arbitrary detention – Page 15

“Freedom, I dream of freedom”

Posted on 15/03/202122/06/2021 by cswpress in Cuba, Latin America

Yusleysi Gil Mauricio is a socio-cultural studies graduate. She became a Christian in 2010, and since then, she has been passionate about children’s ministry and worked as a children’s pastor for a few years.

She is the wife of Ricardo Fernández Izaguirre, a journalist and defender of the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) in Cuba. Together they have two children, the eldest is 2 years old and their baby is 4 months old. CSW spoke with Yusleysi to hear her story and share her experience.

“I have had a fervent and committed faith since I converted to Christ in 2010. On 12 December 2012 I began to attend the Fuego y Dinámica International Apostolic Ministry (MAIFD) Church in Camagüey where I worked as a children’s pastor. The church is not registered by the government and [that’s when] the persecution began. From the beginning I had a very special experience with God and I never pulled away from Him again, but being a member of an unregistered church was hard for me.

It took a lot for me to overcome my fears because [everybody I knew] they spoke very badly of what happened inside the church. It was only after I could see from my own experience that we were not doing anything illegal, that I stopped being secretive about it.

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Together for Uyghurs: Many beliefs, one voice

Posted on 01/02/202122/06/2021 by cswpress in Asia, China

“I’m here not as a professional activist or a scholar but as a daughter and as someone directly affected by the atrocities that are being discussed today against Uyghurs – and as part of this week to remember one of the worst stains on human history, the Holocaust. I’m one of those who understand deeply how this horror must inform our response to present events.”

– Ziba Murat, daughter of retired Uyghur doctor Gulshan Abbas who was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Every year on 27 January, the world marks Holocaust Memorial Day, remembering the millions killed under Nazi persecution, as well as in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur.

It is a day to honour the memories of those who lost their lives and to re-commit to never allowing such crimes to happen again.

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Even COVID-19 couldn’t halt Cuba’s severe violations of freedom of religion or belief

Posted on 18/01/202122/06/2021 by cswpress in Cuba, Latin America

In most countries around the world, 2020 saw the suspension of at least some communal religious activities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cuba was no exception. For several months, religious groups were unable to gather in public spaces and house churches, and the Ladies in White protest movement suspended their weekly marches after Sunday Mass.

Restrictions on aspects of the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) such as these are permitted under Article 18 of the ICCPR, provided they are “prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.” However, what is particularly concerning in Cuba’s case is that, even with the permitted activities of religious groups severely curtailed, the authorities continued to target such groups with routine and systematic violations of FoRB.

Business as usual amid unprecedented circumstances

CSW’s latest report on the situation of FoRB on the island finds that “despite social unrest and economic crisis during an unprecedented global pandemic, the government continues to target members of the religious sector and abuse human rights.”

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Navidad en las celdas de China: Recordando a Zhang Zhan y a otros durante la época navideña

Posted on 18/12/202018/12/2020 by cswpress in Asia ES, China ES, español

Me encanta la navidad. Sobre todo, me encanta que sucede en el periodo más oscuro del año aquí en el Reino Unido. El invierno británico es frio, oscuro y lluvioso, pero en esta temporada todo se ilumina con decoraciones en las ventanas de mis vecinos, los árboles en nuestra calle se adornan con luces, y normalmente hacemos planes para pasar tiempo con amigos y familiares. Pero esta navidad de 2020 será como ninguna otra, incluso en el Reino Unido. Pero quedan varias cosas que podemos hacer para mantener el espíritu navideño.

La semana pasada recibí una tarjeta navideña con un simple mensaje. Llegó en el momento justo, porque había estado pensado en mis amigos y activistas en China. Esto siempre me pone triste, no solo porque es imposible visitar el país en este momento, es porque todos ellos – siendo líderes cristianos, abogados de derechos humanos, o periodistas – pasarán navidad y el año nuevo tras las rejas de una prisión, lejos de sus seres queridos, en incertidumbre sobre su situación, debido a las campañas del gobierno de China en contra de los cristianos. Me pareció irónico que la tarjeta que llegó a mis manos decía “Hecho en China”.

Zhang Zhan. Credit: Twitter/@consultorzhang

Un ejemplo es Zhang Zhan, una periodista cristiana y defensora de los derechos humanos. Zhang fue una de las pocas personas valientes quien intentó denunciar los hechos en los primeros días de la pandemia de COVID-19.

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Christmas in China’s prison cells: Remembering Zhang Zhan and others over the festive period

Posted on 14/12/202022/06/2021 by cswpress in Asia, China

I love Christmas. I especially love the fact that it comes right in the middle of the darkest part of the year here in the UK. Just when I’ve had about enough of the cold, dark, rainy British wintertime, everything is brightened up by Christmas decorations in my neighbours’ windows, trees along our street festooned with lights, and plans for good times ahead with family and friends. 2020 is sure to be a Christmas like no other, including in the UK, but there are still things we can do to remind us of the festive spirit.

Just last week I received a lovely Christmas card with a heartfelt message. It came at just the right time, as I’d been thinking about friends and activists in China. This always makes me sad, not only because it’s impossible to visit the country right now, but more because so many of them – being Christian leaders, human rights lawyers or citizen journalists – will be spending Christmas and New Year in prison cells far away from their loved ones. Contemplating their situation, and the Chinese government’s crackdown on Christians, it seemed ironic to me that the card I held in my hands was ‘made in China’.

Take for example Zhang Zhan, a Christian citizen journalist and human rights defender. Zhang was one of the brave few who attempted to report the truth in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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