MADRID, Spain.- A research carried out by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) reaffirmed that the Cuban Government does not respect religious freedom and continues to use its surveillance systems to repress and criminalize communities that profess their faith.
The Poll on Religious Freedom 2022, carried out by an OCDH team, revealed that 67% of Cubans know someone who professes a religion and has been harassed, repressed, threatened or hindered in their daily life for reasons related to their faith.
The study also indicates that more than 60% of people who profess a religious faith consider it risky to discuss such matters on blogs or social networks, as well as talking to people who are not family members or meeting with other religious people.
Study shows that religious freedom is not respected in Cuba, the results of the survey were presented in the context of the IX #SummitOfTheAmericas, in Los Angeles. ?https://t.co/dymM4nzYA9 @observacuba#SOSCuba #NoToRepression pic.twitter.com/PTpQxm27mE
— Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (@observacuba) June 7, 2022
The research, carried out between January 25 and February 25, 2022, indicates that 56% of religious people say that the use of, for example, “radio, television or the Internet” has been prevented.
Only two out of ten Cubans know how and to whom to report in case of violations of their freedoms and religious rights, the document specifies. While 41% indicate that pastors and religious leaders have been particularly targeted for repression for reasons related to faith.
Things in the country “are going the wrong way”, considered 64% of those interviewed.
“Religious freedoms are not exhausted by the fact that there is a certain freedom of worship (prohibited for independent groups), or that circumstantial permits are authorized for processions or works in some churches. They have to do, mainly, with freedom of conscience and the possibility that any person or religious group can act according to the criteria of their faith, not only in their private life, but fundamentally in public spaces”, exposes the OCDH.
For its study, the Observatory conducted 891 interviews. The results were published this Tuesday on its website and shared during the event “Voices for religious freedom in Cuba”, parallel to the IX Summit of the Americas.
Denunciations of the violation of religious freedom in Cuba
Last week, the United States Government presented its report on International Religious Freedom for 2021, in which it denounced the persecution of religious by the regime on the Island.
“The Religious Affairs Bureau exercises direct and arbitrary control over the affairs of religious organizations, which require permission for virtually any activity other than regular worship services. Party officials use the permit system to meddle in the affairs of religious groups and coercive cooperation with government officials,” said the document, presented by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In April, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) had determined that Cuba should remain on the State Department’s Special Watch List, due to its signs of repression against religious leaders.
In January of this year, the evangelical NGO Open Doors included Cuba in its annual ranking of the 50 countries with the greatest persecution and discrimination against Christians.
The organization, based in the Netherlands, pointed out that since 1959 Cuba has been governed by the Communist Party, which seeks to control the Church in accordance with its communist ideology and the government reacts harshly against opposition voices and protesters, So when Christian activists criticize the regime, they face arrest, the closure of their churches or businesses, prison terms, and harassment by the government and its supporters.
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