Prisoners Defenders International

What Prisoners Defenders International does

Prisoners Defenders International is an independent, Madrid-based non-profit association (legal entity: Prisoners Defenders International Network, NIF 88446570G) that conducts legal analysis, documentation, and advocacy on human rights violations, with a primary focus on Cuban political prisoners and forced labor in Cuban state-controlled internationalist medical missions. Founded in 2018 by a group that filed an early complaint with the International Criminal Court and United Nations, the organization maintains continuously updated lists of Cuban political prisoners (growing from 142 in April 2019 to 1,306+ by July 2026), and has aggregated 622+ testimonies documenting forced labor patterns affecting 1,111+ to 1,402+ Cuban medical professionals across 29+ countries. Its work product is delivered through legal reports, ICC and UN Special Procedure submissions, testimony forms, press conferences, and email-distributed multilingual reports; the organization operates a dedicated prisoner-list subdomain (lista.prisonersdefenders.org), an anonymous reporting portal, and a sister site on Cuban medical brigades (cubanmedicalbrigades.org), but has no proprietary technology platform. The organization is funded exclusively through donations and grants — including personal funds from president Javier Larrondo and the Czech Republic's Transition Promotion Program — and operates with a six-person staff that includes the president, two coordinators, an international criminal lawyer, and a communications manager, supported by partner dissident organizations on the ground (UNPACU, Damas de Blanco, FNCA-OZT, ASIC). Its regulatory track record includes the 2019 UN Letter of Accusation against Cuba for slavery and forced labor, four European Parliament resolutions (2021, 2023, 2024), a May 2024 condemnation by the Congress of Deputies of Spain, and ongoing CIDH precautionary measures for individual political prisoners, alongside a strategic partnership with Prodie Santé to operate a Free International Medical Brigade for defected Cuban medical professionals.

Name

Prisoners Defenders International

Legal name

Prisoners Defenders International Network

Website

https://prisonersdefenders.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Prisoners Defenders International is a Madrid-based non-profit legal and advocacy organization that documents Cuban political prisoners and forced labor in Cuban internationalist medical missions, submitting evidence to the ICC, UN, OAS, and European Parliament.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Human Rights Advocacy and Legal Documentation

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311)

akta.pro primary industry

Human Rights Monitoring, Documentation & Advocacy (BPADAGAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Transitional Justice, Accountability & Reparations (BPADAGAL), Civil Liberties & Constitutional Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAA), Human Rights, Democracy & Rule of Law IGOs (BPADAAAG)

Keywords

• Human rights documentation
• Political prisoner advocacy
• International legal complaints
• Forced labor reporting
• Non-profit legal action

Headquarters

HQ city

Madrid

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: Prisoners Defenders operates as a non-profit association (Prisoners Defenders International Network, NIF 88446570G). The organization is funded through donations and appears to receive support from government programs such as the Czech Republic's Transition Promotion Program. No commercial revenue model is present.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Prisoners Defenders International is a non-profit human rights organization that systematically documents political prisoners in Cuba, collects testimonies from Cuban medical professionals subjected to forced labor in internationalist missions, and submits legal complaints and reports to international bodies including the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, the Organization of American States, and the European Parliament. Its outputs include regularly updated political prisoner lists, legal analyses, ICC and UN complaints, and a confidential anonymous reporting channel for victims of human rights violations.

