The Cuban flag. / Steward Cutler via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

Havana, Cuba, Aug 4, 2021 / 18:01 pm (CNA).

The board of directors of the Cuban Conference of Men and Women Religious reported Tuesday that following the July 11 protests of the island’s communist government “there are still detainees awaiting trial, under investigation and others punished with very severe penalties.”

The conference has been offering legal advice to detainees and spiritual and psychological support for their families members in the wake of the crackdown by Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel.  

Protests took place across Cuba July 11-12. Protesters cited concerns about inflation, shortages of food and medicine, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Some protesters were beaten, and hundreds were arrested.

CONCUR called for “the cases to be dismissed of people who were exercising their constitutional right to peacefully demonstrate (which is protected in Article 56 of the Constitution).”

In addition, the conference called for “compliance with the law, the rules of due process and consideration for the age and social background of the participants in the events.”

The organization of religious also stressed it is important that “in cases where the existence of crimes is proven, not applying the maximum sentence allowed by law and imposing penalties other than imprisonment where provided for by the Penal Code.”

Communist rule in Cuba was established soon after the conclusion of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, which ousted the authoritarian ruler Fulgencio Batista.