Cuba: CSW calls release of political prisoners

Martha Perdomo holds photo of her sons Jorge Martin and Nadir. Image: Martha Perdomo

CSW is urging the Cuban government to release all political prisoners on the two-year anniversary of peaceful protests calling for change that took place across the island.

On 11 July 2021, thousands of Cubans took to the streets calling for freedom and chanting the slogan 'Homeland and Life' a twist on the Cuban Communist Party's slogan of 'Homeland or death'. In response, President Miguel Diaz-Canel sent security forces who met the protestors with violence and carried out mass arrests. The crackdown precipitated the largest wave of emigration in decades with around 2% of Cuba's population believed to have fled.

Many of the protestors were given lengthy prison sentences; there are now believed to be over 1000 political prisoners in security facilities across the country. CSW has received numerous reports that State Security and prison authorities routinely ignore or violate the Nelson Mandela Rules. Afro-Cuban religious leader Loreto Hernandez Garcia, head of the Association of Free Yorubas, has been denied access to medical treatment for serious and urgent health concerns. His brother, Jorge Luiz Garcia Perez, has told CSW that Mr Hernández Garcia has been repeatedly subjected to physical mistreatment and ridicule of his religious beliefs.

Political prisoners are also subjected to violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB). CSW has received numerous reports of political prisoners being singled out for public humiliation because of their religious beliefs and being denied the right to receive religious visits or to participate in religious services inside the prison. Many who have reported these violations have requested to remain anonymous, as according to one source, the government has warned prisoners that reporting on prison conditions will now be considered a crime and those found guilty will be further penalized.

In a statement to CSW, Martha Perdomo, a lifelong Baptist and the mother of two political prisoners, Jorge Martin Perdomo and Nadir Perdomo, arrested because of their participation in the 11 July 2021 protests, said that prison authorities attempted to make the young men sign various documents, the content of which was unclear, before they would be permitted to receive visits from a religious leader. "One day our sons called us and told us, to receive religious attention, they told us that they had to sign a paper, but my sons did not sign anything, because I do not think anyone should have to sign a paper, not knowing what it is, in order for a pastor, a Catholic, a priest to come to hold a service, to share spiritual time. So, I told well them, 'Well, my son, if that's the case, don't sign, if they want to give him the [religious] attention, they should give it to him and if not, then that's it.' And up to today, coming up on two years, on 11 July, they have not received any type of religious support."

As part of a long running policy of social isolation, the families of political prisoners have also been targeted, with many being forcibly blocked from attending religious services. CSW has also received reports that religious leaders have been threatened by State Security with imprisonment or the closure of their religious associations should they allow the families of political prisoners to participate in religious activities. Religious leaders who have resisted these demands, such as Father Castor Álvarez Devesa and Father Kenny Fernández Delgado, have been subjected to harassment and threats, as well as vandalism.

CSW's Head of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl said: "We demand the immediate release of all political prisoners in Cuba, and we call on the international community to raise this as a matter of urgency. The Cuban regime's intransigency has led to one of the largest mass exoduses in the country's history, many civil society leaders including artists, intellectuals and religious leaders are in prison or have been forced into exile. The government's treatment of political prisoners and their families is unconscionable and must be condemned in no uncertain terms. We continue to join with Cubans calling for democratic reforms and respect for the human rights of all."

This week CSW is publishing a series of blogs telling the stories of some of those who have been forced to flee the island since the protests took place. Follow here.

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CSW: www.csw.org.uk