Washington D.C., December 9, 2024 – Last Sunday, December 1, Cuban activist Berta Soler was arbitrarily detained by members of State Security. The leader of the Ladies in White was leaving the main headquarters of this organization located in the Lawton neighborhood in Havana when she was arrested, as denounced by her partner Angel Moya Acosta through his Facebook account. 

For decades, Berta has been arbitrarily detained every Sunday while trying to get to the church closest to her home, to ask for the release of people deprived of liberty for political reasons; however, between September and so far in December 2024 these arbitrary deprivations of liberty accompanied by forced disappearances have extended for more than three days. The first detention occurred on September 22, when she was transferred without her consent to a police station, where she remained for 67 hours; the second time was last November 10, and she was missing for more than 76 hours; and the third detention ended on December 4, and lasted 69 hours. 

“These prolonged forced disappearances are part of what has already been identified as a new pattern of persecution against the representative of Damas de Blanco”, warns Fernando Goldar, lawyer of the Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality). 

It is known that the Cuban activist was threatened by a State Security agent on September 15, 2024, in the middle of a detention. The man, who has not been identified, offered Soler permission to leave the country and visit her children, in exchange for the leader of the Ladies in White to stop demonstrating on Sundays, a proposal that was rejected by the human rights defender, and has triggered arbitrary detentions and forced disappearances for more than 60 hours, a new pattern of repression exercised by the Cuban authorities. 

“For the authoritarian regime of this country, the activist Berta Soler represents a very strong dissident voice that questions its policies; therefore, implementing a strategy of repression like this, seeks to silence and exhaust her,” says Carlos Quesada, Executive Director of Race and Equality. 

The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights demands an end to the repression and persecution against the activist Berta Solar, who, through the organization Damas de Blanco, calls for the immediate release of people deprived of their liberty for political reasons in Cuba. We also request that the Cuban authorities guarantee the human rights of its citizens, especially if they are people who work for democracy in this country. We echo the call made by international human rights organizations to the Cuban State to cease the repression against the members of this organization, including Berta Soler.