Cuba
A general deterioration regarding human rights and personal liberties over the course of the
past year has led to heightened concern in relation to religious liberty. While security
concerns make it extremely difficult to get information out of the country, CSW was able to
visit the island in 2004 and confirmed that there appears to be a general tightening in all
areas as the national leadership returns to a more orthodox communist model, undoing
many of the reforms enacted in the Special Period.
As evidence of this, reliable church contacts inside the country have reported that the local
authorities have been instructed to refuse registration to all house churches, where the bulk
of church growth has occurred over the past decade. A number of houses in which house
churches were meeting were confiscated by the authorities without a reason being given.
The government continues to plant informers in all church groups, both Protestant and
Roman Catholic.
CSW also continues to be concerned about the welfare of a number of political prisoners,
particularly the pro-life physician Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet (sentenced to 25 years in prison) and
human rights activist, Jorge Luis Garcia Perez (who will complete his 14th year of a 15-year
sentence in March). Families of both reported serious mistreatment of both men at the
hands of prison officials and other prisoners.
Contact: annalee@csw.org.uk
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