Cuban Prisoner Release Doesn't Include those Jailed for Political Acts Latin American Herald Tribune - EFE September 14, 2015
HAVANA - The list of 3,522 prisoners pardoned by the Cuban government prior to Pope Francis's visit to the island later this week does not include those whom dissident groups consider to be jailed for political reasons, two opposition organizations told EFE on Monday.
Elizardo Sanchez, the spokesman for the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, said that among the 3,522 pardoned inmates, whose names were published in the Official Gazette, there is not one who is incarcerated for political reasons.
According to the figures compiled by the Commission, the only organization on the communist island to document the arrests of dissidents and prepare a list of political prisoners, there are currently about 60 people imprisoned in Cuba for "political reasons or for politically motivated trials."
Sanchez said that the government statement in which it announced the pardons specified that prisoners convicted of crimes against the security of the state - "charges that are levied against the majority of the prisoners considered to be political" - would not be released.
Former political prisoner Jose Daniel Ferrer, the head of the dissident Patriotic Union of Cuba, also confirmed to EFE that none of the 21 members of his organization who are currently in prison "for political reasons" is on the list of those pardoned.
Ferrer said that two members of his organization jailed for common crimes had also not been freed.
Last Friday, the Cuban government announced the pardons of more than 3,500 inmates, one of the largest prisoner releases ever undertaken by the Castro revolution, just a few days prior to the arrival in Cuba of Pope Francis, a measure that was also taken before the papal visits of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
The pardon will benefit prisoners over age 60, younger than 20 without criminal records, the chronically ill, women, prisoners who were going to be released on parole in 2016, and foreigners, provided that their countries of origin will guarantee to repatriate them.
The Cuban prison population stands at about 57,000 inmates, according to official data released in 2012.
In granting the pardons, the government took into account "the type of deeds" for which the prisoners were jailed, their behavior while in prison, the time remaining on their sentences and health reasons," according to state-run media reports.
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