A glimpse inside Cuba's prisons

1 May 2013 Last updated at 14:28 GMT

A glimpse inside Cuba's prisons
Sarah Rainsford By Sarah Rainsford BBC News, Havana

Proportionately, Cuba has one of the highest prison populations in the world

The whitewashed buildings of the Combinado del Este prison are
surrounded by watch-towers and layers and layers of coiled barbed wire.

One of Cuba's most notorious high-security facilities, its 3,000 beds
have been used by everyone from convicted killers to those punished for
their political views.

Usually closed to outside scrutiny, the prison recently allowed foreign
journalists through its doors for the first time in almost a decade,
ahead of a Universal Periodic Review by the United Nations Human Rights
Council.

At the entrance to a cellblock we were given paper flowers, handmade by
inmates.

There were more of them inside, their petals resting on neatly-made
bunk-beds.
First time inside

And as we peered in, a group of prisoners in the corridor burst into song.

The cells we saw were clean but cramped, with three men to each.

In one, a detainee drew back the plastic curtain to reveal a combined
shower and toilet tray. There was no running water, though that is
common in Cuba.

The government sets no limit on pre-trial detention and the men said
many on their wing had been waiting for trial for more than a year.

"This is my first time inside," 46-year-old Eduardo told me. Accused of
an "economic crime", he had been waiting 17 months for his case to come
to court.

"So far, they've treated us ok," he shrugged.

"I was just carrying a few grams of marijuana," his cellmate Nelson
protested, saying that prosecutors were demanding an eight-year sentence.

"It's tough," he says, but Cuba's government has a zero-tolerance policy
on drugs.

Proportionately, communist Cuba has one of the highest prison
populations in the world, with over 57,000 inmates spread across 200
facilities in a country of 11.3 million people.

Officials say they are now trying to reduce the number sent to Cuba's
five maximum-security jails - currently around half of all detainees -
by extending the use of lower-security prisons.
'Undesirable elements'

Our second stop was La Lima. Labelled a "centre for work and study", it
consists of a series of converted military warehouses that opened as a
prison in 2009.

Just outside its gates, I met a murderer helping to build a block of flats.

Francisco was initially sent to Combinado del Este but earned a transfer
to the more lenient La Lima by completing his high school education,
then starting work.

He says he now earns up to $40 (£25) a month as a convict-carpenter,
double the average state salary on the outside.

"Everyone tries to get moved here, then get out early," Francisco told
me. "You can reduce your sentence if you study and work."
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Inside the complex, large communal cells were festooned with miniature
Cuban flags for our arrival. But some of the prisoners' tales were less
cheery.

Ricardo is serving three years for "pre-criminal dangerousness". He was
arrested for having no job and associating with "undesirable elements".

"I didn't rob, or kill, or anything. They labelled me 'dangerous' just
for spending time with former prisoners and sent me here."

His story suggests that the policy of moving inmates to lower-security
centres is about changing the style of punishment in Cuba, not reducing
its scale.

"I got seven years for stealing seven mangos," added another prisoner,
who admitted he broke into a farm but insisted he did not use violence.

"I've never been to prison before. I've learned my lesson, I want to get
out," he said.
'Unprotected prisoners'

In both prisons, officials highlighted work and study programmes,
ultimately aimed at helping re-integrate ex-offenders into society. At
the Combinado del Este they say the recidivism rate is just 9%.

Prisoners duly praised the programmes, although no conversation was
conducted in private.

"The worst thing is that prisoners here are unprotected," argues human
rights activist Elizardo Sanchez, who claims that conditions away from
what he describes as "show prisons" remain lamentable.

"Cuba refuses access to the Red Cross, calling that interference in
internal affairs. But they know they can't open up fully to
international scrutiny, because people would be horrified," Mr Sanchez says.

The government has no obligation under international law to allow Red
Cross monitors into its jails, but many countries do accept them.
Lingering doubts

When asked why Cuba does not - thereby allowing for lingering doubts
about the state of its prisons - the director of Combinado del Este
described the media's visit as a "step forward".

"You have seen the reality," he insisted.

But one thing we did not see was any political prisoners.

Seventy-five prominent dissidents given long sentences in 2003 were
eventually released after the Roman Catholic Church intervened.

But diplomats and activists say several dozen people remain imprisoned
for offences such as "disrespecting" a public official.

There has also been a surge in short-term detentions of opposition
activists. Several hundred each month are held in police detention
centres for hours or days.

That issue will be raised at the UN Human Rights Council.

Judging changes in the penal system will be harder. For non-political
prisoners, it does appear that efforts to improve things are under way.

The rhetoric at least, is all about detainees' rights.

But our one-off prison tour was limited. And the real experts in prison
monitoring are still banned from visiting.

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