A new report by Human Rights Watch released Wednesday cited examples such as at least 40 people arrested for being "socially dangerous" -- among other persecution of opponents of the Americas' only communist regime -- and harsh prison conditions.

Since the US embargo on Cuba has proven ineffective, the United States should seek an alliance with the European Union, Canada and Latin America to adopt joint sanctions and give Havana six months to free all its political prisoners, the report by the rights watchdog also argued.

The report "New Castro, Same Cuba" details how political and religious activists live in constant fear -- as do many Cubans who simply seek to improve their lot in life with self-employment amid growing poverty.

"Despite significant obstacles to research, Human Rights Watch documented more than 40 cases in which Cuba has imprisoned individuals for 'dangerousness' under Raul Castro because they tried to exercise their fundamental rights. We believe there are many more," the report presented in Washington stressed.

The report was researched secretly, on unauthorized visits to the island, and by gleaning data from interviews with about 60 people, HRW said.

It is the first far-ranging report on human rights violations under Raul Castro, who took Cuba's helm in July 2006 as revolutionary legend Fidel Castro faced a life-threatening health crisis. He survived and remains head of the Cuban Communist Party and a political commentator.

Many analysts hoped it would be a chance for the younger Castro, a former military chief who is now 77, to move toward some political and economic opening.

But "rather than dismantle this repressive machinery, Raul Castro has kept it firmly in place and fully active," the HRW report said.

Raul Castro's regime has used tough laws and unfair trials to jail dozens of people whose only crime was exercising basic civil rights, the report said.

Earlier this year, with the economy in dire straits, the regime launched a campaign called "Operation Victory" under which dozens of young people were charged and arrested simply for being unemployed.

The report spotlights cases like that of Ramon Velazquez Torazo, who in December 2006 started marching across the Caribbean nation on foot, with his wife Barbara and daughter Rufina, 18. They called for an end to political detentions, sleeping on roadsides and in private homes.

Before long they were targeted by pro-government rapid-response squads that insult and attack them regularly. In January 2007, the three were arrested in Camaguey and Ramon Velazquez was jailed for being "socially dangerous" as he was unemployed.

In a trial that took under an hour, the activist was given a three-year jail term. His wife plunged into a major depression and his daughter, after trying to push on with the cause, ended up leaving for the United States, HRW said.

Human Rights Watch, backed up by its testimonies and documents, also charges that the Cuban government has moved political dissidents to cells where dozens of criminals suffering from tuberculosis are housed.

Three known cases of this that HRW highlights "suggest a deliberate effort on the part of authorities to expose political prisoners to a highly contagious and potentially deadly disease.

"Ultimately, it is the Raul Castro government that bears responsibility for such abuses -- and has the power to address them," the report underscores.

Copyright AFP 2008, AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium