Elizardo Sánchez, president of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, on Thursday released a list of names of individuals allegedly executed by firing squad, along with the name of their provinces of origin. Each case was confirmed by the slain person's relatives, he said.

The majority were convicted murderers, Sánchez said, adding that the state-owned media did not report on the executions.

The independent commission keeps track of political prisoners on the island. It opposes the death penalty and tries to determine the number of executions.

It was impossible to confirm Sánchez's figures. The Foreign Ministry's official spokesman, Alejandro González, did not return telephone calls.

Although foes of the Cuban regime in the United States use the execution figures as an index of the growing repression on the island, the application of the death penalty also has grown in the United States.

Cuba applies the death penalty in some cases of homicide, generally when homicide accompanies another crime, such as robbery or child rape.