Members of the Association of Free Yorubas of Cuba (Asociación de Yorubas Libres de Cuba, or “Free Yorubas”) are regular victims of harassment by Cuban State Security.
The association was founded in 2012 by Yorubas who disagreed with the Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba, which is controlled by the government watchdog Office of Religious Affairs (ORA). Free Yorubas have been subject to arbitrary detentions and beatings, destruction of ceremonial objects, police monitoring, and searches-and-seizures without probable cause. State hostility towards the Free Yorubas seems to have escalated since early February 2020, when they challenged Ms. Caridad Diego, head of the ORA, to a public debate on freedom of conscience.
Free Yorubas Public Relations head Ms. Eliaisys Almeida Pavón was detained in Placetas, Villa Clara, on February 24. Executive Secretary and Vice President and married couple Ms. Donaida Pérez Paseiro and Mr. Loreto Hernández García were detained and threatened on March 11. Ms. Pérez alleges in her statement, the officials mocked all faiths, professing that “there is only one god, Fidel Castro,” and stating an obscenity about God, the saints, and orishas. On August 3, three members of the Free Yorubas were separately summoned to the Placetas, Villa Clara police station and threatened. On September 30, two Free Yorubas leaders were held overnight and beaten; one of the women left police custody with a broken arm.
The regime regularly uses police citations to harass and intimidate Free Yorubas and other believers independent of the state. The Global Liberty Alliance continues to monitor the Cuban regime’s treatment of the Free Yorubas and will fight for their freedom of belief.
Related News & Media:
The association was founded in 2012 by Yorubas who disagreed with the Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba, which is controlled by the government watchdog Office of Religious Affairs (ORA). Free Yorubas have been subject to arbitrary detentions and beatings, destruction of ceremonial objects, police monitoring, and searches-and-seizures without probable cause. State hostility towards the Free Yorubas seems to have escalated since early February 2020, when they challenged Ms. Caridad Diego, head of the ORA, to a public debate on freedom of conscience.
Free Yorubas Public Relations head Ms. Eliaisys Almeida Pavón was detained in Placetas, Villa Clara, on February 24. Executive Secretary and Vice President and married couple Ms. Donaida Pérez Paseiro and Mr. Loreto Hernández García were detained and threatened on March 11. Ms. Pérez alleges in her statement, the officials mocked all faiths, professing that “there is only one god, Fidel Castro,” and stating an obscenity about God, the saints, and orishas. On August 3, three members of the Free Yorubas were separately summoned to the Placetas, Villa Clara police station and threatened. On September 30, two Free Yorubas leaders were held overnight and beaten; one of the women left police custody with a broken arm.
The regime regularly uses police citations to harass and intimidate Free Yorubas and other believers independent of the state. The Global Liberty Alliance continues to monitor the Cuban regime’s treatment of the Free Yorubas and will fight for their freedom of belief.
Related News & Media:
- ADNCuba, Oct. 2, 2020: "Denuncian arresto a cubanas de la Asociación de Yorubas Libres de Cuba" (in Spanish).
- ADNCuba, Aug. 6, 2020: "Yorubas citados por la policía política" (in Spanish).
- Association of Free Yorubas of Cuba (GLA YouTube), Aug. 4, 2020: Statement on Cuban Religion Police Harassment (in Spanish).
- U.S. Department of State, Jun. 10, 2020: 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom (Cuba) - Free Yorubas and GLA cited on page 6 of the Cuba section of the report.
- Global Liberty Alliance (YouTube), Mar. 11, 2020: “Free Yorubas of Cuba - Declaration of Communist regime abuses ("only one god: Fidel Castro")” (Spanish with SP/EN subtitles).
- ADNCuba, Feb. 25, 2020: “Denuncian hostigamiento contra la Asociación de Yorubas Libres de Cuba” (in Spanish).
- GLA Press Release, Feb. 24, 2020: Cuba's Religious Police Continues Harassing and Intimidating the Association of Free Yorubas (English and Spanish).
