Cuban pastor denounces state-levelled persecution

Pastor Homero Carbonell, leader of La Trinidad First Baptist Church in Santa Clara, has written an open letter detailing charges levelled against him by the government’s religious affairs office.

He denies the allegations, which accuse him of being associated with the counterrevolution and certain “illegalities”, which were not specified by the religious affairs office.

Requests for further clarification from the religious affairs office have gone unanswered and the church has been subjected to a series of penalties, which have not been lifted despite Pastor Carbonell’s decision to take early retirement.

Meetings with officials from the Religious Affairs Office have failed to bring any resolution to the situation. According to CSW, which has received a copy of the 12-page letter, one meeting concluded with government officials telling Pastor Carbonell to “behave himself”.

In the letter, Pastor Carbonell goes on to call for legislation to regulate religious practice and more specifically a law that would “not only regulate believers, but would also regulate the government, and would give believers a legal instrument to deal with any legal dispute to support their claims and not leave them subject to political decisions emanating from groups in power who can take coercive wrong or privileged decisions in matters of conscience”.

CSW said the Cuban government’s actions against Pastor Carbonell and his church appeared to be driven by the church’s refusal to expel family members of political prisoners and members of human rights and pro-democracy groups from its congregation.

The religious freedom situation for evangelical churches in Cuba remains ambiguous. A 2010 report by CSW noted that overt forms of persecution, such as the destruction of unauthorised churches, has diminished somewhat. Yet government pressure on individual church leaders has soared, particularly those that do not shun human rights and pro-democracy activists.

CSW’s Advocacy Director Andrew Johnston said he was “deeply concerned” by the government’s behaviour towards Pastor Carbonell and La Trinidad Baptist Church.

He urged the Cuban government to stop any harassment towards them and to remove the sanctions against La Trinidad First Baptist Church.

He also expressed support for new legislation to establish “clear legal parameters” and recourse for appeal in relation to all religious activity.

“While the Cuban government has implemented some economic reforms over the past year, there appears to be little official will to consider reforms that would protect basic human rights like religious freedom,” he said.

“It is troubling that the situation for many church leaders across the island appears to be growing steadily worse.”