Christian Solidarity Worldwide, 15 February 2022 (excerpts)
Five United Nations (UN) Special Procedures have signed onto a joint communication to the Cuban government requesting information about the treatment and detention of Cuban Protestant pastor Reverend Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo, who participated in nationwide peaceful protests in July 2021.
The communication also raises concerns regarding alleged threats, torture and other mistreatment that the pastor has suffered at the hands of Cuban State Security. It calls on the Cuban government to provide information on why the pastor was arrested, the justification for the charges against him and why he was held in incommunicado detention.
The communication, dated 16 December 2021, gave the Cuban government 60 days to respond to their request, but no response was provided.
Reverend Rosales Fajardo was arrested on 11 July 2021. He has been imprisoned in Boniato Maximum Security Prison since August 2021 and is facing charges which include ‘disrespect’, ‘assault’, ‘criminal incitement’ and ‘public disorder,’ for which the government has previously indicated that they are seeking to impose a 10-year prison sentence. He was tried on 20 and 21 December 2021 and informed that he would be sentenced on 5 January 2022, but this has been repeatedly delayed.