Rights group claims Cuba holding 300 political prisoners

More than 300 prisoners of conscience are still held in Cuba despite a slight drop in the net number of such inmates during the first half of 2006, a veteran rights group said today.

The Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation said in a regular update that it had 316 documented political prisoners, down from 333 at the end of 2005.

The new count reflects both new prisoners and people freed over the past six months.

Commission head Elizardo Sanchez wrote in the report that the net drop of 17 inmates was “statistically irrelevant” and did not indicate an improvement in human rights in Cuba.

“Unless a miracle occurs, the international community should prepare itself, at least over the short term, to keep receiving only bad news when it comes to civil, political and economic rights in Cuba,” the report said.

Cuba’s communist-run government denies holding prisoners of conscience, characterising them as common criminals.