 Alexandria, VA - The Global Liberty Alliance (GLA) has received word that several members of the Association of Free Yorubas of Cuba (Asociación de Yorubas Libres de Cuba), including an underage boy, were just released from police custody after being separately summoned to the police station in Placetas, Villa Clara this afternoon. They were in police custody for 3 hours.
 The family happily reunited. Source: Facebook. Yesterday, on June 25, 2020, evangelical Pastor Ramón Rigal Rodríguez, of Guantánamo, Cuba, was released after over a year of unlawful imprisonment. Pastor Rigal and his wife, Adya Expósito, were sentenced in May 2019 to two and one-and-a-half years of prison for homeschooling their children.
In close collaboration with the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) in Purcellville, Virginia, and with Cuban religious leaders, the Global Liberty Alliance (GLA) has been advocating for the release of the Rigal parents since their trial. In late April 2019, the GLA and the HSLDA petitioned the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for precautionary measures to protect the Rigal family and press Cuba to release them. While the Rigal family is finally reunited, as Radio Televisión Martí has said, the reporter who covered their trial, GLA client Roberto Quiñones, is still unjustly imprisoned. You can find more information about GLA’s advocacy for the Rigal-Expósito family here. GLA is committed to defending fundamental rights, such as freedom of religion and of belief. You can learn more about GLA’s work on our Facebook page or our Twitter account.  The Global Liberty Alliance has received disturbing new information from the Association of Free Yorubas of Cuba (Asociación de Yorubas Libres de Cuba) documenting numerous violations of fundamental rights on the island. The GLA is closely reviewing the material and is collaborating with the Free Yorubas to hold Cuban regime officials to account.
 ¿Cómo me van a hacer romper la cuarentena para algo que no es tan urgente, y que no es nada de vida o muerte?
- Rev. Alain Toledano (en la foto) La Alianza por la Libertad Global expresa su solidaridad con los líderes religiosos que han sido censurados y perseguidos por el régimen comunista de Cuba. El régimen no sólo los ha “controlado”, no sólo los ha detenido incontables veces, no sólo les ha prohibido aparecer en la televisión junto a los líderes religiosos oficialistas. Tenemos entendido que al menos dos pastores evangélicos, en provincias distintas, han sido acusados de propagar el coronavirus, a pesar de no haber salido de sus casas en más de 20 días. A cada uno le ocurrió algo parecido: lo sacaron de su casa en plena cuarentena, lo detuvieron y lo situaron junto a otros donde podía contraer la enfermedad. La táctica pertenece a una larga guerra de atrición que han librado el Partido Comunista de Cuba y su Oficina de Asuntos Religiosos, la “policía de religión” en Cuba. Esta táctica ya se ha visto en la pandemia con periodistas y otros disidentes. Muchos más, como el Pastor Ramón Rigal, siguen encarcelados por actuar de acuerdo a sus creencias. El desprecio de la Seguridad del Estado de Cuba por la salud y bienestar de sus ciudadanos en la pandemia COVID-19 es reprensible. GLA seguirá ayudándoles a resistir esta represión indebida, resaltando estos abusos y pidiendo cuentas a los violadores de derechos. # # # How can they make me break quarantine for something that’s not that urgent, not a life-or-death situation? - Rev. Alain Toledano (pictured) The Global Liberty Alliance (GLA) expresses our solidarity with the religious leaders who have been censored and persecuted by the Cuban Communist regime. The regime not only has them “controlled,” detained them countless times, blocked them from appearing on TV alongside state-sanctioned religious organizations. We have heard heard that at least two evangelical pastors, in different provinces, were accused of spreading the coronavirus, even though they’d not left their homes in over 20 days. Each one experienced something similar: he was taken from his home during full-blown quarantine, was detained, and was placed with others, where he could catch the illness. These cruel tactics are part of a long-standing war of attrition waged by the Communist Party and its Office of Religious Affairs, Cuba’s religious police. These tactics have already been used during the pandemic against journalists and other dissidents. Many others, such as Pastor Ramón Rigal, are languishing in prison for acting in accordance with their beliefs. The indifference of Cuba’s State Security for the health and well-being of its people in the COVID-19 pandemic is reprehensible. GLA will continue to help them fight back against this undue repression by holding these people to account. |
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