Cuba: Religious freedom report

Between January 1 and September 10, 2012 CSW documented over 100 separate violations of religious freedom in Cuba. Many of the documented cases involved multiple victims (in one case hundreds) who were simultaneously targeted by Cuban security agencies in different parts of the country. While the number is restricted only to cases verified and documented by CSW and as such is probably far lower than the number of actual religious freedom violations, it does indicate a sharp deterioration in religious freedom on the island when compared with the total number of documented cases, 30, for all of 2011 (which was up from 2010). The numbers confirm information received from CSW sources inside Cuba who say that levels of intimidation and repression are at their highest levels since 1980.

There appear to be multiple factors behind the crackdown this year, the most obvious of which can be linked to the visit of Pope Benedict XIV in March and later in the year, the celebrations around Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre in September. Ironically, the government was keen to portray the Pope’s visit to the international community as evidence that religious freedom is respected and upheld in Cuba. Because of this the event was carefully orchestrated in order to eliminate the possibility of any disruption that might damage the positive image the government wished to project. Human rights defenders and pro-democracy activists, many of whom are practicing Catholics, were targeted to prevent their attendance or participation in any of the activities surrounding the Papal visit. During the week of the Pope’s visit hundreds of men and women were rounded up and put under house arrest or imprisoned, effectively stopping them from participating in any of the religious activities organized during that period.

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