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    Rubio About Child Detention in Cuba

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    AlbertoNews
    Rubio about Child Detention in Cuba

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    Rubio About Child Detention in Cuba

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    AlbertoNews
    172 views2 pages
    Rubio about Child Detention in Cuba

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    Rubio about Child Detention in Cuba

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    Rubio about Child Detention in Cuba

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    172 views2 pages

    Rubio About Child Detention in Cuba

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    AlbertoNews
    Rubio about Child Detention in Cuba

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    January 20, 2022

    The Honorable Catherine M. Russell


    Director
    Office of Presidential Personnel
    Eisenhower Executive Building
    1650 17th Street NW
    Washington, D.C. 20500

    Dear Ms. Russell:

    Congratulations on your appointment to become the next Executive Director of the


    United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF). As you embark on this important position, we urge
    you to prioritize the protection of at least 45 Cuban children arbitrarily jailed and prosecuted by
    the Cuban regime for their participation in the historic July 2021 protests. We urge you to
    demand their immediate release as one of your first actions in your new role.

    The Cuban regime is prolific in its use of arbitrary detention as a tool of repression. In
    2020 alone, the Observatory of Cuban Human Rights recorded 1,028 arbitrary detentions in
    Cuba. According to the independent non-governmental organization Justicia 11J, which is
    documenting the regime’s repression following the July protests, the Cuban regime has detained
    at least 45 minors between the ages of 14 and 17 for alleged “crimes.” Fourteen of those minors
    remain behind bars awaiting trial, according to Justicia 11J.

    Human Rights Watch reports that those detained after participating in the July protests
    for freedom have been deliberately deprived of sleep, beaten, sexually assaulted, and held in
    cells without light for days. Many of those detained have also been accused of “sedition,” which
    carries a maximum sentence greater than that for murder. One of those detained, Kendry
    Miranda Cárdenas, is only 17, yet Cuban prosecutors are seeking a sentence of at least 20 years.

    Last November, UNICEF joined other international organizations in calling for Cuban
    authorities to provide more information on the reported cases of children detained in Cuba.
    Unfortunately, the call for more transparency has been met with extensive reports from the
    island, many by desperate family members on social media, of harsh sentences that continue to
    be handed down.

    We believe that the situation in Cuba warrants the full attention and condemnation of the
    international community. Cuban authorities must know that their brazen acts carry consequences
    and are unacceptable of any country expecting to be considered a legitimate member of the
    international community.

    Given the agency’s child protection mandate, UNICEF is uniquely positioned to lead
    international condemnation of these unconscionable acts and to demand the release of these
    youths. With more trials and sentences expected in the days and weeks ahead, we urge you to
    intercede on behalf of these children and their families, who are merely seeking justice and
    respect for the basic human rights of Cuban minors.

    We are grateful for your attention in this matter and look forward to your swift action in
    demanding the immediate release of persecuted children in Cuba.

    Sincerely,

    Marco Rubio Robert Menendez


    U.S. Senator U.S. Senator

    Bill Cassidy, M.D. Benjamin L. Cardin


    U.S. Senator U.S. Senator

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