Cuban rapper Maykel Castillo Pérez jailed for defending human rights through his art on May 18, 2021 marked two years of unjust detention today

#FreeMaykelOsorbo #PatriayVida #CubaIsADictatorship #FreedomForPoliticalPrisoners 

Prisoner of Conscience: Maykel Castillo Pérez

 

Maykel Castillo Pérez, a prisoner of conscience, artist, musician, and two-time Grammy winner, was imprisoned on May 18, 2021, marking two years of illegal captivity today.The San Isidro Movement shared a Tweet demonstrating his nonviolent dissent, and making the case that this was the reason for his captivity.

2 años en prisión por pensar distinto, esa es la realidad de MAYKEL Castillo, un luchador por los derechos de todas y todos las cubanas y cubanos. #FreeMaykel #FreeMaykelOsorbo #LibertadParaLosPresosPoliticos pic.twitter.com/lzE9leZzyj

— Movimiento San Isidro (@Mov_sanisidro) May 18, 2023

Cuban curator, and a friend of Maykel's, Anamely Ramos González held a protest outside the Embassy of the Cuban dictatorship in Washington DC to observe this anniversary, and demand Maykel's release. 

Las defensoras de #DDHH cubanas son luz y guía para la lucha por la libertad de cientos de personas detenidas por ejercer derechos, incl @AnamelyRamos

quien está frente a la Emb de #Cuba en 🇺🇸 exigiendo libertad de @MaykelOsorbo349 tras 2 años de prisión injusta #CubaSinRepresión pic.twitter.com/jXTgBBAKyE— Erika Guevara Rosas (@ErikaGuevaraR) May 18, 2023

Cuban prisoner of conscience Maykel Castillo Pérez “Osorbo” was sentenced to nine years in prison by the Castro regime on June 24, 2022. 

Fellow musician and collaborator "El Funky" released a new music video on May 13, 2023, Warrior, dedicated to his unjustly imprisoned friends Maykel and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara.

 

Today Erika Guevara Rosas of Amnesty International released a letter addressed to Miguel Diaz-Canel. In it she called for the release of Maykel “Osorbo” Castillo, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, José Daniel Ferrer, and the hundreds of people imprisoned just for exercising their human rights in #Cuba. 

 

Also today, Alessandra Pinna of Freedom House tweeted "As a citizen, I cannot understand what it is to live in a country without freedom and rights. As a human, I will not stop demanding justice for those from whom it was taken. Freedom for Maykel “Osorbo” Castillo. Two years of unfair imprisonment." She embedded a Tweet from the main Freedom House account that is shared below.

Maykel Castillo Pérez was arrested #OTD in 2021 by #Cuban authorities for defiantly leading antigovernment protests.

Two years later, as his health deteriorates while unjustly imprisoned, we continue to demand his immediate release! #FreeThemAll

More: https://t.co/mCCif6TRx7 pic.twitter.com/Nlr0W12DuE

— Freedom House (@freedomhouse) May 18, 2023

These international human rights organizations have been following his case closely. Amnesty International offered the following background information on Maykel on August 19, 2021.  

"Maykel Castillo Pérez,known by his stage name Maykel Osorbo, is a Cuban musician and human rights activist. He is one of the authors of “Patria y Vida”, a song critical of the Cuban government that has been adopted as a protest anthem. On 4 April 2021, Maykel was walking in Havana when police officers questioned him and attempted to arrest him but desisted in the face of complaints from other passersby who considered the action unjust."

Eight days later on April 12, 2021 Maykel was the victim of a physical assault engineered by the secret police. Maykel was assaulted in Havana by strangers as state security agents filmed the assault. Maykel Castillo denounced the incident on a live broadcast through Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara's social media where Maykel stated, "I'm a tough black," he said. "Not even a thousand beatings are going to make me cross my arms and close my mouth," he warned. He underscored the danger facing him, and the possible escalation of violence by the dictatorship, and his commitment to nonviolence. “If you break a bone, it stays broken. If I die for that, the fault will be yours, because you are a murderer, " he said, addressing the government. 

"On 18 May [2021], security agents arrived at his home and arrested him. He is being held at the Pinar del Río Provincial Prison under charges of 'assault', 'resistance', 'evasion of prisoners and detainees' and 'public disorder.'"

This is not his first time he was jailed for a matter of conscience. On September 21, 2018 Cuban rapper Maykel Castillo Pérez, "El Osorbo" protested against Decree 349/2018 during a show in Cuba. Decree 349 is a law that further restricts artistic freedoms in Cuba. Three days after the concert, he was detained by the Cuban secret police, and kept jailed. 

On March 20, 2019 Maykel was sentenced to one year and six months in prison, and learned of his sentence on April 22, 2019. He was released on October 23, 2019. 

Please spread the word on his plight, and the plight of hundreds of other Cubans jailed for exercising their freedom of expression. 

One final note, in addition to being a prisoner of conscience, artist, and musician, Maykel is also a father. Imagine 730 days kept away from your daughter in a grimy cell.