Cuba continues crackdown on freedom of religion

The Cuban government continued its repression of freedom of religion last year, a new report from an international human rights organization focused on faith freedom revealed.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide documented 624 separate cases in 2024 of attacks on freedom of religion or belief. Most of those cases involved multiple violations of faith freedom, bringing the total number to 1,898.

Violations include arbitrary detention, intrusive surveillance, repeat interrogations, threats, harassment. In the case of some children, they also involved physical and verbal abuse at school because of students’ religious beliefs.

“The Cuban government has continued to use oppressive measures to exert control over the population in a crackdown that has been ongoing since 2021,” CSW stated in its report, “No Respite: The Systematic Suppression of Freedom of Religion or Belief in Cuba.”

Seeking to silence dissident voices

The violations involve a wide range of religious groups—Protestants, Roman Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Afro-Cuban religions and both registered and unregistered groups.

“Those considered by the government to be dissidents were repeatedly and systematically blocked from attending religious services, usually through short-term arbitrary detention,” the report stated.

In some cases, religious leaders and congregations who sought to respond to humanitarian needs—which became particularly acute in many parts of Cuba last year—were harassed and fined, and the aid they offered was confiscated, the report noted.

The government systematically denied Cuban political prisoners access to religious materials and religious visits, in violation of the Nelson Mandela Rules—the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.

“The government appeared especially intent on targeting religious leaders and individuals who offered spiritual or material support to families of political prisoners,” the report stated.

The report noted the willingness of religious leaders to address human rights “despite the efforts of the government to silence independent or critical voices.”

“While some Cubans, no doubt, are more cautious and many have seen no other option than to go into exile, there remain many who, even in the face of threats, harassment and the possibility of imprisonment, continue to speak out against injustice and up for those in their communities who are suffering,” the report stated.

Call to stand with the people of Cuba

CSW called on the international community—“especially Cuba’s friends and neighbors in Latin America”—to voice concerns about Cuba’s human rights and religious freedom violations and to support the Cuban people.

“Ultimately, the future of Cuba lies with its people; those around the world who believe in the principles of democracy and fundamental human rights must stand with them in their peaceful pursuit of political and social change,” the report concluded.

In its 2025 annual report, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended the U.S. Department of State continue to designate Cuba as a Country of Particular Concern for its “systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.”

“In 2024, religious freedom conditions in Cuba remained dismal,” the commission’s report stated. “The government supplemented its oppressive legal framework with legislation further restricting freedom of religion or belief, harassed religious leaders and congregations, and wrongfully imprisoned individuals for peaceful religious activity.”

In January, Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo, an evangelical Cuban pastor who had been imprisoned since 2021 for participating in peaceful protests, was released as part of a mass amnesty.

At the time, the Cuban government announced plans to release more than 500 political prisoners as part of a Vatican-brokered deal after the White House announced the State Department would remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

While it applauded Fajardo’s release, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom pointed to the continued imprisonment of other religious leaders.

“We urge the U.S. Department of State to make clear to the Cuban authorities that those who remain wrongfully imprisoned must be released and to remain vigilant to confront any future harassment, intimidation or detention by the Cuban government,” the commission stated at the time.