• The Cuban activist’s statements highlight the continuation of a pattern of state repression that, in the last years, has forced numerous activists, human rights defenders, and independent journalists in Cuba into exile.

Washington, D.C., October 7, 2025. – The Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race and Equality) expresses its concern over the announcement by Cuban activist José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), who stated that he is willing to accept forced exile as the only alternative to protect his life and that of his family, after years of torture, threats, and inhumane treatment suffered in prison and while on parole.

In a letter written from the Mar Verde Penitentiary and released on Friday, October 3, Ferrer denounced the serious human rights violations he has faced because of his activism. “For years I have been subjected to brutal beatings, torture, humiliation, death threats, and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment by henchmen and other instruments of the worst dictatorship the American continent has ever known,” Ferrer wrote.

Race and Equality has repeatedly denounced the violence against José Daniel Ferrer and the conditions of his imprisonment before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The activist also reported threats against his wife and children, which have led him to consider forced exile as the only way to safeguard his integrity and that of his family. “I have reached the limit of what a human being can endure. If leaving the country is the only option to protect my loved ones, I am willing to accept it,” he added.

“Ferrer’s statements confirm the extreme level of persecution and cruelty faced by those who defend human rights in Cuba. His willingness to accept forced exile reflects the desperation of an activist who has been the victim of torture and systematic repression for years,” said Carlos Quesada, Executive Director of Race and Equality.

Ferrer, 55, is one of Cuba’s most renowned activists. He was one of the 75 prisoners of conscience convicted during the Black Spring of 2003 and, since then, has been subjected to repeated arrests, torture, and arbitrary judicial proceedings. He participated in the historic demonstrations on July 11, 2021, after which he was arbitrarily detained and, in January of this year, released on parole. However, on April 29, he was re-imprisoned in the Mar Verde prison.

The allegations made by the human rights defender reignite one of the most persistent repressive practices of the authoritarian Cuban regime: forced exile, a strategy that violates fundamental rights and that the authorities use to neutralize leaders, silence critical voices, and strip activists, artists, and journalists of their roots and family ties. This practice is in addition to other forms of repression—such as arbitrary judicial proceedings, harassment, censorship, and systematic persecution—whose objective is to limit or nullify the political and social participation of those who defend human rights in Cuba.

Over the past years, this strategy has affected various activists and journalists in Cuba, who have been forced to leave the country after years of repression, threats, and imprisonment. Recently, Cuban activist Aymara Nieto, also represented by Race and Equality before the IACHR, a member of the Ladies in White organization and UNPACU, left the island to settle in the Dominican Republic on August 11, 2025. Nieto, who had been imprisoned since 2018, was released on the condition imposed by State Security that she leave Cuba. “I was imprisoned until the very last moment I was at the airport. They were the ones who took me. They never let me go home,” said the human rights defender. She traveled accompanied by her husband, fellow activist Ismael Boris Reñí, and two of her daughters, after serving two consecutive sentences in a Havana prison.

At Race and Equality, we strongly condemn the torture, threats, and reprisals faced by José Daniel Ferrer, and we warn of the seriousness of his situation in prison. Ferrer’s case highlights the continuation of a pattern of repression that, in the last years, has forced numerous activists, defenders, and independent journalists in Cuba into exile. We urge the international community to redouble its efforts to demand his immediate release, as well as the protection of his family and all human rights defenders in Cuba and in exile.

We also urgently call on the United Nations, the IACHR, and the democratic governments of the region to intervene decisively to guarantee Ferrer’s physical and psychological integrity and to put an end to the persecution and forced exile of Cuban dissidents.