Imagine being a totalitarian regime so weak that you’re threatened by children and keep them locked away in a prison. That’s Cuba’s communist Castro dictatorship.
Via Martí Noticias (my translation):
15 minors remain imprisoned in Cuba after the uprising; attorneys explain how the State violates their rights
A significant number of adolescents remain imprisoned in Cuba after the July 11 uprising. The total number at this time is 15, according to the legal assistance organization CUBALEX.
“The legal age to be tried as an adult, according to the Cuban Penal Code, is 16; anyone who is 16 is subject to what is established in the Penal Code and and Criminal Procedure Law. So what happens? Article 17 establishes a much different and more lenient treatment for those aged 16 to 20 who commit crimes,” said independent Havana attorney Julio Ferrer to Radio Television Martí.
“As a general rule, those who fall into this category are not taken to prison and instead measures are taken so that they face trial and are not able to evade justice, but without having to put them in prison,” he said.
This phenomenon where the Penal Code is treating children as adults shows a lack of protection for their rights, essentially due to the lack of the concept of “child” before the law.
“In Cuba, you are a minor until the age of 18. What happens is that you become subject to the Penal Code at the age of 16. But individuals between the ages of 16 and 18 are still minors. For example, to enter into a legal marriage one has to be 18. If they do it before that age, they need authorization from the parents. This means that those under 18 continue to be considered children,” said lawyer Laritza Diversent from CUBALEX, with its headquarters in the U.S. and offices in different cities on the island.
In Article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of a Child, a child is described as anyone under the age of 18, although it recognizes the existence of a special system to deal with cases where children who break the law that should be different and separate from the justice system to which adults are subject.
Continue reading (in Spanish) HERE.
Castro, Inc.’s abuses have been so “normalized” for so long that the regime scarcely bothers with optics. All that ever happens is a temporary, transient display of superficial disapproval, followed by business as usual.