He Report on Religious freedom United States International corresponding to the year 2023, presented on Wednesday by the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, denounced the situation in Cubawhere laws are adverse to believers and their faith activities, religious leaders are imprisoned and groups not officially registered are discriminated against.
These and other issues keep the Cuban regime among those governments that violate religious freedom in the world.
“The Constitution contains written provisions on religious freedom and the prohibition of discrimination on religious grounds; however, the provisions of the Penal and Administrative Codes contravene these protections. The Constitution declares the country a secular State and establishes the separation of the institutions religious and the State, but The Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), through its Office of Religious Affairs (ORA) and the Ministry of Justice (MINJUS), regulates religious practice“says the report.
He regrets that, “By law, membership in or association with an unregistered group is a crime“and that the Penal Code “stipulates a minimum penalty of six months in prison, a fine, or both for persons who attempt to conscientiously object to military service or prevent minors from attending public schoolincluding those whose objections are based on their religious beliefs.”
The report condemns the “penalties of up to ten years in prison for people who receive financing from foreign organizations or for financing activities that are considered directed against the State or its constitutional order.”
The report includes abuses involving violence, mass detention or resettlement; abuses that limit religious beliefs and expression; abuses related to people’s ability to participate in religious activities alone or in community with others; abuses that imply discrimination or unequal treatment, and other events that affect religious freedom in Cuba.
The US document cites reports such as that of the Christian non-governmental organization Open Doors, which denounced a increased government persecution of Christians between 2019 and 2023, including the use of repressive tactics against religious leaders and activists who oppose CCP ideology through arrests, exile, arbitrary fines, surveillance, denial of licenses, religious visas, freedom of movement, and physical and mental abuse.
According to the annual report of CSW (formerly known as Christian Solidarity Worldwide) published in February and covering 2022, There were 657 violations of freedom of religion or belief, compared to 272 violations reported in 2021.
The United States report mentions the cases of Shepherd Lorenzo Rosales Fajardosentenced in 2022 to seven years in prison on charges of disrespect, assault, incitement to commit crimes and public disorder; the leaders and spouses of the Free Yorubas of Cuba, Donaida Pérez Paseiro and Loreto Hernández García; the Ladies in White Sayli Navarro Álvarez, Tania Echevarría Méndez and Sissi Abascal Zamora, practicing Catholics and imprisoned for their participation in the 2021 public protests against the government.
The report also includes Reports of incidents of theft and vandalism of churcheswhich one cleric described as part of the “growing wave of indiscipline and social violence against religious institutions.”
In October, representatives of Afro-Cuban, Muslim and Jewish religious communities and Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and evangelical Protestant Christian groups participated in two round tables on religious freedomThe report alleged that State Security detained some participants as they traveled to the event, including pastor Alejandro Hernández Cepero.
The report also includes the fact that “some religious groups and organizations, such as the Catholic charity Caritas, continued to collect and distribute relief items, providing humanitarian assistance to people regardless of their religious beliefs.”
On December 29, 2023, in accordance with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, the Secretary of State designated the Cuban regime among the “Countries of Particular Concern” for having participated in or tolerated particularly serious violations of religious freedom.
