Fears for health of imprisoned Yoruba religious leader

The family of a leader of the Association of Free Yorubas, an independent religious group in Cuba, has expressed concern for the well-being of Loreto Hernández García who was forced to return to prison on 7 June, after State Security ordered that he be expelled from the hospital where he had been receiving medical treatment since 29 May.

Mr Hernández García has diabetes and hypertension, and has been subjected to severe beatings while in prison. He was detained on 16 July 2021 as part of a government crackdown on protestors who participated in spontaneous and peaceful demonstrations across the island on 11 July 2021. He is serving a seven-year sentence in Guamajal Prison on charges of disrespect and public disorder, which CSW believes to be false.

His wife and two other members of the Association of Free Yorubas, an Afro-Cuban religious group, are also in prison in connection with their participation in the 11 July protests. Donaida Perez Pasairo, Mr Hernández García’s wife, is serving an eight-year sentence. The group has a long history of being targeted by the government, in part because of their decision to remain independent of Afro-Cuban religious groups with links to the government.

While in prison, Mr. Hernández García has been subjected to humiliating treatment by prison officials because of his religion. On 10 November, he was beaten and thrown down a flight of stairs by a guard who identified himself as “Carlitos” and who also ridiculed his religious beliefs.

Mr Hernández García’s brother, Jorge Luis Garcia Perez, also known as “Antunez”, a former political prisoner now in exile, told CSW: “I believe, and I say this taking full responsibility for my words, that the Cuban government may be sending my brother, the religious leader Loreto Hernández García, to prison so that he dies there instead of in the hospital. [He] is over 50 years old, he has diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and chronic asthma and in the first days of his detention he suffered a preinfarction angina. [Cuban] officials are very familiar with his health condition… while in prison, the officers did all they could to keep Loreto incommunicado, isolated and separated from other political prisoners and prohibited from any contact with his family.”

CSW’s Joint Head of Advocacy and Team Leader for the Americas Anna Lee Stangl said: “We are deeply concerned for Loreto Hernández García’s health and call on the Cuban government to release him immediately, along with other members of the Association of Free Yorubas. They have been targeted because of their involvement in an unregistered religious group in addition to their participation in the 11 July protests. Preventing Mr Hernández García from having any communication with his family, given the state of his health, is inhumane, and the Cuban government will bear full responsibility should anything untoward happen to him.”