Cuba’s parliament has passed a new penal code that, according to officials, modernizes the country’s laws but, according to human rights groups, tightens already harsh restrictions on dissent. This information by The Associated Press appears in ABC News. Here is an excerpt:

Cuba’s parliament has approved a new penal code that officials say modernizes the country’s laws but that human rights groups warn tightens already strict limits on dissent.

The law approved Sunday tightly controls unauthorized contacts with foreign organizations and individuals and explicitly bans foreign financing.

Supreme Court President Rubén Remigio Ferro called it “a modern, very inclusive code,” telling state television that it favors “prevention and education before repression” while imposing “sanctions with sufficient rigor” against crimes that affect “social peace and the stability of our nation.”

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