During a meeting this week with religious leaders from around the
world, President Trump heard about the religious persecution many of
them suffer. Among those visiting with the president was Baptist
minister Mario Felix Lleonart, a Cuban pastor who himself has been
beaten and arrested by the Castro dictatorship for his religious
beliefs.Via Martí Noticias (my translation):
Baptist minister Mario Felix
Lleonart Barroso was able to speak this Wednesday with U.S. president
Donald Trump during the Ministerial to Advance Religious Liberty
conference and provide insight to the human rights situation in Cuba and
the persecution suffered by some leaders of the Christian community. In
an interview with Radio Television Martí, Lleonart Barroso said it was
“an enormous privilege” to be able to denounce the dire situation
regarding religious liberties on the island to the American president. “I
was able to tell him: ‘Mr. President, I am Cuban, I appreciate the fact
you are thinking of Cuba, for inviting me and learning that liberties
are being violated. That there is a pastor at this moment imprisoned
along with his wife in Guantanamo, that pastor is Ramon Rigal and his
wife (Ayda Exposito),'” he said. Barroso was part of “a group of 28 survivors of religious repression” who met with Trump at the White House. After his presentation, he said President Trump asked if anything had changed in Cuba with the new president Miguel Diaz-Canel. “Mi
respuesta fue que no podíamos hablar de un nuevo líder porque Raúl
Castro continúa siendo el 1er Secretario del Partido Comunista de Cuba.
Todos sabemos que según la propia Constitución el Partido es el mayor
órgano de poder en Cuba”, indicó. “I responded that we could not
talk about a new leader because Raul Castro continues to be the First
Secretary of the Communist Party in Cuba. We all know that according to
the party’s own constitution, that is the supreme seat of power in
Cuba,” he said.
Cuba’s Castro dictatorship has been persecuting Christians and other
religious groups since coming to power in 1959. The communist regime has
zero tolerance for any religious expression that does not make the
socialist state the supreme god. From - babalublog.com
Cuba ramps
up religious persecution after election
HAVANA (BP) -- Cuban pastors fear the government will further restrict
religious freedom after clergy actively opposed the nation's new constitution,
a religious liberty advocate said today (Feb. 28).
Christian Solidarity
Worldwide (CSW), tracking religious persecution in Cuba and 20 other countries, said the Cuban
Communist Party (CCP)is fearful of pastors because they sway public sentiment.
"We've seen the churches, particularly the Protestant churches,
mobilize in a way they never have since 1959 in the past few months against the
constitution and they've become very vocal," Anna Lee Stangl, CSW joint
head of advocacy, told BP.
"That's always something the government has feared. They're aware of
the role religious groups played in the downfall of communism in Eastern
Europe for example," she said. "And so they've always
tried really hard to divide the churches, to shut them up, to really scare
them."
The government does not use physical violence against pastors, Stangl said,
but has detained pastors for hours and used various methods of intimidation to
force pastors to support the communist party, such as threatening to limit
educational opportunities for their children.
The new constitution, approved with 86.6 percent of a nationwide vote Feb.
24, remains largely symbolic, Stangl said. Laws dictated through administrative
codes are oftentimes not available to the public. Codes are used to restrict
the practice of religion, requiring churches to register with the government
and to hold church events only after securing permits, which can be delayed for
years.
"I think nobody expected things to change drastically with the new
constitution," Stangl said. "But just the fact that the Cuban
government found it important enough to weaken the language even further is
indicative to us that they intend to go in an even harsher direction."
The government is likely preparing an intense wave of Christian persecution,
Stangl believes.
"I think me and a lot of other people I know who observe religious
freedom in Cuba are expecting some sort of major crackdown," she said,
"because the government does not want the churches to be united in the way
they are."
A cross-denominational group of Christian leaders, led by the Methodist
Church of Cuba and Assemblies of God, was ignored when it called for changes to
the proposed legislation in advance of the election, and the government pressured pastors to support the referendum.
Pastors campaigned to amend constitutional language that defined marriage as
between "two people," as opposed to one man and a woman. But the
government responded by dropping the clause entirely. Likely, legal codes
affecting families, "family codes," will be used to usher in gay
marriage, Stangl said.
The new constitution drops the state's recognition of "freedom of
conscience and religion" and no longer recognizes an individual's right to
change their religious beliefs or to profess a religious preference. Instead,
the constitution simply "recognizes, respects and guarantees religious
freedom," according to a CSW press release. Also, the new constitution
states that religious and state institutions both have the same rights and
responsibilities.
In its reports today of harassment and persecution, CSW named three pastors
who were detained for hours in the days before and after the Feb. 24 election.
Christian literature was described as "against the government" and
confiscated from two high-profile pastors in the apostolic movement, CSW said.
Hired drivers employed by the government were fired for giving rides to church
members, and the government has withdrawn permits required for church events
where foreign missionaries were scheduled to speak.
Pastor Sandy Cancino, an outspoken opponent of the new constitution, was
blocked from voting at the Cuban Embassy in Panama
despite having the proper identification and documentation, CSW said.
"It's horrible what is happening in our country," CSW quoted
another church leader, who said the government has become paranoid. "A
friend in my church was fired from his job. A 16-year-old student was
questioned on how she was going to vote and because she said 'no,' they issued
a pre-arrest warrant against her and took the case to the municipal level....
There are many other [similar] stories."
Cuba is
already a USCIRF Tier 2 "country of particular concern" for religious
liberty violations noted in the USCIRF 2018 Annual Report. The CCP threatened
to confiscate church property, repeatedly interrogated and detained religious
leaders, prohibited Sunday worship and controlled religious activity, USCIRF
noted.
Only 5 percent of Cuba's
11.147 million people are Protestant, according to the U.S. Department of
State. As many as 70 percent are Roman Catholic, mixed with traditional African
religions including Santeria, the State Department said. A quarter of Cubans
are religiously unaffiliated.
Diana Chandler is Baptist Press' general
assignment writer/editor. BP reports on missions, ministry and witness advanced
through the Cooperative Program and on news related to Southern Baptists'.
Religious persecution in Cuba intensified after
agreement with Obama
"We prefer for him to live far
away than to die here," Christian pastor is exiled at the request of his
parishioners due to persecution by the regime.
Persecuted Cuban
Christians at the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
(Facebook)
One of the myths concerning President
Obama’s government is his historic reconciliation with Cuba.
Many are unaware that it was under his administration that Cubans were denied
amnesty once they touched American soil after fleeing
Castro’s totalitarianism on rafts, which had previously guaranteed their
legal stay in the United States. President Obama’s agreement with Castro only worked to intensify the
persecution of the opposition, as more tourists meant a greater need to hide
the dissatisfaction among Cubans. This includes religious Cubans; the regime
leaves no room for competition when it comes to worship. In an exclusive interview for PanAm Post, we learned about the story of
a Christian couple who were persecuted by the regime and how that affected
their entire congregation.
Yoaxis Macheco Suárez,
missionary with master’s degree in theological studies, and her husband Mario
Felix Lleonart Barroso, a Baptist pastor and founder of the Patmos Institute,
which promotes interreligious dialogue and monitors religious freedoms in Cuba,
went into exile in the U.S. a year and a half ago with refugee status, at the
request of the congregation, as they told him that “we prefer for him to live far
away than to die here,” after multiple threats against their lives.
Each time a prominent political or religious figure visited the island, like
Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II, they were arrested or surrounded and
kept under surveillance. When Barack Obama went to Cuba,
in March 2016, Mario was arrested and violently taken to the Provincial
Criminal Investigation Unit of Santa Clara, “as if he were a vulgar criminal”. After his release, the couple remained under surveillance 24 hours a day. If
they traveled, they were subjected to interrogations. The regime confiscated
innumerable personal objects: between books, electronic devices, contact cards,
etc.
Go to Page # 6
Sens. Cruz, Braun, Cotton, Rubio Call for Religious Freedoms in Cuba after Parents Jailed for Homeschooling
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz
(R-Texas), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Marco Rubio
(R-Fla.) today introduced a resolution condemning the Cuban government's
practice of jailing parents who attempt to homeschool their children. In April 2019, a family was sent to prison in Cuba for homeschooling
their children, who were enrolled in a Christian distance school in
Honduras free from the state indoctrination of Cuba's regime-controlled
education system. "The Communist government of Cuba is committed to a system of
oppression that leaves no place free from propaganda," Sen. Cruz said.
"They are imprisoning Christians who choose to educate their children at
home because it's one of the few places their thugs can't monitor
effectively. It is important that America shine a light, stand with the
political prisoners in Cuba, and recognize the right of every parent to
educate their children." "Parents have a right to teach their children free from state
communist indoctrination," said Senator Mike Braun. "This resolution
calls on the Cuban regime to end the shameful practice of jailing
parents for enrolling their children in religious education, and
expresses American solidarity with Cuban parents who have become
political prisoners for something as simple as homeschooling." "The Communist regime in Havana knows it can't survive without
indoctrinating the next generation, so it jails Christians who want to
homeschool their children. The United States stands with the Cuban
people against the regime's unrelenting persecution of Christians and
other political dissidents," said Senator Tom Cotton. Background: The Cuban government has a history of arresting individuals who chose
to homeschool their children, sentencing them to prison and hard labor.
Cuba's insistence on state-controlled education is a sign of
authoritarianism, enabling them to indoctrinate youth with a communist
ideology. The United States stands for liberty and justice for all, and
our foreign policy towards Cuba should hinge on Cuba's ability for
democratic reform and commitment to freedom. Cuban Embargo: The United States commercial, economic, and financial embargo against
Cuba was levied on Cuba in 1958. President John F. Kennedy extended the
embargo to nearly all exports in 1962. Congress made this embargo
official U.S. policy with the passage of the Cuban Liberty and
Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996 (22 U.S.C. 6021). Despite the Obama Administration normalization of relations with
Cuba, the embargo cannot be lifted without the consent of Congress or
through major democratic reforms in Cuba, which would include deposing
of the Castro regime. The Resolution: • Expresses solidarity with the people of Cuba in their pursuit of religious freedom. •
Calls on the Government of Cuba to release all political prisoners,
including those who have been imprisoned for homeschooling their
children. • Calls on the Organization of American States
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to grant the Precautionary
Measures requested on April 25, 2019. • Calls on the Government of
Cuba to recognize the right of parents to teach their own children free
from state communist indoctrination. • Calls for the continued implementation of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996.
Cuba’s
communist government has increased its oppression of religious institutions,
according to a Christian watchdog group, with reports of religious liberty
violations almost doubling in the last six months.
According to a new report from Christian
Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), there were 170 religious freedom violations
from the start of 2014 through mid-July. In 2013, there were only 180 incidents
documented. This year’s violations included government authorities beating
pastors and lay workers, dragging politically dissident women away from Sunday
services, and enforcing arbitrary detentions, church closures, and demolitions,
CSW said.
Todd Nettleton, with Voice of the Martyrs, agreed that government
persecution is on the rise in Cuba.
“It does seem like the government is paying more attention to the
churches and making much of a concerted effort to control religious expression
in Cuba,” Nettleton
said. Although the government has not given a reason for the crackdown,
Nettleton suggested President Raul Castro could be more hostile to Christianity
than his brother, or more aware of it. The government might also be looking at
the church and sensing a need to assert control.
While the government of the once-atheist country is communist, Cuba’s
constitution claims to allow religious freedom: “The State recognizes,
respects, and guarantees religious liberty.” But that right, as well as others,
are ignored if the government claims they conflict with communism, CSW said.
Article 62 of the Cuban constitution declares: “No recognized
liberty may be exercised against the existence and aims of the socialist State
and the nation’s determination to build socialism and communism.”
The Cuban Office of Religious Affairs (ORA) has authority over all
religious groups in Cuba
and it has a “consistently antagonistic relationship” with many of those
groups, CSW notes in its report. Roughly 56 percent of Cubans identify as
Christian, according to Operation
World.
CSW said most of the cases of women being detained and forced to miss
church were Roman Catholics and
Ladies in White, a political dissident group made up of women related to
political prisoners.
Churches also are often pressured and threatened by the government
to expel congregants the government considers political dissidents. Churches
that resist “are under constant and intrusive government surveillance,” CSW
said. Roman Catholic priest Jose Conrado Rodriguez Alegre’s refusal to shun
individuals the government wants to keep socially isolated led to the state
installing video cameras to watch his home and church. His email accounts have
also been blocked.
CSW said protestant leaders are often threatened with having their
churches closed if they refuse to expel and shun certain people. Government
reprisals also have included frozen bank accounts, harassment and violence.
Cuban Christians live with the daily threat that everything,
including their educational opportunities and employment, could be taken away,
Nettleton said. Students could be kicked out of school without cause, flunked
even if they have straight A’s, or be refused the diploma they earned. They are
constantly pressured to leave the church and follow the government, Nettleton
said.
Since 1959, the Cuban government has planted informants within
churches and religious groups to report anything critical of the state or
deemed “counter-revolutionary.”
Contrary to Popular Opinion, Christians Still Face Persecution in Cuba
In 2014, their computers were confiscated. The persecution reached the
members of the church. They were threatened with losing their jobs. State
security threatened to retaliate against them or against their relatives if
they continued to congregate in the churches linked to the couple. Now, in exile, the pastor serves a congregation of Hispanic immigrants near Washington,
D.C., where he advocates for the rights of
Cubans while communicating with his parishioners in Cuba
via radio. He is still in touch with parishioners and sends assistance according to
their needs, particularly during hurricane season; having in mind that all
services are run by the state and often the regime does not help whoever it
determines is an enemy of the revolution.
Persecution in numbers
If we take into account that the Office of Attention to Religious Affairs
(OAAR) of the Central Committee (CC) of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC)
represses the religious freedoms of all religious Cuban, the pastor affirms
that the number of Cubans repressed because of their faith equals to the number
of religious Cubans. This extends to the educational field. Remember that in Cuba
there is no private education and the State determines who goes to school. If a student does not adjust to the political requirements of each
educational level, especially the non-compulsory levels, such as higher
education, a student can be banned from attending school. Hence the
discriminatory slogan: “college is for revolutionaries”. This is particularly difficult for members of the religious denominations
that cannot swear allegiance either to the flag nor to the party because they
only respond before divine authority.
Yoaxis and Mario
protested wearing shirts against Che Guevara and his liberty-killing ideology.
(PanAm Post)
Freedom of expression,
association, and assembly
Since each religious person must be registered by the regime, there is a
greater follow-up and, therefore, persecution. Everyone must be registered in
the Registry of Associations of the Ministry of Justice. And not all requests are answered.
Religious categorization
Mario Félix considers that the cruelest thing is that the OAAR instigates
religious hatreds by granting permits that would correspond by a right to some
as if they were favors in exchange for accepting to “behave well” while denying
them to others. Although in theory, this office represents “religious” interests, the
Communist Party of Cuba is the governing body of all religions on the island,
controlling it at best and even trying to eliminate it at worst.
Religious persecution in the
classic, communist method
The pastor claims that the Cuban state has copied the Chinese system for
religious repression (in the past they did the same with the Soviet system). China
has its State Administration for Religious Care (SARA), Cuba
has its OAAR; China
has its Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSMP) Cuba
has the Council of Churches of Cuba (CIC). Given its concern for the phenomenon of Protestantism growing, China
is applying its “Operation Deterrence” where it tries to “guide” believers who
attend unauthorized churches towards temples which the state controls and
manipulates. Cuban State Security tries to implement a similar system to control the
Protestant denominations with legal recognition in the Register of Associations
of the Ministry of Justice (MINJUS) to achieve the same thing that the Chinese
Communist Party, and thus stop the growth of and even, if possible, destroy the
Protestant movements (such as Shouwang in China).
A tradition of atheism and
communism
Both in the case of China
and in Cuba,
scientific socialism reigns. In the case of the PCC, they profess atheism. From
a philosophical point of view, says the pastor, that atheism is another
religion: the religion of “unbelief” in a divine being and in any aspect that
can be classified as merely subjective. Hence, communism and socialism can be interpreted as religions themselves.
This concept provoked the constitutional change in 1992, after the fall of the Soviet
Union, when the Cuban State
declared its conversion from an atheist state to a lay one. However, the pastor claims this was a change in name but not the practice.
For example, education in Cuba,
totally in the hands of the State, is far from secular and remains openly
atheist. This is reflected in propagandistic terms such as “the Party is eternal”,
granting metaphysical values and a credo to the ideology.
Faith despite adversity
Totalitarian regimes know how to reverse and repress the people’s faith to
consecrate themselves as their prophet, creed, and god. For those who are
persecuted by these governments, Yoaxis tells us, “faith is the only force that
keeps us going in the face of difficulties of this kind.” They do not fear the damage that their bodies can suffer, tyrants cannot
reach their souls. And they refuse to submit to norms that go against the
values that guide them, such as love and justice. But, above all, they do not
feel alone. Because there are many cases like theirs in Cuba.
They are numerous.
Religious Leaders In Cuba Outspoken And Critical Of Proposed Constitution
Evangelicals pray during a church service in Havana,
Cuba. Religious groups on the island have come out in opposition to a
new constitution which will be voted on on Sunday.
Ramon Espinosa/AP
People in Cuba vote Sunday on whether to make socialism
"irrevocable" on the island and establish the Cuban Communist Party
officially as the "supreme guiding political force" in the state and
society. In recent weeks, debate around those propositions has
been unusually intense for an island not known for democratic processes,
and it has featured the growing strength of religious leaders. The
political and ideological monopoly would come via a new constitution
that Cubans can either endorse or reject in a popular referendum. The
draft document, prepared under the guidance of the Communist Party,
would replace the current Soviet-era constitution, adopted in 1976 and
amended numerous times in subsequent years. No opposition
parties are allowed in Cuba, but in the deliberation over the proposed
constitution, religious groups on the island have taken a lead in
criticizing the government plan, revealing a level of influence they
have not previously demonstrated.
Catholic bishops in Cuba have been particularly outspoken, issuing
a joint statement earlier this month that noted how the document
"effectively excludes the exercise of pluralist thought regarding man
and the social order." In an objection reminiscent of religious
freedom debates in the United States and other countries, the Catholic
bishops argue that "the free practice of religion is not merely the
freedom to have religious beliefs but the freedom to live in conformity
with one's faith and to express it publicly." The government
reaction to the church criticism came swiftly. Mariela Castro, the
daughter of party leader Raúl Castro and a leading member of the
National Assembly in Cuba, shared a post on her Facebook page calling
the church "the serpent of history."
Religious freedom: How Catholic faith is represented through acts of charity
By Anthony Bosnick
October 16, 2012
Anthony Bosnick is the Director of the Department for Charity and Justice at the Archdiocese of Washington
and contributor to The Washington Post’s local faith leader network.
This is the first in a series of three essays about Faithful
Citizenship from the archdiocese. One of the deepest
yearnings of the human heart is to be free. The desire to live freely is
an expression of our personal dignity created in the image and likeness
of God and made for a relationship with him. Human freedom is the power
to become who we, as spiritual and bodily beings, have been created to
be. The Catholic Church cares not only for Christians’ freedom,
but also for the protection and cultivation of responsible human freedom
in a just society. A hallmark of a just society is the right of people
to religious liberty.
Throughout human history, men and women have risked enormous danger to
worship freely and live out their faith, without persecution. Our
nation's founders embraced freedom of religion as an essential condition
of a free and democratic society. So when the Bill of Rights was
ratified, religious freedom
had the distinction of being part of the First Amendment. For
Americans, religious liberty — the ability to live out our faith in a
public way — is indeed the first freedom. In his pastoral letter, “Disciples of the Lord: Sharing the Vision,” Cardinal Donald Wuerl,
Archbishop of Washington writes, “While it is true that this country is
marked by a genuinely religious spirit, the subtle influence of
secularism can nevertheless color the way people allow their faith to
influence their behavior…Any tendency to treat religion as a private
matter must be resisted. Only when their faith permeates every aspect of
their lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming power
of the Gospel.” Secularism,
which includes the privatization of religion, has two aspects: personal
and social. Personal secularism is the thinking that, “What I do on
Sunday is a private matter and has no influence on the way I live my
life or the decisions I make throughout the rest of the week.” Simple
public expressions of faith are suppressed, such as praying before meals
when dining out, discussing faith as it intersects with public policy,
even when it enriches that discussion, and inviting friends and
neighbors to events at church. In a more radical way, a private faith diminishes the moral
responsibility one has to God and neighbor. By giving witness to what
their faith teaches, people of faith make great contributions
to society through ministries such as food pantries and soup kitchens
which serve the needy and vulnerable, clinics and hospitals ministering
to those who cannot afford to pay, and schools educating young people
who would otherwise attend schools that do not adequately meet their
needs. Faith in the public square raises our awareness and concern for
those in need, both at home and abroad. It helps to build community and
promote the common good, enriching our lives and our communities and
nation. The social form of secularism is expressed in
not-so-subtle forms of religious indifference. Religious indifference
acts as though there is nothing transcendent in human beings. Catholics
are wary of the privatization of our own faith and the negative impact
on society for all people of faith if we can no longer give public
witness to what we believe. Our religious liberty
gives us the freedom to live our faith in a public way, which we do --
not just through acts of worship, but also through loving, charitable
service to others, which contributes to the common good . We serve not
just Catholics, but everyone in need. This is part of what it means to
be Catholic, and when our religious liberty is suppressed, this service
to others – a very public expression of our faith – suffers. https://www.washingtonpost.com
Cuban Christians Unite Against New
Constitution
Before the vote
passed, evangelicals flexed unprecedented political might in a controversial
campaign opposing a new definition of marriage and other national reforms.
Griffin Paul Jackson
February 25, 201912:35
PM
As Cubans voted to approve a new constitution on Sunday, widespread
Christian opposition may signal a shift in political tone and a new sense of
unity.
The grassroots campaign—formed largely against more permissive
language regarding same-sex marriage—earned Christians a measure of political
clout in the island nation, but for some it’s also garnered them a reputation
as enemies of the state.
“I can’t vote for something that goes against my principles,”
Alida Leon, a pastor and president of the Evangelical League of Cuba, told the Associated Press.
“It’s sad but it’s a reality.”
“I am voting ‘no’ because taking out that marriage is between a
man and a woman opens the door in the future to something that goes against our
beliefs and the Bible,” another Baptist pastor in Havana told Christian
Today.
In a demonstration earlier this month, at least 100 couples
decked in suits and wedding dresses gathered in the capital to renew their vows
and to protest redefining marriage in the constitution.
“We’re speaking out in favor of marriage as it was originally
designed,” Methodist Church of Cuba bishop Ricardo Pereira said.
“It’s the first time since the triumph of the revolution that evangelical
churches have created a unified front. It’s historic.”
The government and its loyalists tried to turn the vote into a
litmus test for patriotism, instigating a sprawling advertising campaign to
promote the new constitution. But Christians’ counter-campaign proved too big
to stifle.
The opposition first erupted last year when churches began to
hang banners and print flyers espousing a traditional view of marriage. The
large-scale coordinated campaign also included delivering a petition with
178,000 signatures rejecting the legalization of gay marriage to the Cuban
government.
Public consultations also revealed strong opposition to Article
68, the portion of the constitution offering a new definition of marriage.
Because of that pressure, a level of resistance rarely seen in
the 60 years since the Cuban Revolution, Cuba’s
National Assembly walked
back language that changed the definition of marriage as between a man and
a woman to “between two people.”
The revision came as a major blow to the national LGBT rights
campaign conducted by Mariela Castro’s National
Center for Sex Education and other
activists. In response to their denouncement, Castro, daughter of former
president Raúl Castro, called the Catholic Church “the serpent of history” in a
Facebook statement
and bid a strong state response.
Persecution News - Cuba
https://www.vomcanada.com
Communist rule, as instituted under Fidel Castro's leadership
(1959-2008), continues to impose restrictions on religious activity in
Cuba. Religious leaders are reluctant to say anything that could be
construed as opposing the government in the fear that they will face
repercussions such as a denial of permits from the Office of Religious
Affairs. Evangelical Christians have reported harassment, fines and
arrests for conducting public gatherings. According to most religious groups, however, there have recently been
some improvements. Religious activities are met with less opposition,
and people are able to import more religious material. And while the
construction of new religious buildings have been largely denied, many
existing churches have undergone extensive "repairs," essentially
amounting to new buildings being erected on existing foundations. Yet,
to accommodate the growth of Christianity and overcome the country's
restrictions on the building of new church facilities, there are an
undefined number of house churches being established, likely numbering
in the thousands. Pastor Omar Gude Perez of the Apostolic Reformation has consistently
been an outspoken opponent of government policy. On October 30, 2012, he
issued an open letter protesting restrictions on his pastoral
activities and the government's refusal to grant him an exit visa. He
also protested of his three-year incarceration on false charges.
Finally, on January 31, 2013, Pastor Omar and his family were granted
asylum in the United States.
