Cuban activists reported 162 potential enforced disappearances to the UN during the Castro regime’s crackdown

Cuban activists reported on Wednesday that they had filed a complaint with the United Nations (UN) which includes a “partial” list of 162 “potential enforced disappearances”., as part of the Castro regime’s crackdown on the mobilisations that have been taking place in Cuba since the weekend.

“We have just lodged a complaint with the United Nations High Commissioner drawing up a partial list of 162 potential enforced disappearances”, said the dissident organization Prisoners Defenders, who also pointed out the “countless limitations due to the blackout of government communications.” Each must be explained ”.

The president of the NGO, Javier Larrondo, on Wednesday described as “maximum urgency” the situation Cuba is going through, where “crimes against humanity” are committed.

“Right now, we are in absolute urgency and we need the government, the European Union and the United Nations to make statements. Not the definition of what Cuba is or not, but what the Cuban people need to be protected ”, Larrondo pointed out in statements to the agency Press Europe.

Cuban citizens have taken to the streets in recent days to express their displeasure due to the shortage of basic commodities, such as food and medicine, and members of the international community and NGOs, among others, denounced a harsh crackdown on protesters.

The Cuban regime felt on Tuesday that it saw “worst scenes“Repression and police violence in Europe and denied a “social outbreak”.

Mobile internet connection in Cuba still cut three days after protestsAlthough a minority have recovered the data service and some young people manage to access the network with the help of VPN platforms and nifty tricks.

Until this Wednesday, Most Cubans still did not have Internet access on their cell phones, which in practice represents an almost total blackout., because on the island there is a small minority of households that can afford a wi-fi connection.

In view of this, citizens – especially young people – across the country are turning to VPN services – such as Psiphon or Thunder – and tricks to bypass censorship and gain access to 3G and 4G mobile data networks, controlled by the state telecommunications monopoly Etecsa.

“You have to turn on the data, then the VPN, and put it in the US region. Then put the phone in airplane mode for 5 seconds and when you take it out, it connects “explained to the agency EFE in Havana a 26-year-old woman who managed to access the internet this Wednesday after being disconnected for two and a half days.

They have also been reported exceptional cases Cubans who intermittently regained their connection without the help of VPN platforms, although they were unable to access certain applications such as WhatsApp.

Private Wi-Fi networks and in public spaces have not stopped working in Cuba, but with intermittent WhatsApp restrictions.

Mobile internet service was disabled on Sunday as protests by Cubans spread across the country, encouraged by a video in which residents of San Antonio de los Baños (30 km east of Havana) took to the streets to protest the lack of food and medicine and the blackouts, in the midst of an economic and health crisis.

Experts believe that the regime shut down the internet to prevent this from happening again, although they also believe the measure could be counterproductive by increasing people’s dissatisfaction with the authorities.

In fact, the deletion of data interrupted the routine of workers nationwide, as remote working became widespread during the pandemic in sectors like education, where face-to-face lessons have been discontinued.

In addition, many regret not having communicated with their relatives abroad for days, because the Internet is the most common way for Cubans on the island to maintain contact with the diaspora.

Etecsa gave no explanation for the blackout and the dictatorship also did not until Tuesday the chancellor, Bruno Rodriguez, he likened it to “power cuts” and supply or transport difficulties.

“It is true that the data are lacking but the drugs are also lacking”said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, without explicitly recognizing the responsibility of the government.

Citizen protests began on Sunday across Cuba were the most important in 60 years, with the only precedent of the “maleconazo” of August 1994, limited to Havana.

(With information from Europa Press and EFE)

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