The Cuban Government continued to actively restrict religious freedom last year with a new report showing a slight increase on the 2,300 violations recorded in 2015 – then a record high, according to a new report from Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
The UK-based religious freedom advocacy recorded some 2,380 separate violations of religious freedom in 2016, up slightly from the 2,300 documented the previous year and well above the 220 recorded in 2014. A report on the situation in Cuba attributed the spike to the fact that some 2,000 Assemblies of God congregations were declared illegal in 2015, a decision which still stands.
CSW said in the report that of the 2,380 violations recorded in 2016, at least 2009 of these involved entire church congregations and around 260 involved groups of women or activists being arrested to prevent them attending Mass. The latter includes ladies affiliated with the non-violent Ladies in White movement.
Other violations included the confiscation of church property, threats of confiscation of land used for church services, the close surveillance and interrogation of religion leaders, arbitrary detentions and demolition of church properties.
The report notes that the Cuban Government’s Office of Religious Affairs is the “key perpetrator” of religious freedom violations in the nation which continue to be both “brutal and public in nature”. It says that despite developments in international relations between Cuba and the US and EU, the violations documented in the report “indicate that rather than moving towards a freer society, talk of progress has not yet translated into tangible improvements for religion or belief communities”.
“Instead, the Cuban government has continued to actively restrict FoRB [freedom of religion or belief] for a number of communities across the island,” it said. “Different religious groups face varying degrees of opposition from the state; but the groups who suffer the most (largely those who have been refused registration by the ORA) have also been the most active in publicly standing up to government pressure.”
The report also notes that it is “troubling” these development in international relations last year “have led to a misunderstanding among some that the Cuban government is taking steps to improve all human rights”. It also says while the death of Fidel Castro in November may be seen by some as an opportunity for change, “with no major policy change by the government – especially in terms of the continued existence of the ORA – it seems likely that FoRB violations will continue into 2017”.
Mervyn Thomas, CSW’s chief executive, commended the courage of religious groups who have spoken out publicly to denounce ongoing religious freedom violations, “often at great personal risk”.
“We continue to call on the EU and the UK and US governments to ensure that human rights, and particularly FoRB, remain a priority in any dialogues with the Cuban government.’’