USCIRF Calls on Cuba
to Cease Harassment of Religious Leaders, Strengthen Religious Freedom Language
in New Constitution
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
USCIRF Calls
on Cuba to Cease Harassment of Religious Leaders,
Strengthen Religious Freedom Language in New Constitution
Current Draft Weakens
Protections and Omits “Freedom of Conscience”
WASHINGTON, DC – Citing reports of threats against Cuban advocates calling for
stronger constitutional guarantees of religious freedom, the United States
Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)
today called on the government of Cuba to honor its pledge to conduct an
inclusive and legitimate constitutional process and to include language that
upholds international standards for religious freedom, according to USCIRF Vice
Chair Kristina
Arriaga. “The integrity of this historic process is in serious question if
religious leaders are being ignored, then pressured to publicly support a new
constitution that fails to protect their rights,” said Vice Chair Arriaga.
“We urge the Cuban government to immediately cease all intimidation tactics
and to fully consider the proposals put forth by religious organizations to
ensure freedom of religion and conscience for Cubans of all faiths or none.” The initial draft constitution produced by Cuba’s
National Assembly was revealed to have omitted several points of protection for
religious freedom and the words “freedom of conscience,” which had existed in
the prior constitution. Also missing was language protecting religious freedom
from Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), which Cuba
signed in 2008. “The exclusion of these tenets, the vagueness of the new language, and
the current legal provisions that limit protection of religious freedom raise
great concerns about the Cuban government’s commitment to ensuring this basic
human right for its citizens,” said Arriaga. “This is a pivotal point
in Cuba’s
history when the government has the opportunity to effect real reform through
its new constitution.” Following months of gathering public input on the initial draft of the new
constitution, the Constitutional Commission is reviewing proposals for changes
and is expected to submit a revised draft constitution to the National Assembly
for approval in January. In February 2019, Cubans will vote on the new
constitution through a public referendum. USCIRF has documented the widespread harassment of religious leaders and
activists in Cuba,
which continues today, in its 2018
Annual Report. USCIRF has also expressed concern that, while the current
Cuban constitution guarantees freedom of religion or belief, in practice, this
right is limited by other constitutional and legal provisions and the country’s
Office of Religious Affairs.
###
The U.S.
Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent,
bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S.
Congress to monitor, analyze and report on threats to religious freedom abroad.
USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of
State and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom
of religion or belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at Media@USCIRF.gov or Kellie Boyle at kboyle@uscirf.gov or +1-703-898-6554.
From Page # 8 Cuban government completely controls the education system and
refuses to allow any Christian community or institution to set up
schools; parents can't even home-school their own children. This
constitutes a continuous violation to thousands of families who would
prefer to avoid state-controlled schools that teach communist ideology. Attempts
to provide alternative education are effectively repressed. For
instance, Pastor Ramon Rigal in Guantanamo obtained a license from an
international Christian school to educate his children at home. The
government arrested him and his wife Adya in February 2017, accusing
them of "acting against the normal development of a minor." He was
sentenced to one year in prison. It is also very difficult for
priests and missionaries to obtain visas as the Office of Attention to
Religious Affairs acts as an anti-religious freedom body. Since
1959, the government reluctantly authorized the construction of only a
few churches and none of the multiple religious properties confiscated
during these years of open persecution have been returned; nor have any
of the affected organizations received any compensation. President
Miguel Diaz-Canel said in April this year that the communist revolution
in Cuba "carries on and will carry on." It is time to recognize that
communism is incompatible with human rights. Cuba is a founding
member of the United Nations and is currently a member nation on the
HRC. It cannot be permitted to continue oppressing its Christian
community, in direct violation of the U.N. charter and its own
constitution. It is time for the international community to step
up and pressure Cuba to change its treatment of its Christian citizens
and provide true religious protections and liberty.
The Cuban government continues to repress and punish dissent and
public criticism. The number of short-term arbitrary arrests of human
rights defenders, independent journalists, and others was significantly
less in 2018 than in 2017, but still remained high, with more than 2,000
reports of arbitrary detentions between January and August. The
government continues to use other repressive tactics, including
beatings, public shaming, travel restrictions, and termination of
employment against critics. On April 19, Cuba inaugurated a new president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, who
took over from Raúl Castro. Castro remained as the leader of the
Communist Party and retained his seat in the National Assembly. On July 22, the National Assembly unanimously approved a proposal for
a new constitution, to be voted on in a national referendum on February
24, 2019. The new constitution, which would replace one adopted in
1976, would eliminate the objective of “achieving a Communist society”
but retain the assertion that the Communist Party is the “superior
leading force of society and the State.”
Arbitrary Detention and Short-Term Imprisonment
The Cuban government continues to employ arbitrary detention to
harass and intimidate critics, independent activists, political
opponents, and others. The number of arbitrary short-term detentions,
which increased dramatically between 2010 and 2016—from a monthly
average of 172 incidents to 827—started to drop in 2017, according to
the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, an
independent human rights group that the government considers illegal.
The number of reports of arbitrary detentions continued to drop in
2018, with 2,024 from January through August, a decrease of 45 percent
compared to the 3,706 reports during the same period in 2017.
Security officers rarely present arrest orders to justify detaining
critics. In some cases, detainees are released after receiving official
warnings, which prosecutors can use in subsequent criminal trials to
show a pattern of “delinquent” behavior.
Detention is often used preemptively to prevent people from
participating in peaceful marches or meetings to discuss politics.
Detainees are often beaten, threatened, and held incommunicado for hours
or days. Police or state security agents routinely harass, rough up,
and detain members of the Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco)—a group founded by the wives, mothers, and daughters of political prisoners—before or after they attend Sunday mass.
In March, a former political prisoner, Ivan Hernández Carrillo,
reported having been violently beaten and detained when he intervened to
stop the arrest of his mother, Asunción Carrillo, a Ladies in White
member, who was leaving her home to attend mass. Hernández said he was
charged—after shouting “Down with Raul Castro!”—and fined for “contempt
for the figure of the maximum leader.” The Carrillos were released the
same day.
On August 3, dissident José Daniel Ferrer, who founded the Patriotic
Union of Cuba (UNPACU) in 2011—upon his release from eight years in
prison—was arrested along with activist Ebert Hidalgo and charged with
“attempted murder” when the car he was driving struck a Ministry of
Interior official. Activists have said the charges are a farce and
witnesses allege that the official threw himself in front of the car
intentionally, only to get up and ride off on his motorcycle. Upon his
release 12 days later, Hidalgo reported having been psychologically
tortured and held in harsh conditions in a dark, dirty cell.
In September, dissident Arianna López Roque was briefly detained
after burning a copy of the proposal for new constitution. According to
Lopez, she was charged with public disorder, disobedience, resistance,
and contempt and an official threatened with retaliating against her
husband, who is currently imprisoned.
Freedom of Expression
The government controls virtually all media outlets in Cuba and
restricts access to outside information. A small number of independent
journalists and bloggers manage to write articles for websites or blogs,
or publish tweets. The government routinely blocks access within Cuba
to these websites, and only a fraction of Cubans can read independent
websites and blogs because of the high cost of, and limited access to,
the internet. In September 2017, Cuba announced it would gradually
extend home internet services.
Independent journalists who publish information considered critical
of the government are subject to harassment, smear campaigns, raids on
their homes and offices, confiscation of their working materials, and
arbitrary arrests. The journalists are held incommunicado, as are
artists and academics who demand greater freedoms. Desacato laws continue to be enforced against opponents.
On January 30, Iris Mariño García, a journalist for La Hora de Cuba,
was criminally charged with engaging in journalism without
authorization. The manager of the newspaper said a woman accused Mariño
of interviewing her on the street and that when police interviewed
Mariño they focused on the paper’s opinion surveys, showing the
political motivation behind the arrest. Mariño was detained again when
attempting to take a picture of a May 1 workers’ parade. Officers took
her to a police station and interrogated her.
In July, Roberto de Jesús Quiñones, an independent journalist whose
work is published on the news site Cubanet, was detained for 58 hours
and held incommunicado. Police raided his home and confiscated
computers, phones, and other goods.
In April 2018, President Díaz-Canel signed Decree 349, expected to
enter into force in December 2018, establishing broad and vague
restrictions on artistic expression. Under the regulation, artists
cannot “provide artistic services” in public or private spaces without
prior approval from the Ministry of Culture. Those who hire or make
payments to artists for artistic services which lacked proper
authorization are subject to sanctions, as are the artists themselves.
The decree provides different sanctions, including fines, confiscation
of materials, cancellation of artistic events and revocation of
licenses. Local independent artists have been protesting the decree. On
August 11, police detained and beat Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and at
least three other artists when trying to organize a concert to protest
the decree, according to press reports.
Political Prisoners
In May 2018, the Cuban Commission for Human Rights reported that Cuba
was holding 120 political prisoners, including more than 40 members of
the Cuban Patriotic Union. The government denies independent human
rights groups access to its prisons. The groups believe that additional
political prisoners, whose cases they have been unable to document,
remain locked up.
