Tag: harassment

Living in exile: “I am not less than any other human. I just want to be heard and seen”

Posted on by cswpress in Cuba, Iran, Latin America, Living In Exile, Middle East & North Africa

Ali* is an Iranian Christian convert who was reported to the police after some of those close to him discovered he had changed his religion. In 2015 he fled to Cuba via Armenia because it was the easiest place for him to get a visa as an Iranian.

Ali hoped to be resettled quickly in an anglophone country because of his fluency in English. He has been recognized as a refugee by the UNHCR and is in the resettlement process, but this has been slowed significantly because of political issues and the COVID-19 pandemic. CSW spoke with Ali who told us of his experiences of living in exile.

Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

“I’m a young Iranian Christian citizen who has been stuck in long and exhausting limbo against my will for more than half a decade in Cuba. I’m a refugee, away from all the loved ones and abandoned in a foreign land with no sense of ‘belonging.’ I’m a university graduate with an impressive background in sales and business management that has been achieved with dedication and hard work at international companies in my country.

Continue reading “Living in exile: “I am not less than any other human. I just want to be heard and seen”” →

Derribando el “muro del miedo” de Cuba

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

Ningún derecho humano fundamental existe aisladamente. Hay superposiciones y enlaces significativos entre todos los derechos humanos, por ejemplo, los relacionados con la libertad de religión o creencia (LdRC), la libertad de expresión, y la libertad de asamblea. Estos tres derechos se ubican juntos en los Artículos 18, 19 y 20 de la Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos de las Naciones Unidas.

Durante el año pasado, y sobre todo en meses recientes, estos derechos relacionados entre sí han sido crecientemente atacados en Cuba, durante manifestaciones pacíficas de miembros de la sociedad civil independiente, como artistas y periodistas que además se identifican con una religión o creencia en particular. Estos grupos se mantiene protestando de diferentes maneras hasta el día de hoy, solicitando reformas legales y políticas, sobre todo en contra del Decreto Legal 370 y el Decreto Legal 349.

El Decreto Legal 349 entró en vigor en el 2018 y otorgó al gobierno control extensivo sobre toda forma de expresión artística en la isla, especificando incluso que cualquier actividad artística tendrá que ser aprobado por adelantado por el Ministerio de Cultura. Inmediatamente, muchos ciudadanos cubanos expresaron preocupaciones por que la ley esencialmente apagaría la libertad de expresión en Cuba, si solamente se permitiera la existencia del arte que haya sido aprobado por el gobierno. En el mismo año un grupo de artistas, periodistas y académicos se unieron para formar el Movimiento San Isidro para protestar de manera pacífica y creativa ante la censura oficial de la expresión artística en la isla.

Continue reading “Derribando el “muro del miedo” de Cuba” →

Tearing down Cuba’s ‘wall of fear’

Posted on by cswpress in Cuba, Latin America

No single fundamental human right exists in isolation. There is a significant overlap and interlinking of all rights, exemplified in the relationship between freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. These three rights sit side by side in Articles 18, 19 and 20 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

Over the past year, and especially in recent months, these related rights have increasingly come under attack in Cuba, as members of independent civil society including artists and journalists, some of whom identify with a particular religion or belief, have maintained calls for legal and political reform, in particular coalescing around protests of Legal Decree 370 and Legal Decree 349.

Legal Decree 349 came into force in 2018 and gave the government extensive control over all artistic expression on the island, including mandating that any artistic activity had to be approved in advance by the Ministry of Culture. At the time, many Cubans expressed concern that the law would essentially stamp out freedom of expression in Cuba by only permitting the existence of government approved ‘art’. The same year a group of Cuban artists, journalists and academics came together and formed the San Isidro Movement to peacefully and creatively protest official censorship of artistic expression on the island.

Continue reading “Tearing down Cuba’s ‘wall of fear’” →

“Libertad, sueño con libertad”

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

Yusleysi Gil Mauricio es graduada de Estudios Socio Culturales. Convirtió a Cristo en 2010. Desde entonces ha sido apasionada por el ministerio con los niños, y trabajaba como pastora de niños duranta una época.

Es la esposa de Ricardo Fernández Izaguirre, periodista y defensor del derecho a la libertad de religión en Cuba. Juntos tienen dos hijos de, la mayor tiene 2 años y él bebe tiene 4 meses. CSW platicó con Yusleysi para escuchar su testimonio y destacar su experiencia.

“He tenido una fe comprometida y ferviente desde que me convertí a Cristo en 2010. El 12 de diciembre del 2012 fui por primera vez a la Iglesia Ministerio Apostólico Internacional Fuego y Dinámica (MAIFD) de Camagüey donde trabajaba como pastora de niños. La Iglesia no está registrada por el gobierno y comenzaron las persecuciones. Desde el principio tuve una preciosa experiencia con Dios y nunca más me alejé de él, pero al ser miembro de una iglesia no registrada me costó mucho trabajo vencer el miedo porque [todos las que conocía] hablaban muy mal de lo que sucedía dentro de la iglesia.  Sólo después que pude comprobar por mí propia experiencia, que no hacíamos nada ilegal, fue que dejé el sigilo.

Otro problema fue explicárselo a mi familia que no entendía y no tenía la intención de comprobar de primera mano que todos los rumores son falsos. Muchos de nuestros familiares se alejaron de nosotros. Después de la última demolición que el gobierno hizo, la casa de oración que teníamos tuvo que cerrar porque agentes de la policía política intimidaron a todos los miembros.

Continue reading ““Libertad, sueño con libertad”” →

“Freedom, I dream of freedom”

Posted on 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.

Continue reading ““Freedom, I dream of freedom”” →