III 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 295 

Expressing solidarity with the Cuban people in demanding freedom and 

human rights, and commending their courage in the wake of the July 

11, 2021, protests. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 13, 2023 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. BRAUN, and Mr. RUBIO) submitted 

the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing solidarity with the Cuban people in demanding 

freedom and human rights, and commending their courage in the wake of the July 11, 2021, protests. 

Whereas the communist dictatorship in Cuba has been responsible for numerous atrocities including the 

extrajudicial assassinations of innocent civilians and activists by firing squad and other brutal methods, including the Tugboat Massacre of 1994 and the Brothers to 

the Rescue Shoot-Down of 1996; 

Whereas, in the notorious Black Spring of 2003, the Cuban 

regime engaged in brutal violence against independent 

journalists, human rights activists, and others who dared 

to expose the realities of totalitarian Cuba, which was 


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roundly condemned by international human rights 

groups; 

Whereas human rights activists such as Pedro Luis Boitel, 

Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia, leader of the Ladies in White 

Laura Pollan, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, Wilman Willar 

Mendoza, Oswaldo Paya, Harold Cepero, Armando Sosa 

Fortuny, and Yosvany Arostegui Armenteros died under 

suspicious circumstances, including while in state custody; 

Whereas Report No. 83/23 published by the Inter-American 

Commission on Human Rights on June 9, 2023, states 

that— 

(1) ‘‘there is serious and sufficient evidence to conclude that [agents of the Cuban regime] participated in 

the death of Mr. Paya ́ and Mr. Cepero’’; 

(2) the Cuban regime ‘‘is responsible for the violation of the right established in Article I of the American 

Declaration to the detriment of Oswaldo Paya ́ and Harold Cepero’’; 

(3) ‘‘there was a context of reprisals and human 

rights violations against human rights defenders and persons who expressed dissent against government policies’’; 

(4) Harold Cepero and Oswaldo Paya ‘‘were subjected to various acts of violence, harassment, threats, attempts on their lives, and finally, a car crash that caused 

their deaths’’; and 

(5) ‘‘this case was framed within the contextual elements of state repression of human rights defenders in 

Cuba’’; 

Whereas the report entitled ‘‘Cuba 2022 Human Rights Report’’ published by the Department of State notes that 


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‘‘significant human rights issues [in Cuba] included credible reports of’’— 

(1) unlawful or arbitrary killings, including 

extrajudicial killings, by the government; 

(2) torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of political dissidents, detainees, and prisoners by 

security forces; 

(3) harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; 

(4) arbitrary arrests and detentions; political prisoners; 

(5) transnational repression against individuals in 

another country; 

(6) serious problems with the independence of the 

judiciary; 

(7) arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; 

(8) serious restrictions on freedom of expression and 

media, including violence or threats of violence against 

journalists, censorship, unjustified arrests or prosecutions 

of journalists, and enforcement or threat to enforce 

criminal libel laws to limit expression; 

(9) serious restrictions on internet freedom; substantial interference with the right of peaceful assembly and 

freedom of association, including overly restrictive laws 

on the organization, funding, or operation of nongovernmental and civil society organizations; 

(10) severe restrictions on religious freedom; 

(11) restrictions on freedom of movement and residence within the country and on the right to leave the 

country; 

(12) inability of citizens to change their government 

peacefully through free and fair elections; serious and unreasonable restrictions on political participation; 


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(13) serious government corruption; lack of investigation of and accountability for gender-based violence, 

including femicide; and 

(14) trafficking in persons, including forced labor; 

and outlawing of independent trade unions; 

Whereas 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report published by 

the Department of State lists Cuba as a Tier 3 country, 

the lowest possible rating, stating that— 

(1) ‘‘there was a government policy or pattern to 

profit from labor export programs with strong indications 

of forced labor, particularly in the foreign medical missions’ program’’; and 

(2) the regime ‘‘continued to deploy Cuban workers 

to foreign countries using deceptive and coercive tactics’’ 

and ‘‘failed to address trafficking crimes despite an increasing number of allegations from credible NGOs, 

former participants, and foreign governments of Cuban 

officials’ involvement in abuses’’; 

Whereas, in January 2019, Secretary General of the Organization of American States Luis Almagro stated that ‘‘the 

Cuban dictatorship has failed in access to rights and equity, its productive system has failed, its financial management has failed, its management of the economy has 

failed and the only way to melt away its social deficiencies is to push its people into exile; it is a system that 

is incapable of giving dignified and honest work to its 

people, that is unable to open its youth to enterprise, unable to generate a competitive productive system and unable to achieve solutions for the simplest financial 

issues’’; 

Whereas the Asociacio ́n Sindical Independiente de Cuba 

(commonly known as ‘‘Independent Trade Union AssociaVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Jul 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR295.IS SR295

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tion of Cuba’’ or ‘‘ASIC’’) has filed complaints with the 

International Labour Organization condemning violations 

of fundamental labor rights, such as freedom of assembly, and repression of labor activist Ivan Hernandez 

Carrillo, and, in response, the International Labour Organization provided recommendations on March 24, 