Cubans who criticize the government continue to face the threat of
criminal prosecution. They do not benefit from due process guarantees,
such as the right to fair and public hearings by a competent and
impartial tribunal. In practice, courts are subordinate to the executive
and legislative branches, denying meaningful judicial independence.
Dr. Eduardo Cardet Concepción, leader of the Christian Liberation
Movement, remained in prison at time of writing. Cardet, who had been
threatened with jail because of his support for the “One Cuban, One
Vote” campaign, was sentenced to three years in prison on March 2017. As
of August 2018, he was being held in solitary confinement, and denied
visits and any contact with family members, even by phone. Authorities
argued that family visits were not “contributing to his re-education.”
In May, Dr. Ruíz Urquiola, a former biology professor and an
outspoken environmentalist, was sentenced to a year in prison for
disrespecting a park ranger. During his imprisonment he went on a hunger
strike. In July 2018, he was granted a conditional release for health
reasons. In August 2018, he reported irregularities in the handling of
his case, and the imposition of travel restrictions.
Travel Restrictions
Since reforms in 2003 to travel regulations, many people who had
previously been denied permission to travel have been able to do so,
including human rights defenders and independent bloggers. The reforms,
however, gave the government broad discretionary powers to restrict the
right to travel on the grounds of “defense and national security” or
“other reasons of public interest,” and authorities have repeatedly
denied exit to people who express dissent.
The government restricts the movement of citizens within Cuba through
a 1997 law known as Decree 217, which is designed to limit migration to
Havana. The decree has been used to harass dissidents and prevent those
from elsewhere in Cuba from traveling to Havana to attend meetings.
In April, dissidents and human rights defenders Dulce Amanda Duran,
Roseling Peñalvar, and Wendis Castillo were barred from traveling to
Lima for a civil society meeting. Castillo, a human rights defender and
member of the Dignity Movement, had also been barred from traveling in
November 2017, when she intended to fly to Lima for a conference on
corruption and human rights in Latin America.
In July 2018, Rene Gómez Manzano, a prominent dissident who has been
imprisoned several times, was intercepted at the airport before boarding
a plane to attend a human rights meeting in Montevideo. Agents informed
him that he was not authorized to travel.
Prison Conditions
Prisons are overcrowded. Prisoners are forced to work 12-hour days
and are punished if they do not meet production quotas, according to
former political prisoners. Inmates have no effective complaint
mechanism to seek redress for abuses. Those who criticize the government
or engage in hunger strikes and other forms of protest often endure
extended solitary confinement, beatings, and restrictions on family
visits, and are denied medical care.
While the government allowed select members of the foreign press to
conduct controlled visits to a handful of prisons in 2013, it continues
to deny international human rights groups and independent Cuban
organizations access to its prisons.
On August 9, Alejandro Pupo Echemendía died in police custody at
Placetas, Villa Clara, while under investigation for a crime related to
horse racing. Family members say his body showed signs of severe
beatings; authorities contend he threw himself against a wall and died
of a heart attack. Allegations have surfaced of family members and
witnesses being coerced to withdraw their initial statements and to
confirm the official version.
Labor Rights
Despite updating its Labor Code in 2014, Cuba continues to violate
conventions of the International Labour Organization that it ratified,
specifically regarding freedom of association and collective bargaining.
While the law technically allows the formation of independent unions,
in practice Cuba only permits one confederation of state-controlled
unions, the Workers’ Central Union of Cuba.
Human Rights Defenders
The Cuban government still refuses to recognize human rights
monitoring as a legitimate activity and denies legal status to local
human rights groups. Government authorities have harassed, assaulted,
and imprisoned human rights defenders who attempt to document abuses.
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Following public protest, the Cuban government decided to remove
language from the proposed new constitution that would have redefined
marriage to include same-sex couples.
Key International Actors
In November 2017, the US government reinstated restrictions on
Americans’ right to travel to Cuba and to do business with any entity
tied to the Cuban military, security, or intelligence services. The US
also voted against a United Nations resolution condemning the US embargo
on Cuba, a sharp break from its 2016 abstention.
In March, former Colombian President Andres Pastrana and former
Bolivian President Jorge Quiroga were detained at Havana airport and
denied entry. They had flown to Cuba to receive an award on behalf of
the Democratic Initiative of Spain and the Americas, a forum of 37
former presidents and heads of state.
In April 2018, Secretary General of the Organization of American
States Luis Almagro criticized the election of Díaz-Canel, calling it
“an attempt to perpetuate a dynastic-familial autocratic regime. It is
called a dictatorship.”
In January 2018, the foreign policy chief of the European Union met
in Havana with Cuban authorities to accelerate the implementation of
their Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement. On May 15, the EU
and Cuba held their first-ever ministerial-level Joint Council meeting
in Brussels.
Cuba is a current member of the Human Rights Council, having been reelected for the 2017-2019 term.
Pastors in Cuba monitored, threatened by Communist officials despite requests for greater protections: watchdog
People walk near the Church of Our Virgin of Charity in Havana, Cuba, March 14, 2012. | (Photo: Reuters/Desmond Boylan)
Church
officials in Cuba have asked for greater protections for their
denominations but instead pastors are being monitored and threatened as
believers face increased incidents of harassment by Communist officials,
a persecution watchdog group reports. Christian Solidarity Worldwide
released its findings in a report on Thursday, noting that freedom of
religion or belief continues to be violated in the country. Both
Protestant and Roman Catholic institutions have called for greater
protections, but that has led to increased harassment of religious
leaders, CSW has warned. "Often this takes subtler, hard to
document forms, and is focused on attempting to create divisions between
and within religious groups," the watchdog explained in its summary. "Religious
leaders who have taken on a leadership role in the campaign, both at
the local and national levels, have reported that pressure on them
remains high; over the past year many have chosen to flee the country
and to seek refuge abroad," it added. "Leaders from the Roman
Catholic Church and Protestant churches, both those belonging to and
outside of the Cuban Council of Churches, report frequent visits from
and meetings with state security agents and Cuban Communist Party
officials. These visits and meetings seem to be intended to intimidate
the religious leaders and make them aware that they are under close
surveillance." The
report includes several examples of the harassment churches are facing.
It also noted that a number of church leaders from various
denominations have reported on frequent visits from state security or
Communist Party agents. “Some have reported warnings from the
agents and officials that the education of their children, or their own
employment, could be threatened if the house church leaders continue
with their activities,” the report says. “In August a government
official paid a number of visits to house churches linked to one pastor
in central Cuba. The officials threatened the owners of the homes and
pressured them to stop allowing their homes to be used for religious
activity. Officials threatened one owner, an elderly woman, with
criminal charges if more than 10 people met in her home at any one
time.” CSW makes several recommendations to world leaders,
including the United Nations and the United States government, about how
to address this issue. "The State Department should continue to
closely monitor FORB in Cuba and consider adding the country to the
Special Watch List," it asked of the U.S. government. "The State
Department should ensure that all FORB reporting fully reflects the
views of marginalized churches and faith leaders, rather than positions
of state officials and offices." Michael Mutzner, the permanent representative to the U.N. in Geneva of the World Evangelical Alliance, wrote in an op-ed for The Christian Post earlier this year that evangelicals in Cuba are often controlled and repressed, but are still growing. Mutzner
noted that evangelicals make up about 10 percent of the Cuban
population, with most churches facing some forms of restrictions. “Churches
established after 1959 in Cuba face the most difficult conditions,
because they are considered illegal. They represent 12 percent of Cuban
evangelicals. Some are in the country since over 30 years but are still
unable to register with the ministry of justice of Cuba,” he told CP
about churches in the most difficult situations. “Their meeting
locations can be destroyed, and their leaders arrested. Thus, dozens of
pastors are regularly harassed and arrested. Some have been unjustly
sentenced in court, such as pastor Núñez Velázquez who was sentenced on
October 2016 to one-year house arrest.”
