Tabacuba and Habanos S.A. Admit Using Cuban Prisoners

for the production of cigars destined for export

By Prisoners Defenders

HAVANA TIMES – The recent official confirmation by Habanos S.A., sent in writing to the specialized press outlet Halfwheel, constitutes a direct admission that validates our complaints and reinforces the documentary evidence accumulated in the complaints submitted by Prisoners Defenders in its comprehensive report on forced labor in Cuban prisons, published on September 15. Habanos S.A., a joint venture, echoed an internal response it had received from Tabacuba, the Cuban state company that produces all tobacco in Cuba. This response came after Habanos S.A. shareholders outside Cuba demanded that Cuban authorities explain the forced labor allegations raised by Prisoners Defenders.

In its public statement, Habanos S.A. confirms that Tabacuba explicitly admitted the existence of prison facilities “with production capacity” for the manufacture of Cuban cigars, recognizing that these were also “destined for export.” This official acknowledgment validates at least five central elements of our complaint about forced labor in Cuban prisons:

1. The existence of tobacco factories within the Cuban prison system, including forced labor prisons such as Aguacate (Quivicán), Guamajal (Villa Clara), Cuba Sí (Holguín), El Pre de Angola (Artemisa), Combinado del Este (the “Combinadito” area, in Havana), and Boniato (Santiago de Cuba), in addition to many other prisons where Prisoners Defenders’ investigation and confirmation of these factories is ongoing.
2. The direct involvement of prisoners in the production of cigars, including political prisoners, in coercive environments where there is no free, informed, or voluntary consent.
3. The commercial purpose of the manufactured products for export, linking this forced production with international supply chains.
4. Habanos S.A. does not even indicate that prisoners subjected to this forced labor regime are receiving wages. Habanos S.A.’s statement explicitly admits that this unpaid labor is exchanged for “penitentiary benefits” in return. This is also prohibited under international law: “If you work, you can call your family. If you work, you can receive family visits. If you refuse to work, your deprivation of liberty subsidized by correctional labor with or without internment will become imprisonment in a maximum-security prison,” concluded the victims. Prison labor serving commercial export purposes is considered forced labor, prohibited under ILO Convention 29. With this practice Cuba also violates ILO Convention 105 on the abolition of forced labor. Even though Cuba has not ratified Convention 105, as an ILO member it is nonetheless bound by the ILO Declaration of 1998 on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, which obliges elimination of forced labor even without formal ratification. Likewise, this labor violates Articles 4 and 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These acts violate Article 8 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights, to which Cuba is bound even though it has not ratified it, as it is a signatory to the OAS Charter and bound by its principles. Finally, Cuba is violating the Mandela Rules, since: a) prison labor must not be exploited by private interests; b) it cannot be used for profit or under exploitative conditions; c) it must be voluntary, with fair remuneration and conditions comparable to the free labor market. Conditioning sentence reductions, family calls, visits, transfers, or less severe regimes on participation in state-imposed productive activities not only turns labor into an instrument of coercion but also violates the United Nations Mandela Rules (arts. 97 and 103), which require that prison labor be voluntary, safe, non-discriminatory, and never forced through institutional pressure or indirect punishment. This institutional acknowledgment corroborates that, in Cuba, prison benefits are used as bargaining chips to coerce participation in labor schemes in coercive environments and in the absence of rights and safeguards, which constitutes a concealed form of modern slavery for profit.

5. Cuba admits a structural, institutionalized, and regular practice within its prison system, not an isolated anomaly.

This acknowledgment confirms what Prisoners Defenders has already documented through more than 170 first-hand testimonies: in multiple prisons across the country, including Boniato Prison—where Cohíba cigars are produced for both domestic consumption and, in part, for export—cigars are made for export through the exchange of “penitentiary benefits,” in violation of applicable international law.

Violations of International Law

The Cuban State’s admission constitutes multiple violations of international law, including:

• ILO Convention 29, ratified by Cuba, which prohibits forced or coerced labor without free consent and without any kind of pressure. Labor in prison contexts is only lawful if it meets guarantees such as: fair pay, decent conditions, consent, work contracts, independent oversight, and respect for the dignity of the worker.
• The Nelson Mandela Rules (UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners), particularly Articles 97–103, which establish minimum protection standards for prisoners employed in productive work.
• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 8.3 of which prohibits forced labor except under very restrictive conditions not met in Cuba.
• The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which obligate corporate actors to avoid contributing to human rights violations in their supply chains. Importing Cuban cigars produced in prisons without traceability or compliance guarantees violates these principles.
• These practices, now acknowledged by the regime itself, not only constitute serious violations of international standards but also implicate the international responsibility of the Cuban State and of importing companies operating without due diligence.

International Implications and Demands

The official statement from Habanos S.A. dismantles any denialist arguments by the Cuban regime: Cuba uses its prison population, including political and conscience prisoners, to sustain an industrial and commercial production structure for the economic benefit of the State and GAESA, the military conglomerate that owns all industries in Cuba and is domiciled in Panama, thereby violating essential international norms.

Therefore, we urge:

• Importers, distributors, and international retailers of Cuban cigars to adopt urgent human rights due diligence mechanisms, including independent audits and suspension of purchases where there is risk of acquiring goods produced with forced labor.
• EU member states, especially their trade and customs inspection authorities, to initiate investigations into Cuban imports allegedly tainted by forced labor, in compliance with the EU Regulation on products linked to forced labor (2023).
• Multilateral bodies, including the ILO, OHCHR, and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, to take note of this admission and strengthen monitoring procedures on the use of prison labor in Cuba.
• Brands and companies linked to the Cuban tobacco production and distribution chain to assume their responsibility under the principle of non-complicity in international crimes and to establish appropriate remediation measures.

Cuba has admitted—for the first time and without ambiguity—that it produces cigars with prison labor, without any system guaranteeing free, decent, voluntary, and audited working conditions. This confession, far from refuting our report, makes it an essential document for the defense of human rights in the face of a state model of modern slavery.

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