Cuba to pardon 3,500 ahead of Pope visit

Cuba has declared it will pardon over 3,500 prisoners in the next 72 hours as a humanitarian gesture ahead of Pope Francis’s visit to Cuba next week.

The pardon is similar to amnesties granted prior to past papal visits. In 2012, 3,000 inmates were pardoned before the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI, and hundreds more were released before Pope John Paul’s momentous visit in 1998.

Among the pardoned would be minors under the age of 20 without prior criminal records, people over the age of 60, prisoners in poor health, women, and those who would be eligible for parole in 2016. Additionally, foreigners included in the pardon will be released if their countries of origin grant them repatriation.

However, inmates that many human rights groups consider to be political prisoners do not appear to be eligible for pardon. According to the Communist Party newspaper Granma, exceptions to the pardon are those who committed crimes “against state security.” Many in Cuba have pleaded with the Pope to intercede with the Castro government on behalf of jailed political activists.

Other prisoners excluded from the pardon are “those convicted of murder, homicide, rape, pederasty with violence, corruption of minors, theft and illegal slaughter of cattle, drug trafficking, violent and aggravated robbery.”

Pope Francis will arrive in Havana on September 19th for a four-day tour of the island.