Christian Pastoral Couple in Cuba Imprisoned for Homeschooling Children
MIAMI, September 10, 2019 (Morning Star News)
– Husband-and-wife pastors in Cuba are serving prison sentences for
declining to send their children to a government-run school where their
daughter was bullied for being a Christian, family members said. Pastor Ramón Rigal was sentenced to two years in prison in April for
homeschooling his two children, as well as for leading an unregistered
church. His wife Ayda Expósito is serving an 18-month sentence in a
women’s prison for refusing to educate their children in government-run
schools, the only legal option in Cuba. Another couple in their church has also been imprisoned for keeping
their children out of the Cuban educational system, and six to nine
other Christian families have likely met the same fate, sources said. “It all started when I was in fourth grade; I suffered bullying at
school because I was a Christian,” the Rigal-Expósito’s now 13-year-old
daughter, Ruth Rigal, states in a video produced
by a Cuban audiovisual magazine called ADN, the Spanish acronym for
DNA. “I was kicked in the belly, so he [her father] decided to get me
out of school. They began to chase us, to threaten us, saying that if we
did not go to school, they would take us to the house of children
without parental protection, and they were going to put my parents in
jail.” The bullying stemmed from a history of the Communist government promoting contempt for Christians, the family believes. In the video, Ruth laments that her family is now torn apart – besides
her parents being split up in their respective prisons, her 9-year-old
brother lives with grandparents on her mother’s side while she stays
with her paternal grandmother. On April 22, the Popular Municipal Court of Guantánamo convicted the
couple for violating a Cuban law entitled, “Other Acts Contrary to the
Normal Development of the Minor.” Law 62 of the Act stipulates that
“whoever induces a minor to leave his home, miss school, refuse the
educational work inherent in the national education system or breach of
his duties related to respect and love of the country, incurs sanction
of deprivation of liberty from three to months to a year or a fine of
100 to 300 [Cuban peso] installments or both.” The couple had served one year of house arrest for homeschooling in
2017. At that time and in the trial this year, prosecutors argued that
homeschooling “is not allowed in Cuba because it has a capitalist base,”
and that only teachers are trained “to inculcate socialist values,”
reported the independent news outlet Diario de Cuba (DDC), which has closely followed the case. The pastoral couple was following a program of a private Christian school in Guatemala. The program of the International Hebron School is
approved by the Ministry of Education of Guatemala, and students
enrolled in it may obtain certification of studies and a high school
diploma through Home Life Academy. The couple’s children had been
completing their education online through a free program offered by the
school. Ruth and brother Joel were happy with the teaching system at home, they
told Latin America-based news portal Evangélico Digital, which in June reported
Ruth as saying, “They put my mom and dad in prison ... and they did not
think about us, that we are minors, that we need my mom and dad
together.” In her parents’ trial, authorities prevented Ruth from entering the
courtroom so that “none of the assistants and case managers would be
sensitized,” according to Evangélico Digital, which reported that the
arrest of the parents in front of the children especially traumatized
her younger brother. In a press statement by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Joint Head of Advocacy Anna-Lee Stangl noted that other Christian children and parents have suffered similarly. “Over the years, CSW has received numerous cases of children of pastors
being bullied and ridiculed at school because of their religious
beliefs, even to the point of causing serious psychological trauma,”
Stangl wrote. “This is unacceptable. We call on the Cuban government to
release Ramon and Ayda and to ensure that all children in Cuba are able
to study free from harassment regardless of the religious beliefs of
their family.” Article 26.3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights holds
that, “Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that
shall be given to their children,” while Cuban law punishes parents if
they “refuse the educational work inherent in the national education
system.” Thus there is no legal way in Cuba for parents to educate their
children according to their convictions and values. Pastor Rigal was also convicted of “illicit association,” as their
Iglesia de Dios (Church of God) is not registered with the Ministry of
Justice’s Registry of Associations. Registration involves excessive
controls and regulatory steps, a high initial membership requirement and
“a relationship of coordination and collaboration, which in practice is
more a relationship of subordination of non-governmental entities,”
according to Luis Carlos Battista, a Cuban lawyer and previous Stephen
M. Rivers Memorial Fellow at the Center for Democracy in the Americas
(CDA), in an article about the Law of Associations of the Republic of Cuba. State Repression Evangélico Digital also reported that at noon on Friday (Aug. 9),
independent journalist Yoe Suárez was arrested in Guantanamo Province
while trying to interview members of the Rigal family. “They took me in handcuffs and arrested me for two hours,” Suárez told
Morning Star News. “State security confiscated the cell phone I work
with. Now I have a warning document that prohibits me from entering the
city of Guantanamo under threat of imprisonment.” The Patmos Institute, a religious rights watchdog in Cuba, confirmed
that Cuban authorities detained the pastoral couple at their home on
April 16. On April 18, officials informed them at 1:30 p.m that half an
hour later they would appear on trial; the system denied the possibility
of appointing a lawyer for themselves. Diario de Cuba reported that it
was a “very summary trial.” Family members appealed the April 22 verdict, but the regime reportedly upheld the sentence without hearing an appeal. In the ADN video, Pastor Rigal’s mother, Noris María Rodríguez,
indicated that her son has been the victim of a vindictive effort by the
government to make an example of him, saying, “There’s a problem of
raging vengeance, here.” Recently authorities reportedly put Pastor Rigal under a “harsh
regimen” of more severe prison conditions. His family visits are limited
to once a month and he is not allowed to work, whereas at the women’s
prison, by contrast, his wife is working in the prison infirmary and is
allowed to talk to their children regularly. The U.S.-based Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) reported
that members of Pastor Rigal’s congregation, Golquis Almaguer and his
wife, have also been imprisoned for homeschooling. “In Cuba the Communist Party controls all the courts, and the rule of
law is at the mercy of the totalitarian government based in Havana,”
HSLDA stated. “Consequently, religious activity is closely regulated,
and children are required to attend state schools. This is why the
Rigals and Almaguers are suffering – for the alleged crime of teaching
their own children.” Sources estimate that between six and nine other Christian families
have also been convicted for homeschooling their children, though
details and confirmation of this claim have not been confirmed. In a declaration through HSLDA, Pastor Rigal said the family had
previously tried to leave the country with the help of the Hebron
school, which provided them with tickets to Guyana, but Cuban
authorities prevented them from traveling. HSLDA maintains an open campaign to help the family. When the school year began in Cuba on Sept. 2, Ruth and Joel Rigal
attended the state-run schools to avoid being taken from their
grandparents. If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit http://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.
Castro dictatorship enlists children to harass and persecute Cuban Jewish boy for not paying tribute to Fidel
This is how even children are punished in socialist societies for not bending a knee to the state. This is socialism in action. Via Cubanos por el Mundo (my translation):
Children used in acts of repudiation against a Jewish student in Camaguey
The
father of a Jewish boy in Camaguey has denounced the province’s
secretary of the Communist Party, Maria Teresa Hernandez, who in
addition to being a guidance counselor at the school, she attempted to
expel the young boy for refusing to offer tribute to the Cuban dictator
Fidel Castro. “They have accused my son of interrupting a
political activity honoring the deceased dictator Fidel Castro, and now
they want to expel him from the school.” The teachers at the
school in Camaguey did not agree with the decision and tried to impede
the boy’s expulsion, according to Martí Noticias: “Five teachers
were questioned and received dirty looks from her when they said my son
was not violent and had excellent grades and was one of the few students
who did his homework.” In spite of this, the father says children
of police officers are being used to carry out actions of repudiation
against the young Jewish boy From - https://babalublog.com
Christian rights activist in Cuba arrested after his Bibles are confiscated
Misael Diaz Paseiro, a Christian rights activist, was arrested last
year on charges of "pre-criminal social dangerousness" by the Cuban
government. He is a member of the Orlando Zapata Tamayo Civic Resistance
Front.
Authorities forced their way into Misael's home where they
confiscated two Bibles, crucifixes and rosaries. He was badly beaten by
Cuba's political police on November 4, 2017. Watchdog Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported that Misael was told by the police: "Misael, in addition to being a counter-revolutionary, you are also a Christian," the police said. "You should look at us, we are revolutionaries and we don't believe in your God. Our god is Fidel Castro."
Upon his arrest, Misael was reportedly denied basic rights in prison,
including the right to see a priest and to have a Bible. Because of his
mistreatment in prison, his wife Ariana López Roque went on a 19-day hunger strike. According to CSW,
Cuban authorities also prevented a pastor from visiting Misael's wife
during her 19-day hunger strike. She only ended the hunger strike when
she was assured that her husband's rights would be respected while he
was in prison. Mario Barroso, a Cuban pastor and rights activist told the Christian Post that it was not uncommon for people in Cuba to invoke the name of Fidel Castro. "Invoking Fidel Castro in Cuba helps cover acts of corruption and
even crimes. This proves that the followers of [Castro as a God] are not
really so adept as Fidel himself but rather at the benefits that are
covered by invoking him," Barroso said. "Deep down they are imitating Fidel with this behavior since Fidel Castro was like that too: an opportunist, a blackmailer. "So the believers in Fidel Castro act in the image and likeness of
their god, Fidel. They are faithful followers of the evil example of
their god." The Cuban regime is oppressive toward people who subscribe to
organized religion. Cuban Christians are especially vulnerable, as the
government has launched a nationwide crackdown against
churches and has either seized or demolished 1,400 church buildings.
