On November 9, 2020, musician, and member of the Movimiento San Isidro, a collective of artists that fight for freedom of artistic expression, Denis Solis Gonzalez, was violently arrested from his home by agents of the National Revolutionary Police in Havana, Cuba. At the time of his arrest, police officers did not present Denis with a valid warrant or reason for the arrest. We, PEN America’s Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), Freemuse, the Finnish Music Council, Finish Musicians’ Union, CREO (Norwegian Musicians Association), and Artists at Risk AR-Perpetuum Mobile are extremely concerned for the state of artistic freedom in Cuba – and the resultant hunger and thirst strikes in reaction to these prison sentences – which illustrate the grave reality for artists under the current climate for artistic expression in the country. The musician was incommunicado from the day of his detention until November 18 when he was finally permitted to contact family members. Further, Gonzalez was not offered the right to access legal defense. On November 12, in less than 72 hours, Gonzalez was sentenced to eight months in prison on the charges of contempt under the Criminal Procedure Law (LPP) from articles 359 to 383 and transferred to the Valle Grande Prison in Havana after facing a summary trial, as was informed by the Provincial Municipal Court. As Prisoners Defenders states: Contempt as defined in the Cuban law, it requires that it occur when the authority is “in the exercise of its functions or on the occasion or because of them” (art. 144.1 of the Criminal Code of Cuba). In this case, this requirement exceeded officers in their functions to the point of illegally searching the house and filming Denis in his private environment without giving or presenting or using a court order, arrest warrant or any reason whatsoever. From November 12-15, members of Movimiento San Isidro that were requesting information on the whereabouts of Denis Solis at the Police Station at Cuba and Chacón were daily arbitrarily detained for hours. On 16 November, after several attempts to find out the status of his case and where he was being held, police officers informed Movimiento San Isidro members about Gonzalez’s sentence and the location of his imprisonment. On November 13, musician Didier Eduardo Almagro Toledo was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of contempt of court and public disorder as informed by the authorities to his family. He was accused of participating in an anti-government demonstration protesting power cuts in his neighborhood on August 4. According to reports from the musician’s friends and family, Almagro was beaten and denied the right to speak to his family following the detention. Although Didier is in Santa Clara Prison, the family hasn’t yet allowed access to the Trial Sentence. According to Cuban organization Cubalex, between November 10 and 23, authorities in Cuba have arbitrarily arrested more than 34 people, including Movimiento San Isidro artists, activists, journalists, and others who joined the demand for Denis Solis’ release from detention. In particular, the peaceful protests demanding the release of Denis Solís have provoked an escalation of violence that ranges from the siege of the Movimiento San Isidro headquarters in Old Havana to cut off access to housing located in Damas 955, to more aggressive measures such as preventing food and water from being delivered to members. This has triggered an extreme response by the artists, whereby six artists and activists have been on hunger strike since November 18 to protest the imprisonment of Gonzalez and call for his release. These activists include Esteban Rodríguez, Oscar Casanella, Iliana Hernández, Osmani Pardo and artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara and Maykel Osorbo, who were also on a water strike which has now ended. Cuban poet Katherine Bisquet joined the hunger strike on November 21. We, the undersigned, condemn the harassment, police violence, human rights violations and repressive acts perpetrated by Cuban authorities against artists, journalists, and cultural rights defenders in the county, including those relating to the peaceful demonstrations against Denis Solis Gonzalez’ detention and subsequent imprisonment. We also support the calls of the Cuban artistic community to encourage the authorities in the country to engage in dialogues with the Movimiento San Isidro to prevent future consequences regarding the health of the artists and activists currently on hunger strike and to stop their repressive behavior towards artists, journalists, and activists.