Cuban opponents denounce repression against religious for the civic march

The Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) denounced repressive acts against at least 30 people linked to different religions during the events that took place around the civic march against the Government of that country on November 15.

“The repression against religious was directed, in some cases, from the highest level”Said the OCDH in a statement.

The Communist Party’s Office of Religious Affairs warned priests Alberto Reyes Pías, Castor Álvarez and Rolando Montes de Oca, all from Camagüey (central-eastern Cuba), that they would be detained if they participated in the demonstrations, the note indicates.

In front of the headquarters of the Archbishopric of Camagüey a call was organized “act of repudiation“, In which the participants shouted the slogans”Long live Fidel” and “Down with Imperialism”, Informs the OCDH.

The human rights organization also specifies that in San José de las Lajas (a municipality in the north of the country), a police surveillance operation prevented the evangelical pastor Enrique Fundora Pérez from leaving his home.

In addition, the superior of the Daughters of Charity in Cuba, Sr. Nadieska Almeida, denounced on her social networks the harassment suffered by government representatives when she went to visit a friend, according to the statement.

The OCDH note denounces that the secular community was also subjected to repressive acts such as internet cuts and surveillance at their homes.

The OCDH praises the role of all those affected, “who demonstrated openly and demanded respect for their freedoms in Cuba”.

The Observatory collected 450 repressive actions during the days of the civic march, including hundreds of arbitrary detentions and 15 acts of repudiation.

Two days before November 15, the Cuban authorities withdrew the press credentials of the six journalists and graphic designers who work for the EFE Agency delegation in Cuba, in an unjustified and unprecedented action.

Two were returned the following day and the Cuban Government promised to return two more “as of November 28”, As well as to grant the press visa for the new agency delegate in the country, requested in September.

The president of Efe, Gabriela Cañas, described these measures as “a so-called dropper relief”And demanded the recovery of all the credentials of its personnel in Havana.

The decisions of the Cuban authorities in recent months have decimated the team of the Efe delegation in Havana, where currently only two journalists can continue to carry out their work. Efe hopes to be able to recover its information capacity on the island in the coming days.