According to the government, the religious structures have not been
registered and are therefore illegal. The war of the Cuban state against religious institutions intensified palpably
in 2017 and continues today in various guises. The seizure of Bibles
and imprisonment of local pastors and rights activists are but two
instances of the religious crackdown in Cuba. There have even been
reports of Christians being dragged away as they arrive or leave church.
San Isidro
Movement: Rising poetic justice “The San Isidro Movement
is a necessary staging within the current political, social and cultural
landscape in which we Cubans are immersed”
María Matienzo Puerto Friday, December 20,
2019 |6:00 am
HAVANA, Cuba.- “2019 was a year to make the San
Isidro Movement visible, so that people would know who we were,” says Luis
Manuel Otero Alcantara about the summary of a year that the group of artists
has circulated, “the work was not like in 2018, when there were more tangible
things like 349, Biennial 00, but it served to promote structures of thought
through The flag belongs to everyone, The country contemplates you proud and
USA ”, three of His most important artistic actions.
“This year was all more aggressive.
There were a lot of things like Yanelys left, Nonardo left, but we solidified
the bases, we organized as a group, because the feeling of the group is also
learned under all this fire, and the spectrum was opened to the artists, the
intellectuals and the politicians ”, but from the outside the most important
thing that happened to them was the visibility of other faces, and the
certainty that the San Isidro Movement (MSI) was not just Luis Manuel Otero
Alcantara.
For Amaury Pacheco, the OMNIPoeta, the
MSI is “a direct, authentic extension of the groups that formed in the late
1990s, where the foundations of an activism through art and culture were
developed,” groups and projects of which he was one of its protagonists, with
OMNIZonaFranca, “and that they were annihilated after projecting a notorious
activity in many of the fields of Cuban social life,” he recalls.
Today for the OMNIPoeta, who decided to live on
the poetry that still remains on the Island, belonging to the MSI is “a unique
way of inhabiting the unscrupulous wastelands of politics, it is a poetic
burden to scare rascals. It has been for me: Poetic Justice in ascension ”, and
more than that, it has relocated it in the same epicenter of these practices in
the world, where activism and art merge.
For actress Iris Ruiz it has been “a
necessary staging within the current political, social and cultural scene in
which we Cubans are immersed in and out of the Island,” and it has served her
to “reconnect the human ties of the region with the backing of creativity and
the strength of authenticity, ”he says, in addition to giving him the
opportunity to do“ what I think is necessary ”.
Michel Matos is another of its
founders, of which when Otero Alcántara says "we argue a lot" it is
because he is one of the most controversial, because his personality allows it.
Matos believes that “this year has been extremely difficult, many house and
arbitrary detentions and seclusions. The colleagues of the movement under
constant harassment, friends and collaborators in the same situation ”, and he
himself with the house constantly besieged, however,“ none of this causes us to
lose confidence in the truth that encourages us and for which we work ",
And in that" truth ", for Matos, the" inalienable rights
"for all Cubans are included.
This “hard” year of the San Isidro
Movement also belong to Verónica Vega, Yasser Castellanos, Soandry del Río,
José Ernesto Alonzo and Sandor Estudiantes Sin Semillas, René Hernández and
those who left and for whom Otero Alcántara feels nostalgia.
The curator Yanelys Núñez and the
artist Nonardo Pereia feel part of the Movement from Spain.
According to Núñez, the emergence of
the group was “the consolidation of several months of collaborative work”,
where they positioned themselves as artists “facing the cultural policy of the
government, but being part made me feel less alone because I know there is a
group of people that is and will be there for me as a family ”, while Nonardo
is grateful to have found a space where“ independent artists are taken into
account, and valued for their work ”, both from Spain remain active in the MSI.
Claudia Gienlui is one of the latest acquisitions
of the group, and although she did not live some of the actions of the
beginning for her, the experience of “making visible the strength and power of
art” has been very valuable as a curator.“The artists
that integrate it have been for me examples of strength and conviction, capable
of breaking and extending the limits at all levels”, which has allowed it to
disappear “the fear of thinking, speaking, dissenting”, andThe change has been generated by the hashtag #estamosconectados, which
goes viral and generates a wave of solidarity in social networks every time the
forces of the regime decide to repress some of its members.
From Cubanet translated by Print-Shop Lighthouse Publisher Press
Washington includes Cuba in the
list of countries 'violators' of religious freedom Nicaragua, Nigeria and
Sudan also join the list.
Cuban devotees in a church. AFP
This Friday the United States
Department of State included Cuba in the list of countries that violate the
religious freedom of its citizens. According to the press release signed by the
Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, the Government of the Island has been involved
or has tolerated "serious violations of religious freedom."
The name of Cuba appears next to
Nicaragua, Nigeria and Sudan, countries that were also added to the list this
Tuesday, and others such as Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan,
Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, where, according to the United
States Government, religious freedoms are permanently violated.
According to the press release, the
protection of religious freedom is one of the main priorities of the foreign
policy of the Donald Trump Administration.
"We believe that everyone,
everywhere, at all times, should have the right to live in accordance with the
dictates of their conscience. We will continue to challenge state and non-state
entities that seek to infringe those fundamental rights and ensure that they
are held accountable for their actions. "says the statement.
In June 2019, Washington had already
criticized in its Annual Report on international religious freedom the
situation in Cuba, and had blamed the regime for threatening, stopping and
using violence against religious leaders and devotees.
In February 2016, the Police took
advantage of a trip to Miami by evangelical pastor Alain Toledano to destroy
his temple and his house, arrest his wife and repress dozens of his faithful.
At that time the Government refused to
recognize the Church of the New Apostolic Reformation, to which Toledano belonged.
In April of this year, Pastors Ramón Rigal and
Ayda Expósito were sentenced to two years and a year and a half of deprivation
of liberty, respectively, for attempting "against the normal development
of the child" and for the alleged crimes of "illicit association"
and "association to commit crimes".
Rigal and Expósito were prosecuted for
educating their eldest daughter at home, to avoid the strong ideological
propaganda and aggressive atheism promoted by the regime, they claimed.
Although homeschooling is well extended
by first world countries, the Cuban Government defines it as a capitalist
practice and refuses to accept any other means of education than the
institutional one.
In 2019, the independent Patmos
Institute and the Evangelical League of Cuba, among other religious
organizations, have criticized the island's regime for violating the human
rights of Christian leaders.
In addition to arrests, threats and
reputation-firing campaigns launched by the Government against religious, State
Security has also prevented the exit of the country from a part of the voices
critical of the regime.
The regime
prevents two of the main evangelical leaders of Cuba from leaving the country
They were going to participate in an international
event on religious freedom in Washington.
DDC
Havana 14 Jul 2019 - 23:45 CEST
Immigrationofficials prevented this morning from taking a flight at the José Martí
International Airport in Havana to Moisés de Prada and Álida León, presidents
of Assemblies of God and the Evangelical League of Cuba, respectively.
Those Protestant denominations, the
first and fourth largest in the country, created at the beginning of June the
Alliance of Evangelical Churches of Cuba (AIEC), an independent entity, as an
alternative to the official Council of Churches of Cuba (CIC), with the purpose
to work "in defense of biblical values", in accordance with the
founding act.
In the following weeks, the Church of
the Metropolitan Community, not registered in the Registry of Associations and
sponsored by Mariela Castro, and the CIC itself attacked the fraternal
organization.
Both Leon and Prada were invited to an
international event on religious freedom, organized by the US Government in
Washington.
The obstacles to participation in that
meeting with civil society, whose second edition was held this year, "are
closely related to the creation of the AIEC and the 16 requests that a group of
evangelical churches brought before the State during the last constitutional
reform ", he considered an ecclesial source who preferred to remain
anonymous.
"The evangelical churches were the
main group that faced the communist constitutional project and in the breaking
of the traditional and fearful unanimity in the voting within the revolutionary
period," said the source, recalling the result of the vote, with more than
ten times percent of the population abstaining or betting on the No.
During the last reform, the Christian
churches and their leaders were pressured to vote for the Yes, according to
complaints from the churches themselves.
Believers' requests ranged from greater
freedom of conscience, and non-criminalization of what the regime calls
"accumulation of wealth," to the understanding of marriage as the
union of a man and a woman, and greater religious freedom.
