3rd September, 2015
A Cuban pastor, imprisoned for six months for holding unauthorised religious services, was released from jail late last month.
Rev Jes‚àö‚à´s Noel Carballeda, who pastors an unregistered church in Havana, was detained in early February and imprisoned in the Valle Grande prison outside of Havana. Religious freedom advocacy Christian Solidarity Worldwide said that while he didn’t appear to have been tried, he was informed while in prison that he would be held for six months as punishment for continued unauthorised religious activity. He was released on 31st August.
It’s the second time Rev Carballeda has been imprisoned – he spent four months in jail in 2000 following complaints about church services held in his home and was subsequently put on probation. While barred from holding any religious activity in his family home, CSW says he continued to lead his church – linked to the Apostolic Movement, a Protestant church network which the Cuban Government has refused to register – by holding services in parks, rented halls and private homes.
CSW, which says Rev Carballeda’s detention is "part of a larger crackdown on religious freedom in Cuba over the past few years", has welcomed his release but noted that it only came after he served the six month sentence for "the supposed crime of holding unauthorised, peaceful religious services".
Stuart Windsor, special ambassador for the UK-based group, said they continued to call on the Cuban Government to bring legal matters related to religious activities and groups under "regular legal mechanisms" and to remove the Office of Religious Affairs from its position of authority over religious groups and activities.
"We urge the government to cease its harassment of all religious groups, both registered and unregistered, and to allow religious groups who wish to register and to operate legally to do so."
– DAVID ADAMS
