It is the duty of the socialist state to use exemplary justice to deter violent disorder and sedition. Hence, the Cuban state was clear that it would hand down harsh sentences following the 11-12 July 2021 protests in Cuba (see FRFI 283) which happened in the context of a tightening US blockade after 60 years of economic and political warfare, the Covid-19 pandemic and an online campaign of counterrevolutionary propaganda. A minority of protesters engaged in rioting, looting and attacks on the police. The trials of these individuals have been framed by the bourgeois media, including British newspapers such as The Guardian, as evidence that Cuba is a pariah state without human rights, to further justify the relentless sanctions imposed by the US Biden administration and create further hardship, unrest and the dissolution of socialism.
In a public statement from Cuba’s Office of the Attorney General, it is explained that:
- 117 preparatory files have been brought to the Prosecutor’s Office recording 790 people involved in acts of vandalism, violence against police, persons and property, and serious public disturbances. Twenty-one percent of these already have criminal records. So far 710 have been charged, of whom 69% are held in pre-trial detention. 84 trials have been carried out so far.
- The Prosecutor’s Office met with 508 citizens who requested information on the criminal proceedings.
Children under 16 are not subject to criminal law in Cuba, so 27 protesters under this age, who participated in criminal acts alongside adults, were sent to special behavioural schools or disciplined within their normal school. As noted by Cuban journalist Iroel Sanchez (CubaDebate 19 January 2022), in Britain children over 10 years old can be prosecuted for crimes, and in 2011, following uprisings in British cities, more than 2,000 people including children as young as 11 were put on trial, sometimes at a rate of 10 per hour. Meanwhile, there have been no prosecutions for the ruling class criminals responsible for the Grenfell Tower disaster – this is what class justice looks like.
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! No 286, February/March 2022
