MIAMI, United States. – Amnesty International (AI) launched an urgent call on Wednesday to the Cuban authorities to immediately release the Yoruba priest and political prisoner Loreto Hernández García, who is in critical health condition in a prison in the province of Villa Clara.
“Loreto Hernández García’s health continues to decline, his family reports. Despite medical recommendations for his immediate release, Cuban authorities are keeping him imprisoned, putting his life at risk. Loreto continues to be deprived of medication and adequate food,” The organization reported on its X account.
Loreto Hernández was arrested along with his wife, Donaida Pérez Paseiro, following the protests on July 11, 2021 in PlacetasVilla Clara, when both were leading the Association of Free Yorubas of Cuba. The priest was sentenced to seven years in prison and his wife to eight.
Pérez Paseiro has expressed her anguish over her husband’s condition. In a letter shared by AI, she describes the health problems faced by Hernández, who suffers from diabetic polyneuropathy, hypertension and ischemic heart disease: “My husband is dying in prison,” she warns in the letter.
The case of Loreto and his wife has been widely denounced by international organizations as a violation of religious freedom. The United States Department of State, the Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and the Cuban Prison Documentation Center have all reported on the abuses they suffer. The United Nations has also expressed concern about the violations committed against religious leaders on the island.
Jorge Luis García Pérez (Antúnez), Loreto’s brother, reported this week on the critical situation of the political prisoner: “The dictatorship knows it and far from granting the extra-penal license that it once approved, the medical commission is delaying his release,” he told Marti News.
As early as May this year, Ai had expressed concern about the health of the 11J prisoner. The Americas section of the organization expressed its “deep concern” about the situation of the Yoruba priest.
“His relatives have reported a deterioration in his health in prison, which indicates a serious relapse,” AI recalled. in a thread of X.
The organization also recalled that in 2023, Loreto “was already hospitalized for several weeks and his family requested an extra-penal license for health reasons, in order to obtain his freedom.”
“Despite the fact that the state doctor recommended his release, a court denied him permission, thus putting his health at risk,” AI denounced.
Last January, the NGO had already demanded the freedom of Loreto and also that of his wife, Donaida Pérez Paseiroboth Yoruba and Afro-descendant leaders.
On its Instagram account, Amnesty Americas denounced that “Donaida has been interrogated and harassed by State Security agents with the aim of getting her to abandon her faith,” and that “the imprisonment of both religious men negatively affects their congregation, given the lack of contact with their leaders and the fear of repression.”
Loreto Hernández García and Donaida Pérez Paseiro were sentenced to seven and eight years in prison, respectively, for their peaceful participation in the demonstrations of 11JBoth were found guilty of alleged crimes of “contempt” and “public disorder.” In Donaida’s case, the charge of “attack” on a public official was added.
“Both activists and religious leaders were imprisoned after an unfair trial, lacking evidence, and convicted in a sentence that repeatedly refers to the protesters’ political opposition to the government, something that should have no place in a criminal case. Under no circumstances should any charges have been brought against them,” AI said.
