Human Rights Watch said on 9 April 2026 that Cuba‘s recent pardon of more than 2,000 inmates did not include political prisoners, reinforcing earlier concerns raised by other rights groups that the measure would exclude detainees jailed for dissent.
The Cuban government announced during Holy Week that it would pardon 2,010 prisoners, describing the move as a “humanitarian and sovereign gesture” tied to religious observances. Officials said the release would prioritize groups such as young people, older adults, women and foreigners, based on criteria including health conditions and time served, but did not disclose the identities of those freed.
Human Rights Watch’s assessment, reported by Bloomberg, confirmed that none of those released were among the more than 1,200 political prisoners documented on the island. The finding adds weight to reports published days earlier by organizations including the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights, Prisoners Defenders and Cubalex, which had already said they found no evidence that political detainees were included in the pardon.
Those groups had warned that the measure appeared to benefit common prisoners while leaving untouched cases tied to political repression. “It’s a propaganda exercise,” Javier Larrondo, president of Prisoners Defenders, said at the time, arguing that Cuban authorities have historically used releases of common inmates to inflate figures associated with political concessions.
At the same time Human Rights Organizations Call on Congress: Do Not Send Cubans Fleeing Impacts of the U.S. Fuel Blockade to Guantánamo
Published April 10, 2026
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