UN Working Group rules that detention of Pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo is arbitrary

The United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has adopted the opinion that the detention of Cuban Protestant pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo is arbitrary.

In a document dated 16 February 2024 and made public this week, the Working Group ruled the deprivation of liberty of Pastor Rosales Fajardo contravenes Articles 2, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 18, 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and therefore meets the Working Group’s standards for arbitrary detention.

Pastor Rosales Fajardo was violently arrested after participating in peaceful protests that took place across Cuba on 11 July 2021. He was tried and convicted of charges of ‘disrespect’, ‘assault’, ‘criminal incitement’ and ‘public disorder’ on 20 and 21 December 2021.

In May 2022 he and his family were informed that he had been sentenced to seven years in prison, which was one year less than the eight-year sentence that was initially communicated in a document sent from the Permanent Mission of Cuba in Geneva to the UN. He was initially held in Boniato Maximum Security Prison, but in early 2023 his family reported that he had been moved to a minimum-security prison closer to their home.

In its ruling, the Working Group calls on the government of Cuba ‘to take the steps necessary to remedy the situation’ of Pastor Rosales Fajardo, adding ‘taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Rosales Fajardo immediately, and to accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.’

The Working Group also encourages the government to ‘ensure a full and independent investigation’ into the circumstances of Pastor Rosales Fajardo’s detention, and refers the case to the UN Special Rapporteurs on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, the right to freedom of religion or belief, and on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, for appropriate action.

CSW’s Head of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl said: ‘CSW welcomes the ruling of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention which confirms that there was no justifiable basis for Pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo’s 2021 arrest, and he should not be in prison. It is imperative that the Government of Cuba take heed of the Working Group’s recommendations. We urge UN Member States to hold it to account should it fail to do so.’