Cuba loosening restrictions by releasing political prisoners

 Pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo gained his freedom from a Cuban prison on Friday after serving three and a half years in jail for protesting the communist nation’s human rights violations. His release is part of a mass pardon agreement and incremental release of 553 prisoners, a deal brokered by the Vatican. 

Cuban authorities detained Rosales Fajardo, pastor of Monte de Sion Independent Church in Palma Soriano, Cuba, on July 11, 2021, after he joined thousands of Cuban citizens in voicing concerns about the regime’s treatment of its people. Hundreds were reportedly detained as a result of the demonstrations.  

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Rosales Fajardo was given a seven-year sentence, down from eight, in May 2022 after being convicted on charges of criminal incitement, assault, public disorder, and disrespect. 

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in September 2024 denounced the imprisonment of Rosales Fajardo and reported that he was tortured while detained. 

“Fajardo … experienced torture in detention,” the report states. “On one occasion, prison authorities beat Fajardo so severely that he lost a tooth. They then urinated on him. In February 2024, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that the Cuban government had arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned Fajardo.” 

Amnesty International in 2022 explained that the protests resulted from the Cuban government’s poor handling of food and medicine distribution, electricity blackouts, and their restrictions on human rights. 

Communist governments, like that of Cuba, often restrict protests and levy spurious charges against demonstrators as a way of instilling fear in their citizens and deterring further opposition. Christians are frequent targets of communist governmental attacks due to their criticism and defense of human rights abuses. 

According to International Christian Concern’s Global Persecution Index of 2024, “dictators everywhere appear to be increasing their focus on controlling religion or eliminating Christianity altogether.”  

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org.