CSW has today released a report to mark the fifth anniversary of nationwide protests in Cuba which sparked a severe government crackdown on fundamental human rights, including on the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), which continues to date.

The report, titled ‘Cuba’s New Normal: The Situation of Freedom of Religion or Belief Five Years After 11J’, highlights that between January 2025 and June 2026 CSW documented 667 separate cases involving violations of FoRB which affected religious groups of all types, including Afro-Cuban groups, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Protestants and Roman Catholics, and registered and unregistered associations.

Almost all cases involved multiple types of violations, which included arbitrary detention, threats, harassment, intrusive surveillance, repeat interrogations, prevention from attending religious services, the denial of the right to receive religious materials or visits in prisons, and the physical and verbal abuse of children at school because of their religious beliefs.

The report also notes a specific uptick in the use of Actas de Advertencia, documents that justify charges and imprisonment in the future for crimes not yet committed, as a method to threaten and intimidate religious leaders, and in the Cuban Communist Party (CCP)’s efforts to prevent religious leaders from calling on people to pray for Cuba or attempting to respond to the island’s acute humanitarian needs.

Among the multiple cases of short and long-term arbitrary detention detailed in the report is that of Protestant Pastor Alexis Padrón Lorenzo, the leader of the Communion in Faith Church who was detained on 10 June and remains incommunicado at the time of publication. Also highlighted is the case of Jonathan David Muir Burgos, the 17-year-old son of the Protestant pastors of an unregistered church in Morón, Ciego de Ávila, who was arbitrarily detained in a maximum-security prison for adults for more than three months over his alleged participation in peaceful protests before being released into house arrest on 24 June.

CSW’s Director of Advocacy and Americas Team Leader Anna Lee Stangl said: ‘Five years since Cubans from all walks of life took to the streets to demand justice, human rights and democracy, their calls remain intentionally unheeded by the Cuban Communist Party, which instead remains intent on rejecting any idea of political or social reform even as Cuba grapples with an increasingly acute humanitarian crisis. We call on the international community to honour the bravery of Cubans across the island, including many religious leaders, who continue to speak publicly and honestly about the situation in the country by amplifying their voices and seeking creative and co-ordinated ways to support them.’

Notes to Editors:

1. Click here to download the report as a PDF.
2. Click here to download the report in Spanish.
3. On 11 July 2021 people took the streets of cities and towns across Cuba in spontaneous protests that grew in numbers as participants shared footage from the demonstrations on social media and messaging apps. At first the protests were focused on shortages of food and medicine exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, but, as their numbers swelled, there were clear calls for social and political reform. In response, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermúdez called ‘revolutionaries’ to the streets in a televised address and deployed security forces to put an end to the protests. Hundreds of people were imprisoned, including some who were held incommunicado for extended periods of time, thousands were physically attacked, and the non-governmental organisation Cuba Decide reports that five people were killed.