Religious freedom in Cuba

Executive summary

Cuba has yet to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights despite signing both, to much fanfare, in 2008. While there have been a few positive developments in regard to religious liberty for a small number of religious groups, they are not reflective of any overall improvement in the general religious liberty situation. Instead, over the past two years there has been a sharp increase in reported violations of religious freedom, including harassment and imprisonment of church leaders and the forced closure, confiscation or destruction of church buildings. These violations have been systematically carried out across the country suggesting that they are part of government policy and not isolated abuses by local or provincial authorities.

Church leaders who have openly called on the government to respect religious freedom or criticised government interference in internal church matters, those who have refused to work on behalf of the government (as informers or by publicly endorsing government initiatives), and church groups which refuse to register have been targeted for particularly severe harassment. The six-year sentence handed down in July 2009 to one pastor, the most lengthy prison sentence given to a religious leader in decades, and the ongoing political persecution of another major church leader who resisted government pressure on the organisation he led, gives great cause for concern. All of this indicates that, rather than moving toward a more open society, the government under the leadership of Raul Castro still views religious organisations, and in particular their leaders, as potentially dangerous and as a result continues to attempt to exert as much control as possible over their activities.

Download full report (English) 217KB PDF

Download full report (Espanol) 226KB PDF