ELLIS HEASLEY, of UK-based religious freedom advocacy CSW, reports on the growing incidence of religious freedom violations in Cuba…
London, UK
CSW documented 657 violations of freedom of religion or belief in Cuba in 2022. That’s an average of more than 12 every week, and more than double the 272 violations documented in 2021. And these are just the numbers we know about.
As in previous years, religious leaders and adherents faced arbitrary detention, sweeping restrictions on movement and travel, prevention from attending religious services, confiscation of goods and property, and attacks on social media, to name just a few of the widespread violations for which the Cuban Communist Party is responsible.
Top – Journalist Ricardo Fernández Izaguirre; Middle – journalist Yoel Suárez; and, Bottom – Apostolic Movement leader Alain Toledano Valiente. ALL PICTURES: Courtesy of CSW
This crackdown is a continuation of the government response to the 11th July protests of 2021. The CCP fears that it is losing control of its population, and it is throwing every ounce of its power into ever-increasing oppression, particularly towards independent religious communities who possess significant potential to mobilise large groups of people.
For many, the repression has grown so severe that they have been left with no choice but to flee the island, with upwards of 300,000 Cubans believed to have sought sanctuary elsewhere over the past two years alone. Often, emigration from Cuba involves great personal expense and physical risk, yet this is a price that so many are willing to pay to escape the clutches of a regime that has refused to loose its grip on power for over 70 years.
Among those who left the country in 2022 are many prominent FoRB defenders, one of the most well-known being Ricardo Fernández Izaguirre, an independent journalist who has bore the brunt of government harassment for years. In July, 2019, he spent a week in incommunicado detention – held without charge and completely unable to communicate with his family or a lawyer.
Upon his release, Mr Fernández continued to bravely advocate for the right to FoRB in Cuba, even as the harassment against him and his family continued. However, in July 2022, three years after he was first detained, he was forced to sign a document renouncing his Cuban citizenship and he was ordered to leave Cuba, which he did seeking asylum abroad.
Similarly forced from the country were the independent journalist and FoRB defender, Yoel Suárez, and prominent Apostolic Movement leader Alain Toledano Valiente. Again, both men had spent years speaking out on the situation of FoRB in Cuba despite repeated government threats, harassment and interrogations, but finally they were forced into exile with their families after being informed by State Security that they would be permitted to travel outside of Cuba only on the condition that they did not come back. In the case of Pastor Toledano Valiente, he was given an ultimatum of 30 days to leave or face a lengthy imprisonment, while Mr. Suarez was threatened with the removal of his young son by the government from their home if he and his wife did not leave the country.
But even as vocal advocates for FoRB such as these were unjustly driven from their homeland, many others continued to rise up, not only challenging the government for its continuing and grave violations of human rights, but stepping in where the government has failed to respond to a growing economic crisis which has left many Cubans in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
One Christian whose church was threatened after they distributed aid to the needy in their community told CSW: ‘Solidarity cannot be considered a crime and we will continue to provide spiritual support to the community, despite the threats.’
Another Jewish individual echoed a similar sentiment after he was fired from his job because of his religious beliefs: “I don’t care if, because of my religion, they decide to erase the work that I do with dedication and responsibility, I will always choose my religion before any recognition or title that men can give me”.
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The people of Cuba are strong and resilient. Even as the government seeks to strengthen its hand with the adoption of new criminal and family codes, which give it ever more powers to repress the population, those who long for freedom are not about to give up.
Every time a Ricardo Fernández Izaguirre, a Yoel Suárez, or an Alain Toledano Valiente is forced to leave the country, another will stand up and speak out in their place.
And the Cuban Government has not succeeded in silencing these men or many others, forced into exile but who continue to speak out about the injustices experienced by their compatriots still in Cuba.
Even those imprisoned on the island remain convinced that a free Cuba is on the horizon, as Pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo, who was arrested after the July protests recently affirmed to us in a letter which quoted the words of Isaiah 51:14-15 (NLT): “Soon all you captives will be released! Imprisonment, starvation, and death will not be your fate! For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea, causing its waves to roar. My name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
We must stand with these brave people, in prayer and solidarity, calling on God to deliver the nation of Cuba from the repressive regime which has oppressed its people for far too long, and encouraging our own governments to make every effort to ensure the same.
Click here to read CSW’s brand new report on freedom of religion or belief in Cuba.
Ellis Heasley is public affairs officer at UK-based religious freedom advocacy CSW.
