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US grants humanitarian parole to jailed Cuban dissident Maykel Osorbo, NGO says
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Disasters & Emergencies

US grants humanitarian parole to jailed Cuban dissident Maykel Osorbo, NGO says

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News From a news agency Context piece
  • U.S. authorities have granted a humanitarian parole to imprisoned Cuban dissident Maykel Castillo Pérez, known as 'El Osorbo'.
  • This parole would allow him to leave Cuba if released, though he still has time left on a nine-year sentence imposed in 2022.
  • The decision follows a similar parole granted to fellow dissident Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who left Cuba after completing his sentence.

U.S. authorities have granted a humanitarian parole to the imprisoned Cuban dissident Maykel Castillo Pérez, widely known as 'El Osorbo,' according to the independent organization Cuban Cultural Rights Observatory (ODC). This parole would permit him to leave the island should he be released from prison.

The ODC announced that a similar parole was processed and approved for Castillo Pérez, alongside one for artist and dissident Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who departed Cuba on Saturday after completing his sentence. Unlike Alcántara, Castillo Pérez still has a portion of his nine-year sentence, imposed in 2022, to serve.

We also make known that along with the U.S. parole approved for Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, a similar one was processed and approved for Maykel Castillo Pérez.

— Cuban Cultural Rights Observatory (ODC)The organization announced the humanitarian parole for Maykel Castillo Pérez.

The organization stated that the parole is based on the certainty that Castillo Pérez's "arbitrary imprisonment has a political origin and has violated his human rights, as well as his right to freedom of expression and artistic creation." Castillo Pérez is currently held at the Guanajay prison, west of Havana, where he was transferred on July 10. He was previously at Kilo 8 prison in Pinar del Río province since January.

Castillo Pérez was arrested on May 18, 2021, and in June 2022, a Havana court sentenced him to nine years for charges including "contempt, assault, public disorder, and defamation of institutions and organizations, heroes, and martyrs." Human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have criticized his sentencing. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recently held the Cuban state responsible for violating Castillo Pérez's rights, including protection against arbitrary detention and the right to due process.

This process is based on the certainty that his arbitrary imprisonment has a political origin and has violated his human rights, as well as his right to freedom of expression and artistic creation.

— Cuban Cultural Rights Observatory (ODC)The ODC explained the basis for granting parole to Castillo Pérez.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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