Cuban Regime Threatens to Invoke Disobedience Charge as Substitute for Defunct "Pre-criminal Dangerousness"

In a new move aimed at maintaining tight control over the population, the Cuban regime has resorted to the charge of disobedience to threaten citizens who were previously targeted under the old penal code for "pre-criminal social dangerousness." This shift utilizes the current legal framework to justify punitive measures against those who do not align with the directives of the State.

In an article published in the official organ of the Communist Party (the only legal party in Cuba), Yoel Izquierdo Castro, head of the Directorate of Organization, Planning, and Information of the Supreme People’s Court, advocated for going after individuals without employment or academic ties who ignore warnings from prevention and social care authorities.

Citing the Cuban Constitution, which explicitly enshrines socialism as the only legal ideology and legitimizes the use of violence against those who oppose this mandate, Judge Izquierdo Castro defended the application of laws derived from the regime’s Carta Magna to carry out a repressive "iron fist" policy.

The potential victims of this "white-collar" repressor approach would be citizens detached from study and employment who lack what the regime considers "legitimate" economic income.

According to Izquierdo Castro, "the existence of a considerable number of physically and mentally capable individuals, detached from study and work, and who do not possess legitimate economic income to ensure their financial solvency, constitutes one of the causes and conditions that foster manifestations of corruption, illegalities, and social indiscipline present in our society."

Currently, "in compliance with the missions established in Agreement 9151 of 2021 of the Council of Ministers," these citizens (formerly labeled as "antisocial elements") are subject to "attention" from the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) and other authorities.

"Through the Chief of the sector of the Revolutionary National Police, and with the participation of social and mass organizations, [the MININT] proposes, organizes, and applies prophylactic, preventive, legal, and operational measures in the territorial demarcation under its charge, with individuals detached from work or study, to reduce manifestations of corruption, illegalities, and social indiscipline."

This category also includes "other harmful behaviors, such as prostitution and other activities incompatible with the climate of order, legality, and citizen tranquility that should prevail in Cuban society."

"Consequently, a person who repeatedly disobeys or fails to comply with the measures legally imposed by competent authorities, or the warnings issued as a result of the non-observance of those adopted by the social prevention organ or entity, incurs the crime of disobedience as provided in Article 189, paragraph 3, of Law No. 151 of 2022, Penal Code," Izquierdo Castro affirmed.

The crime of disobedience entails "penalties of imprisonment from six months to two years, or a fine of two hundred to five hundred quotas, or both," the judge clarified.

New Mechanism for an Old Threat from the Totalitarian Regime

With the approval of the new Penal Code in May 2022, the figure of "pre-criminal social dangerousness" was abolished. This term had lingered since the Social Defense Code, approved in 1936 and in force from 1938 to 1979, and was one of the most odious institutions in Cuban criminal law.

Presented in the periodic examinations of the UN Human Rights Council as "one of the principal instruments of repression and imprisonment against youth and dissidents," the jurists serving the totalitarian Cuban regime maneuvered to eliminate the figure of "pre-criminal social dangerousness" while leaving its shadow.

In an opinion shared with CiberCuba, Cuban lawyer and journalist Arnaldo M. Fernández opined that with the new Penal Code, the terms to define "dangerousness" are so open to interpretation that the legal standard is entirely subject to the discretion of the officials tasked with enforcing it.

"As judicial practice demonstrates, the index of antisocial behavior became a wildcard for repressing opponents and discontents, dissidents, and human rights activists, against whom the totalitarian State could not charge with a specific crime," Fernández noted in his analysis.

In conclusion, the expert pointed out that "the totalitarian State is inherently repressive. Thus, repealing pre-criminal dangerousness in the penal order does not mean the dictatorial political order will abandon the notion of an antisocial subject," and he warned of new maneuvers by the regime’s judicial establishment to "keep the spirit of repression alive."

This Monday, in Granma, Judge Yoel Izquierdo Castro acted as a spokesperson for the totalitarian communist regime to once again coerce the Cuban population that is not "integrated" and under control in its employment and educational framework, threatening them with the application of the crime of "disobedience" if they do not heed the warnings of the authorities.

According to the platform Represores Cubanos, Izquierdo Castro was one of the judges who sentenced 20 peaceful protesters from the July 11th demonstrations in Holguín to 5 to 20 years in prison, included in Preparatory Phase Case No. 11 of 2021. Other participating judges were Alina de Fátima Santana Echerri, Ileana Julia Gómez Guerra, Bertha Doimeadiós Martínez, and Isnelda Pino Gutiérrez.

Why Now?

Just a month ago, the Cuban regime reminded citizens of the consequences they face if they decide to "disrespect public officials."

In another article published in Granma, titled: "Protection against Disrespect to Public Officials, Authority, Their Agents, or Auxiliaries," Supreme Court magistrate Yanelis Ponce Téllez relied on several articles of the Cuban Constitution that regulate citizens' behavior towards public officials to define the concept of "disrespect," highlighting the discretion with which the authorities can interpret it.

To do this, she drew upon Law No. 151 of 2022 (Penal Code Law), an instrument that further legitimizes the regime’s repression against opponents, journalists, independent media, and civil society on the island, and also to silence dissenting voices from anywhere in the country.

Days before its publication, the MININT account on X warned that they expected protests in Cuba this summer and blamed the United States government and its politicians for inciting public disorder on the island amid the current crisis.

"The United States launches new attempts to 'heat up' the streets during the summer, taking advantage of the complex situation the country is experiencing, according to the latest interests of its intelligence agencies to generate attacks against Cuba, in what they call Operation 11.7.24," the Minint said on the social network X.

The severe socio-economic crisis the country is experiencing is beginning to show visible public expressions of discontent in Cuba, to which the regime is preparing to suppress possible protest demonstrations. Articles like those published in the official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba constitute a threatening warning to Cuban civil society.