COMPARATIVE CRIMINAL JUSTICEPORTFOLIO PROJECTBY: JESSICCA WHALEY

INTRODUCTION

• The country that I chose to do was Cuba. • In this presentation I will talk a little about Cuba’s government.• Their justice system.• The prisons.• Penal Codes.• What they do with their juvenile delinquents.• The courts.• The police.

A BRIEF LOOK ON CUBA'S GOVERNMENT.

• Cuba is a communist Country, before 1959 they were a dictatorship. • Voting age is 16 years and up.• The elections in Cuba are direct elections to Municipal,

Provincial, and National Assemblies. • The Cuban Parliament is represented by the National

Assembly. • Every adult over the age of 16 is able to vote, except for

prisoners.

HOW THEIR SYSTEM WORKS.

• In 2011 Raúl Castro’s government continued to enforce political conformity using short-term detentions, beatings, public acts of repudiation, forced exile, and travel restrictions.• In 2011, they freed 12 political prisoners for the exchange of

all their basic rights.• The government increasingly relied on arbitrary arrests and

short-term detentions to restrict the basic rights of its critics.

CONTINUED……

• Cubans who criticize the government are subject to criminal charges.• They are exempt from due process guarantees, such as the right to a defense

or fair and public hearings.• In addition to criminal prosecution, Raul Castro's government has increasingly

relied on arbitrary detention to harass and intimidate individuals who exercise their fundamental rights.• The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation

documented 2,074 arbitrary detentions by security forces in 2010, and 2,224 between January and August 2011.

PRISONS IN CUBA

• Prisons are overcrowded, unhygienic, and unhealthy, leading to extensive malnutrition and illness. • The prisoners are served rotting meat for dinner and if they want extra’s like

milk, they must buy it from a prison official.• They are issued only one towel that is hardly ever washed, two bars a soap

a month and a tube of toothpaste that is supposed to last for three months. • Even inmates with mental health conditions and disabilities live the same

harsh life.

PENAL CODES.

• The age of consent in Cuba is 16 years of age.• Article 298 rape: This code in a nutshell states that anybody

who sexually abuses a woman, child, persons with a disability will be incarcerated for 4-10 years. If a person commits it jointly with somebody else the sentence jumps up to 15 years. If the person has committed this crime more than a couple times they could get up to 30 years or the death penalty.

CONTINUED…….

• Article 319- slander: States that anyone who knowingly disseminates false allegations that discredit another person will be liable to imprisonment for a term of between six months to two years, or a fine of between 200 to 500 quotas.• Article 320- Insult: If a person offends somebodies “honor” to where the person

might want to hurt the offender the courts could punish the person who insulted the other person. • Article 303, Penal Code- Sexual Insult. This article states that anyone who

harasses another person with sexual implications will be liable to imprisonment from three months to one year, or a fine of 100 to 300 quotas

PUNISHING THE JUVENILES.

• Cuban courts do not prosecute minors under the age of sixteen.• Rather, "child welfare councils" under the direction of the Minister of the

Interior so they could decide their fate.• The Cuban government also says that children sixteen and up can be trialed

as an adult, but from the ages of 16-20 they are supposed to be put into special holding areas with people their ages.• Most of them end up serving their time with the older, and dangerous adults.

Most of these children end up dying in prison, being sexually assaulted or brutally beaten.

THE COURTS.

• The justice system is subordinate to the legislative and executive branches of government.• It is headed by the People’s Supreme Court, which includes a president, vice president, and

other judges elected to terms of two and one-half years by the National Assembly.• Its jurisdiction includes theft, violent crime, and offenses involving state security, the military,

and the workplace.• The National Assembly may recall judges at any time.• Most trial cases are public, unless they have to do with the military, and there are no trails by

jury. • Cuba is a civil law state that emphasizes written codes rather than precedent as the source of

law, as well as an inquisitorial system of criminal procedure similar to that of Spain and France

LAW ENFORCEMENT.

• Law enforcement in Cuba is the responsibility of the National Revolutionary Police Force under the administration of the Cuban Ministry of the interior. • Article 64 of Cuba's constitution states that serving on

defense is one of Cuba’s highest honors and if they are chosen to serve, that have no choice but to serve their country.• They start taking in police officers at the age of 16.

CONTINUED……

• With certain crimes, information about Cuba cannot be obtained such as murder and rape. • According to the U.S. Department of State’s annual terrorism

report for 2005, Cuba continues “to embrace terrorism as an instrument of policy.”• Cuba has been on the department’s list of states that sponsor

terrorism since 1982.

WHAT I LEARNED

• If we ever think that we have it pretty bad, just know that other countries have it so much worse. • They aren’t really fair with their people that have committed

crimes and their prisoners get treated really bad. • This paper opened my eyes and gave me an insight of some

of the things that really go on inside of Cuba’s boarders.