Cuban prisoners forced to work making cigars and charcoal for export to Europe, report claims

Madrid-based NGO estimates at least 60,000 inmates subject to forced labour with little or no pay in Cuban jails

Prisoners in Cuba are forced to work producing the country’s world-famous cigars and marabu charcoal sold to European consumers, according to a new report.

The Madrid-based NGO Prisoners Defenders estimates that at least 60,000 people are being forced to work with little or no pay, under threats, in exhausting conditions and without adequate equipment, with reports of violence including the sexual abuse of female detainees.