Cuban-American Congressman Maria Elvira Salazar supported the recent inclusion of Cuba in the list of countries of particular concern for violations of the religious freedom of its citizens.
This was expressed in a tweet in which he mentioned that “the dictatorships in Cuba and Nicaragua should not leave this list until democracy arrives and ends religious persecution.”
The Republican politician claimed that communist regimes outlaw the faith because they “hate that something is above them, GOD.”
Communist regimes ban belief and imprison believers because they hate that something is above them, GOD.
Dictatorships in Cuba and Nicaragua should not leave this list until democracy takes hold and religious persecution ends. https://t.co/yrJTn5copx
– Maria Elvira Salazar 🇺🇸 (@MaElviraSalazar) December 2, 2022
On December 2, the Biden government locked in Cuba. along with other countries on this list “for having committed or condoned particularly serious violations of religious freedom”.
Also on the blacklist are Nicaragua, Burma, the People’s Republic of China, Eritrea, Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Cases such as Algeria, Central African Republic, Comoros and Vietnam are on the Special Watch List.
Again, there are organizations of particular concern: Al Shabab, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al Sham, the Houthis, ISIS-Greater Sahara, ISIS-West Africa, Jama’at Nusrat al Islam wal-Muslimin, the Taliban and the Wagner group.
The US statement underscores that the creation of these lists is in the interests of the United States in protecting its national security and promoting human rights worldwide.
Previously, Cuba was listed as a country under special surveillance. In April 2022, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended leaving the island in that classification, which has now changed due to intensifying repression against practitioners of different religions.
“The Cuban government continued to use surveillance, harassment and ad hoc interpretation of laws to repress religious freedom and persecute defenders of religious freedom,” the institution specified in its annual report on the subject.
The document notes that authorities responded to the July 11, 2021 demonstrations by arresting, often violently, about 700 protesters and activists, including religious leaders.
“For example, Pastor José Álvarez Devesa was beaten by the police in Camagüey and released the next day. At the end of the year, an unknown number of protesters, including religious leaders and members of religious communities, remained in detention, disappeared and were under house arrest.
The report also cites the case of Reverend Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo of the Independent Church of Monte de Sion, who took part in the July 11 protests in Palma Soriano, in the province of Santiago de Cuba, and was arrested that day.
“In the months following her arrest, Rosales Fajardo endured beatings, degrading treatment by prison guards and being denied contact with her family. The government tried to impose a 10-year sentence and put him on trial in December for “disrespect”, “assault”, “incitement to commit crime” and “disturbing public order”, she added.
A recent June report by the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) found that 67% of Cubans know someone who professes a religion and has been harassed, oppressed, threatened or hindered in their daily life on religious grounds.