Product overview

Prisoners Defenders International Network is a human rights documentation and advocacy organization operating as a platform for monitoring political prisoners and human rights violations, primarily in Cuba. The organization functions as a unified advocacy platform comprising: (1) the main website documenting political prisoners and publishing reports, (2) the Lista de Presos subdomain tracking prisoners by year, (3) an anonymous reporting system for victims to submit testimonies to international bodies, and (4) an email newsletter delivering reports to subscribers. The organization also documents Cuban medical missions through a dedicated subdomain. The portfolio represents a documentation and advocacy system rather than a technology product portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Political Prisoner Documentation and Reporting Service Systematic ongoing documentation and publication of political prisoners in Cuba, with weekly updated lists submitted to international bodies including the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, and the Organization of American States. Used by governments, international institutions, NGOs, and the public to inform diplomatic and advocacy action.
• Lista de Presos (Political Prisoner Database) A dedicated database tracking political prisoners in Cuba, with reports archived by year from 2019 to 2026 documenting cases of political imprisonment, torture, and repression. Used by researchers, journalists, governments, and international institutions.
• Anonymous Reporting Service (Denuncie) Confidential reporting platform allowing victims of political imprisonment, family separation, repression, and forced labor in Cuban internationalist missions to submit testimonies anonymously. Submitted reports are forwarded to the UN, ICC, and other international bodies without exposing complainant identities. Available to victims of Cuban state repression.
• Cuban Medical Brigades Documentation Service Documentation and reporting service on Cuban internationalist missions, including allegations of forced labor, human trafficking, salary confiscation, and family separation affecting Cuban medical professionals abroad. Submissions are filed with the ICC and UN, supporting the 622-testimony complaint and 1,402+ affected professional cases. Targets international institutions, governments, and media.
• Multilingual Report Distribution (Email Newsletter) Email subscription service that delivers legal and human rights reports in Spanish, English, French, and Portuguese to subscribers worldwide. Used by governments, NGOs, journalists, and the public to access the organization's ongoing reports.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,306 political prisoners documented as of July 2026
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Prodie SantécoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 September 2020Prodie Santé, a multinational institution specializing in the management and deployment of medical professionals across 5 continents with over 20 years of experience, partnered with Prisoners Defenders to create the first 'Free International Medical Brigade' (Brigada Médica Internacional Libre). The brigade comprises over 2,000 Cuban medical professionals who have fled Cuban missions and are now offered dignified employment alternatives. This represents the organization's core alternative to the Cuban slavery model.
• European Parliament (Vice-President Dita Charanzová, MEPs Javier Nart, Leopoldo López Gil)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 22 September 2020Vice-President of the European Parliament Dita Charanzová and MEPs Javier Nart and Leopoldo López Gil publicly supported the '622 Cuban doctors vs. Cuban Government' complaint at the September 2020 press conference. MEPs have raised parliamentary questions, written letters to EU leadership, and supported resolutions condemning Cuban missions — directly amplifying the organization's advocacy reach.
• Transition Promotion Program - Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech RepublicminorOthersPrisoners Defenders participates in the Czech Republic's Transition Promotion Program, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. This is a government sponsorship/reporting program rather than a product or commercial partnership.
• UNPACU (Unión Patriótica de Cuba)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUNPACU is a Cuban opposition organization that collaborates closely with Prisoners Defenders. The organization provides on-the-ground information about political prisoners and human rights violations, and Prisoners Defenders includes UNPACU activists prominently in its documentation. UNPACU leader José Daniel Ferrer is among the documented political prisoners.
• ASIC (Asociación Sindical Independiente de Cuba)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerASIC is a Cuban independent trade union recognized by the International Labour Organization (ILO). It collaborates with Prisoners Defenders on documentation and advocacy related to forced labor and worker exploitation in Cuba and Cuban internationalist missions.
• FNCA (Frente Nacional de Resistencia Cívica Orlando Zapata Tamayo)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFNCA is a Cuban civic resistance organization. It collaborates with Prisoners Defenders by providing information on political prisoners and human rights cases in Cuba.
• Damas de BlancocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDamas de Blanco (Ladies in White) is a Cuban organization of wives and relatives of political prisoners. Prisoners Defenders includes their members in its political prisoner documentation and advocacy.
• International Organizations (UN, OAS, ICC)coreOthersPrisoners Defenders submits formal complaints and reports to the United Nations (Special Procedures), the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the Organization of American States/Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (OAS/CIDH). These bodies review, act on, and sometimes issue binding or quasi-binding decisions on the submitted material.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Freedom House: US-headquartered NGO producing annual Freedom in the World reports and country assessments of political rights and civil liberties. Comparable in advocacy output and political prisoner documentation, with Prisoners Defenders reports listed among its adopted sources.
• Human Rights Watch: Investigative human rights organization producing detailed country reports on political repression, arbitrary detention, and forced labor. Closely comparable in mission and methodology, including specific condemnations of Cuba's medical missions, and adopted Prisoners Defenders' evidence in its reporting.
• Amnesty International: Global human rights NGO producing country reports, advocacy campaigns, and UN submissions. Directly comparable as a human rights advocacy organization that also documents political prisoners and submits evidence to international bodies, but operating at a much larger scale across all regions.

Direct peers

• Civil Rights Defenders: Stockholm-based international human rights NGO supporting civil society defenders and documenting political prisoners. Directly comparable as a human rights organization that lists and advocates for political prisoners globally; explicitly listed as a distributing/adopting organization for Prisoners Defenders' reports.
• Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights: International human rights organization focused on individual political prisoners and legal advocacy before international courts and UN bodies. Directly comparable in using legal-action strategy at international courts and featuring high-profile political prisoner cases.
• Front Line Defenders: Dublin-based international organization protecting human rights defenders at risk. Directly comparable as an advocacy organization supporting politically persecuted individuals and submitting documentation to international mechanisms.
• Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH/OMCT): Joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organisation Against Torture documenting cases of human rights defenders at risk. Directly comparable in maintaining an ongoing, updated dossier of persecuted individuals for international advocacy use.

Emerging players

• UN Watch: Geneva-based NGO monitoring UN human rights mechanisms and filing submissions to UN bodies. Comparable in advocacy channel — submitting evidence and pressuring international institutions on country-specific human rights situations, including Cuba.

Regional players

• Cuba Decide: Cuban civil society initiative focused on democratic transition and political prisoners in Cuba. Directly comparable in Cuba-specific subject matter, scope (political prisoner lists, UN submissions), and stakeholder audience, though operating primarily in Spanish-language advocacy channels.

Others

• Cuba Solidarity Coalition / solidarity movements: Network of solidarity organizations focused on Cuba-related political advocacy and prisoner documentation. Comparable in subject matter (Cuba-focused political prisoner advocacy), though operating from a different political orientation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CubanDefenders
• Facebookfacebook.com/CubanDefenders
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/prisoners-defenders

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Prisoners Defenders International