Tag: harassment

The growing cost of standing up for human rights in Nicaragua and Cuba  

Posted on by cswpress in Cuba, Latin America, Nicaragua

Olesia Auxiliadora Muñoz Pavon is a choir director for the Santa Ana Parish in Niquinohomo in Nicaragua’s Masaya Department. Age 52, she has been imprisoned on false charges since 6 April 2023, having previously served a sentence from August 2018 until June 2019 – also on false charges. 

Since the middle of January this year, like several others in the Women’s Holistic Penitentiary System commonly known as La Esperanza, Ms Muñoz Pavon has been denied any time outdoors where before she was allowed out once a week. 

Her crime? Praying out loud. 

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The world must honour the memory of Cao Shunli by standing up for human rights defenders in China

Posted on by cswpress in Asia, China

Ten years ago today, Cao Shunli died in a military hospital in Beijing.

A prominent human rights activist, Ms Cao fought injustice in China for over a decade prior to her passing at the age of 53. In 2002, she was fired from a government job after she raised concerns about corruption in her department. Over the next 12 years she became a vocal advocate for human rights and anti-corruption, her work often specifically focused on the mistreatment of human rights defenders and petitioners (citizens who petition authorities for the redress of their grievances) by the Chinese authorities.

As is the case for so many others like her in China, Ms Cao’s work frequently put her at odd with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). She was regularly subjected to arbitrary detention, house arrest and enforced disappearance, and served two stints in the country’s notorious labour camps for a total of 27 months.

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From faith to exile in Guerrero, Mexico 

Posted on by cswpress in Latin America, Mexico

Damián and his family live on the outskirts of the centre of Ayutla de los Libres1 in south-western Mexico. In May 2022, they and two other families bought the land after they were expelled from their village because they belong to a religious minority.  

On 25 March 2021, Damián, age 38 at the time, was called before the Ahucachahue community assembly in Ayutla de los Libres Municipality, located in the Costa Chica region of Guerrero. The people of Ahucachahue are Mixteco, and the majority practice Roman Catholicism. At the meeting, community leaders informed him that he had been appointed to lead the festivals in honor of San Isidro Labrador,2 their patron saint. Damián would be responsible for contracting musical groups and suppliers of alcohol and food, in addition to the administrative tasks that accompany the rituals specific to the Roman Catholic saint.  

However, Damián had converted to Protestant-Evangelical Christianity four years earlier, in 2017, as had many others. He refused the position.  

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De la fe al exilio en Guerrero, México

Posted on by cswpress in español, Latin America ES, Mexico ES

Damián y su familia viven en las afueras del centro de Ayutla de los Libres en el Sureste de México. En mayo de 2022, ellos y otras dos familias tuvieron que adquirir un terreno en esta zona después de haber sido expulsados de su comunidad por pertenecer a una minoría religiosa.

El 25 de marzo de 2021, Damián, entonces de 38 años, fue citado ante la asamblea comunitaria de Ahucachahue en el municipio de Ayutla de los Libres, ubicado en la región de la Costa Chica de Guerrero. La gente de Ahucachahue pertenece a la comunidad mixteca y la mayoría practica el catolicismo romano. En la reunión, los líderes comunitarios le informaron que había sido designado para encabezar las fiestas en honor a San Isidro Labrador, su santo patrón. Damián sería responsable de la contratación de grupos musicales y proveedores de alcohol y alimentos, además de las tareas administrativas que acompañan los rituales propios del santo católico romano.

Sin embargo, Damián se había convertido al cristianismo protestante-evangélico cuatro años antes, en 2017, como muchos otros, por lo que Rechazó el puesto.

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A life of struggle and survival: the reality of religious oppression in Cuba

Posted on by cswpress in Cuba, Latin America

Father Alberto Reyes Pías is a Roman Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Camagüey, Cuba. He is one of the most articulate voices on freedom of religion or belief in Cuba and continues to courageously speak out about the Cuban government’s systematic violations of this right. This is a transcript of a presentation he gave as part of a panel discussion moderated by CSW, at the 2024 International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, DC.

In Cuba, one of the most subtle mechanisms of evil is what we call “normalisation” which is nothing more than evil becoming a habitual part of our life. We not only take its presence for granted, but also focus our energies not on eliminating it and freeing ourselves from it, but on figuring out how to continue walking, despite it hindering our steps, tying our hands, and oppressing our throat.

In appearance, religious freedom is respected in Cuba. In general, churches are open, worship is allowed, catechesis exists, young people gather, one can openly talk about God, possess a Bible, and wear religious symbols. Yet, in Cuba, there is a thirst for God. Pastoral agents focus on serving those seeking an experience with God that touches their lives, even at the cost of accepting as “normal” what is not.

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