CUBA USCIRF–RECOMMENDED FOR SPECIAL WATCH LIST KEY FINDINGS I n 2020, religious freedom conditions in Cuba remained challenging. The Cuban government used a system of laws and policies, surveillance, and harassment to control and suppress religious groups and others for their advocacy or support of religious freedom. The Cuban government, through the Office of Religious Affairs (ORA) continued its repressive enforcement of religious restrictions. The Law of Associations requires religious organizations to apply to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), where the ORA is housed, for registration. Despite existing criteria, registration decisions are often arbitrary and discriminatory. Unregistered religious groups are particularly vulnerable, as membership or association with an unregistered religious group is a crime. The ORA exercises direct and arbitrary control over the affairs of registered religious organizations, requiring permission for virtually any activity other than regular worship services. During 2020, the Cuban government harassed and intimidated certain religious communities and their leaders. Common tactics included threats, short-term detentions and interrogations, surveillance, and travel restrictions. The Apostolic Movement, an unregistered network of Protestant churches, reported an increase in arrests, threats, and fines of pastors and parishioners. Pastor Alain Toledano Valiente of the Apostolic Movement, his family, and his congregation were frequent targets of the regime’s harassment. In May, several United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteurs, including the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, issued a communication to Cuba regarding the ongoing harassment of Pastor Toledano and the Apostolic Movement, noting their concern that the group’s lack of legal registration prevents it from operating freely. An unregistered church in Victoria de las Tunas reported ongoing harassment, including stoning of worshippers, denial of permits to worship, and threats of criminal charges against the pastor. According to the pastor, security services encouraged the stoning and warned that the attacks would stop only if he ceased calling for religious freedom during his sermons. Several Santería religious leaders and practitioners, particularly members of the unregistered Free Yoruba Association of Cuba, were also frequent targets of government harassment. State security reportedly detained, threatened, and surveilled Free Yoruba leaders, including detaining two high-ranking Free Yorubas in March and declaring that “there is only one god, Fidel Castro.” In May, state security reportedly broke up a religious meeting of an unregistered Islamic group studying the Qur’an, summoned participants to the police station the next day, and threatened them with criminal charges. The government used its penal code against individuals whose religious beliefs conflict with the political teachings and practices in schools and education. The children of Olainis Tejeda Beltrán and Lescaille Prebal, members of the Jewish Sephardic Bnei Anusim community, endured violent bullying for wearing kippahs at school. Instead of protecting the children, authorities responded by threatening the parents with criminal penalties and loss of guardianship if the children continued to wear the religious symbols. The parents agreed in January that their children would attend school without kippahs. However, they continued to denounce their children’s treatment in independent online media, which resulted in authorities threatening charges under Decree Law 370. This law regulates the use of the internet and is applied to criminalize critical expression. Other religious leaders were threatened with charges under this law for “subversive posts on social media.” Pastor Ramón Rigal and his wife Adya Expósito Leyva were released from prison in July and March respectively. After homeschooling their children based on a concern regarding Cuban schools’ promotion of socialism and atheism, the couple was convicted in April 2019 for “illicit association”—as their church is unregistered—and other charges, including acts against the normal development of their children. While USCIRF welcomed their release, concerns about conflicts between religious beliefs and practice and schooling persist. RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE U.S. GOVERNMENT • Maintain Cuba on the U.S. Department of State’s Special Watch List for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA); • Impose targeted sanctions on Cuban government agencies and officials responsible for severe violations of religious freedom— including Caridad Diego, head of the ORA—by freezing those individuals’ assets and/or barring their entry into the United States under human rights related financial and visa authorities, citing specific religious freedom violations; • Publicly denounce violations of religious freedom and related human rights in Cuba and convey that any changes in other areas of U.S. policy toward and engagement with Cuba do not diminish the Cuban government’s need to improve religious freedom conditions on the island; KEY USCIRF RESOURCES & ACTIVITIES • Factsheet: Santería Tradition in Cuba • Press Statement: Release of Pastor Ramón Rigal • Press Statement: Release of Ayda Expósito 62 USCIRF | ANNUAL REPORT 2021 • Encourage Cuban authorities to extend an official invitation for an unrestricted visits by USCIRF and the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief; and • Increase opportunities for Cuban religious leaders from both registered and unregistered religious communities to engage with, exchange aid and materials with, and interact with coreligionists in the United States and globally.