do not entail a prejudgment on a potential petition that may be filed before the inter-American system to allege violations of rights protected by the American Convention on Human Rights and other applicable instruments.

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 102/24

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