Via Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter:

Repression in Cuba by the numbers and through a 15 year old's victimization

International Human Rights Day 2012 in Cuba marked an important milestone on the island. More than 300 arbitrary detentions over the course of 48 hours beginning on December 9 and ending 48 hours at midnight on December 10, 2012. Before this latest crackdown, human rights groups had already reported on the massive increase in arrests in Cuba.

The Council of Human Rights Rapporteurs in Cuba (CRDHC) releaseda preliminary report this December 10 on the violation of human rights in Cuba during the last eleven months of 2012 which states, in part: "The CRDHC has observed a dramatic maintenance of the already astronomical levels of political repression throughout 2012. The more than 6000 arbitrary and violent arrests performed by the political police against human rights defenders from January to the present date speak for themselves.." The combined number of arbitrary detentions in 2010 and 2011 will be dwarfed by the number detained in 2012 alone.

Quantitative measurements are of great importance in providing an overall breakdown of what is happening in the island but a qualitative analysis can provide insights into the nature of a system that can be lost in the numbers.

15-year old Martha Beatriz Ferrer Cantillo targeted by Regime