Overview

• The U.S. State Department announced visa restrictions on four Cuban officials responsible for the arbitrary detention of activist Luis Robles Elizástigui.
• The sanctioned individuals include prosecutor Yanaisa Matos Legrá and judges Gladys Maria Padrón Canals, Maria Elena Fornari Conde, and Juan Sosa Orama.
• These officials, who worked at the People’s Provincial Court of Havana, oversaw Robles’s prosecution and sentencing on politically motivated charges.
• The visa bans, enacted under Section 7031(c) of U.S. law, also extend to the officials’ immediate family members, barring their entry into the United States.
• The U.S. calls on international allies to adopt similar measures to hold Cuban regime actors accountable for systemic human rights abuses.