Restricting freedom of movement without
explanations or "regular", as the Cuban authorities call it, is one
of the most used human rights violations by Havana against Cuban civil society.
An evangelical pastor accuses
the Cuban regime of 'sowing terror' in
his community
According to Alain Toledano, the authorities
visit work centers and studies
to warn 'not to approach the church'.
Yoe Suarez
Havana 24 Dec 2019 - 14:44 CET
A. Toledano / Facebook
"What the State does is to sow terror in the community where the church is so that people
do not approach," Protestant pastor Alain Toledano told DIARIO DE CUBA.
Days ago - he denounced - in work and school centers of the locality El Salao, in Santiago de Cuba,
where the Emmanuel church is located, political leaders have warned
"that they should not approach the temple".
In 2007 and 2016 the structure erected so that parishioners can meet was destroyed by local
authorities. Toledano has been arrested and interrogated by the political police several times.
The religious leader belongs to the Apostolic Movement, a network of fast-growing
evangelical churches that is not included in the Registry of Associations of the Cuban Government.
"They do this to create tension in the community, to create terror around the church,
because they know that the community feels blessed by the church," Toledano considered.
In the local schools "they are gathering the teachers before the morning
begins and informing them that the church will be demolished and that I will be imprisoned," he said.
"This was the case before they destroyed Emmanuel," he said.
"For now, the only thing directly against me that they have done was to send me a summons
to the police station on December 10," International Human Rights Day.
"The aggressions are against me, but not with me; they are against the church,
but not with the church ... for now," he concluded.
Translated by Print-Shop Lighthouse Publisher Press/From Diariodecuba.com
Cubans must cease to be an effect
to become a cause of a free Cuba
Of the violations of religious freedoms
in Cuba this year 2019, no religious group
has escaped, not even the Catholic Church
Katherine Mojena Hernández
Tuesday, December 31, 2019 | 6:00 am
Change Steps Event, Freedom Tower, October 2019. Photo by the author
SANTIAGO DE CUBA.- The Patmos Institute, which arose in 2013 in Villa Clara
originally under the name of the Patmos Institute of Book and Christian Knowledge,
and derived in 2014 the name it holds today, promotes citizen participation
through forums, workshops, conferences , among other activities.
On August 18, 2016, its founders and main leaders,
Pastor Mario Félix Lleonart and human rights activist and writer Yoaxis Marcheco,
who make up a marriage, were forced into exile with their children
due to pressures and harassment of the Cuban regime. CubaNet talked
with Pastor Mario Felix about the work of this important organization.
Who makes up the Patmos Institute?
Our membership is informal, within Cuba the members of Patmos carry out
their work from the catacombs, and some of those who were most
visible unfortunately had to leave the country, possibly for the survival
not only of us but even of our own network. The difficult roles of those
inside are now complemented by those of those who are outside and at
all costs try to amplify the voice not only of those who have some simple
or deep relationship with our network, but of all Cubans.
What is the work of the Patmos Institute?
We specialize in religious freedoms because of our origin as men and women
of faith, and because we believe that religious freedoms are the measurer
of the behavior of other freedoms. We take it for granted, and it is proven,
that in a country where religious freedoms are respected, the rest of
the rights will also be, and vice versa.
One of its fundamental tasks is the preparation of reports on violations
of religious freedoms in Cuba and the monitoring of dissidents
regulated by the Cuban regime. Specifically how was this work during
this year 2019?
In this 2019 we have tried to meet the four objectives that gave us mutual
agreement: the exercise of interreligious dialogue, political advocacy,
monitoring and specific defense of religious freedoms and education,
in general, of Human Rights.
In these final days of the year we are engaged in trying to reflect in an
annual report the convoluted situation of religious freedoms on the Island.
And it is overwhelming, since we do not want any of those affected
to be left out, but as much as we try to understand that The repressive
capacity of the regime far exceeds the monitoring and reporting capacity
that we would like to have. Even the violence is sometimes so extreme that
we find ourselves many times that victims prefer to shut up, are not willing
to cooperate, and even cut off all communication for fear of greater reprisals.
Forum in a lodge in Cuba. Photo of the author
Our collaborators in Cuba are prevented from leaving outside the
national territory, and since 2018 we have carried out the cumbersome work
of updating the list of representatives of Cuban civil society, of any stratum,
who for reasons of political discrimination are prevented from traveling.
We can affirm that the list of those who at least sometime in 2019 were
prevented from traveling exceeds 230 cases.
What can you tell us about the repressive balance of the Cuban regime
against religious groups this year?
Of the violations of religious freedoms in Cuba this year 2019,
no religious group has escaped, not even the Catholic Church, because of
its double characteristic, which in addition to being an organization
of faith also constitutes a State that has an Apostolic Nunciature
(its Embassy ) In the Habana.
It is striking how these violations against the religious institution of
greater affiliation in Cuba have multiplied this year, including
imprisonment for one of its most prominent laity,
Roberto de Jesús Quiñones Haces.
In the same way as the Catholic Church, the Protestant and Evangelical Churches
that are legally registered.
If neither the Catholic Church escapes, nor the legally registered
Protestant and evangelical denominations, we can already imagine
the harassment against religious minorities without legal recognition in Cuba,
which had to face difficult situations and that we try to reflect in our reports,
and among which the Jewish community of the Bnei Anusim,
the Messianic Jews, the Berean Baptists, the Jehovah's Witnesses,
the Free Yorubas of Cuba, the various Networks of the Apostolic Move,
the Organization of the Rastafari House in Cuba,
the Cuban Association for the Disclosure of Islam ,
or the International Abundant Faith Ministry, of which nothing less than
its representatives in Cuba, Pastors Ramón Rigal
and his wife Adya Expósito, have been serving prison since April
this year for rebelling against the monopoly of the Cuban education system,
fully politicized and ideologized
Pastor Mario Felix, the Institute awards an annual award. Tell us about it.
This award is given to a believer consistent with his Faith in Cuba. This year
it was given to Roberto de Jesús Quiñones. He was delivered on August 25,
coinciding with the World Day of Prayer for the Chaplaincy of the Prison,
just a few days before he was taken to prison on September 11. Roberto
is very active in the Penitentiary and Family pastoral offices of the
Guantánamo-Baracoa Diocese, precisely because he has extensively developed
his activities as an independent lawyer and journalist, consistent
with the man of Faith he is, was taken to prison.
More than a prisoner, we know that within those dungeons Roberto
de Jesus is being used by God as a chaplain who, in the likeness of Christ,
"descended into hell to free imprisoned spirits."
What is the position of the Patmos Institute regarding political prisoners?
The prisoners of conscience surpass the cases of religious,
and being consistent with our Faith forces us to raise our voices for those
who are in that condition, therefore, we actively participate in any
initiative that includes the requirement of their unconditional and
immediate release.
Throughout the year we have appealed for them to nations,
international organizations and personalities from all fields.
Precisely last Wednesday, December 25, we used social networks, which increase
our informal network, to gather hundreds of people to pray together
for all of them, appealing to the highest instance, God Himself,
assuring that he hears our prayers, and that Both festivities,
Christmas and Chanukah, are festivals of light that commemorate
God's visitation to men to “give freedom to captives.”
Ministerial Conference for the Advancement of Religious Freedoms, Washington,
July 2019. Photo by the author
What are the projections of the Institute for 2020?
The Patmos Institute will celebrate seven years next February 2,
we want to do it continuing in the attempt to enforce our four fundamental
objectives, and therefore we want to support and promote the
Cuba Decide initiative, because its message is not
political-partisan but citizen.
Cuba Decide is an invitation to use our voice and the power
that we have together to force the peaceful change of
the system on the Island. We want to intensify our citizenship education
through the weekly Cuban radio program Confesante,
also through the celebration of forums and videos about the active role
played by churches in general, and believers in particular,
in the fall of the Berlin wall 30 years ago, and the active role they play
in another context, as in Latin America itself, all as an example for Cubans ,
whatever your faith affiliation.
We would like you to send a message to the Cubans through our platform.
The invitation we make to the Cuban people is to change position,
cease to be effects of the violations and occurrences of a clique in power,
to become a cause of a genuinely free and democratic Cuba like
the one José Martí dreamed of, with everyone and for the good of all,
and I am sure that with the citizen proposal Cuba Decide together we can.
About the author
Katherine Mojena Hernández
Member of the national leadership of the Patriotic Union of Cuba
(UNPACU) Promoter of the Cuba Decide initiative. Team in charge
of the direction and edition of the Cuba Te Cuenta website
Translated by
Print-Shop Lighthouse Publisher Press/ From Cubanet.org