2021, to address the violations, which Hernandez Carrillo 

continues to endure in the wake of the July 11, 2021, 

protests; 

Whereas the 2023 reports entitled ‘‘Freedom on the Net’’ 

and ‘‘Freedom in the World’’ published by Freedom 

House summarized that— 

(1) ‘‘Cuba’s one-party communist state outlaws political pluralism, bans independent media, suppresses dissent, and severely restricts basic civil liberties’’; 

(2) the government ‘‘continues to dominate the economy despite recent reforms that permit some private-sector activity’’; and 

(3) ‘‘the regime’s undemocratic character has not 

changed despite a generational transition in political leadership between 2018 and 2021 that included the introduction of a new constitution’’; 

Whereas the United States has long supported the Cuban 

people through policies that limit hard currency to the 

oppressive Cuban regime while— 

(1) providing democracy-building support to civil society activists; 

(2) broadcasting outside information to pierce the 

propaganda of the Cuban regime; and 

(3) permitting virtually unlimited donations of food, 

medicines, and other necessities through— 

(A) Acts of Congress such as— 


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(i) the Radio Broadcasting to Cuba Act 

(22 U.S.C. 1465 et seq.); 

(ii) the Television Broadcasting to Cuba 

Act (22 U.S.C. 1465aa et seq.); 

(iii) the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 (22 

U.S.C. 6001 et seq.); 

(iv) the Cuban Liberty and Democratic 

Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (22 

U.S.C. 6021 et seq.); and 

(v) the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 

7201 et seq.); and 

(B) Executive orders and regulations; 

Whereas numerous activists in Cuba such as members of the 

Patriotic Union of Cuba, the San Isidro Movement, the 

Christian Liberation Movement, ASIC, the Ladies in 

White, the Orlando Zapata Tamayo National Resistance 

Front, religious organizations, exile groups, and others 

are demanding freedom for the Cuban people; 

Whereas Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, independent journalist 

and leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, has been held 

in solitary confinement since August 14, 2021, and held 

incommunicado since March 17, 2023, with his health 

condition unknown, which was condemned by Amnesty 

International on June 6, 2023; 

Whereas artists Maykel Osorbo Castillo Perez and Luis 

Manuel Otero Alcantara of the San Isidro Movement, 

who participated in the Grammy-winning ‘‘Patria y Vida’’ 

and were sentenced to 9 and 5 years, respectively, have 

been unjustly imprisoned for 2 years, and Otero 

Alcantara has engaged in hunger strikes to protest his 

abhorrent treatment; 


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Whereas the Cuban regime has employed so-called ‘‘Committees for the Defense of the Revolution’’ to force neighbors 

to spy and turn against each other, which has spread distrust and fear among the Cuban people and caused an 

environment that is deleterious to a strong social fabric 

and thriving civil society; 

Whereas, on July 11, 2021, thousands of courageous protesters gathered throughout Cuba, in every province, to 

demand ‘‘libertad’’ and human rights and to express opposition to dictatorship in Cuba; 

Whereas the Cuban regime reacted to the July 11 protests 

with violence, arbitrary arrests, often by plain clothes 

state security operatives, and forced disappearances and 

by shutting down internet access and calling on supporters of the regime to harass protesters, and prosecuted as many as 790 Cubans for peacefully calling for 

freedom in the protests; 

Whereas Cubalex reported that the Cuban regime prosecuted 

55 children in the wake of the July 11 protests, imposing 

prison sentences as long as 23 years, while dozens of children reportedly remain in prison to this day; and 

Whereas, since Fidel Castro illegitimately and violently seized 

power, hundreds of thousands of Cuban nationals have 

fled Communist oppression: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) calls for the release of all political prisoners 

3 and for the end of acts of repression, arbitrary 

4 imprisonments, torture, and other human rights 

5 abuses against the Cuban people; 


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1 (2) honors the courageous Cuban people for 

2 daring to stand up to the Cuban regime and de3 manding respect for fundamental freedoms, such as 

4 freedom of expression and assembly; 

5 (3) recognizes the brave prodemocracy and 

6 human rights activists, including independent jour7 nalists, artists, labor leaders, and religious leaders, 

8 who have been persecuted throughout decades of 

9 Communist tyranny; 

10 (A) urges other democracies, regional, and 

11 multilateral organizations to affirm that— 

12 (i) violence against the unarmed peo13 ple of Cuba will not be tolerated; and 

14 (ii) human rights abusers will be held 

15 accountable for their crimes; 

16 (4) calls on the European Union— 

17 (A) to reconsider the failed Political Dia18 logue and Cooperation Agreement; and 

19 (B) to place freedom and human rights at 

20 the center of the policy toward Cuba; 

21 (5) expresses solidarity with the longsuffering 

22 Cuban people in their demands for a genuine demo23 cratic transition; and 

24 (6) calls on the international community to 

25 stand with the people struggling for freedom in 


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1 Cuba by condemning repression and expressing un2 equivocal support for the rights to self-governance, 

3 human rights, and basic liberties for the Cuban peo4 ple. 

Æ 


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