By Mary Beth Sheridan - Washington Post - November 18, 2009 — Scores of Cubans have been detained as political prisoners since Raul Castro assumed power three years ago, a human-rights organization reported Wednesday, suggesting that there has been little change in the repressive system that existed under his brother Fidel.

Human Rights Watch issued what it called the most comprehensive report yet on civil and political rights in Cuba under Raul Castro, based on a two-month unofficial visit by its researchers to the island and supplemented by telephone interviews from the United States.

Raul Castro has introduced some limited free-market reforms since his ailing brother relinquished power to him in July 2006, the report said. But his government has continued to use “draconian laws and sham trials” to incarcerate people seen as critical of authorities, it added.

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