Frank R. Wolf FoRB Victims List: Cuba

www.uscirf.gov/victims-list

USCIRF Recommended for Country of Particular Concern

Cuba

Updated March 2024

Protestants

Protestants face persecution because of their advocacy 

for human rights and religious freedom. The Cuban 

government arrested Protestants who participated in 

the July 11, 2021 protests criticizing the government’s 

crackdown on human rights. Reports indicate 

Protestants have experienced violent arrests, been held 

incommunicado, and endured abusive prison conditions.

Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo

religion or belief:

Sunni 

arrested:

July 11, 2021

sentence:

7 Years’ Imprisonment

reports of torture: Yes

religious leader: Yes

reason for persecution:

Participating in peaceful protests criticizing 

the government 

Santería 

Santería practitioners whose beliefs and practices do not 

align with the government face arrest, detention, and 

imprisonment. The Free Yoruba Association of Cuba is 

an independent Santería group, unregistered with the 

government, whose leaders and members face particularly 

intense persecution. 

Lisdani & Lisdiani Rodríguez Isaac

religion or belief:

Santería 

arrested:

July 15, 2021

sentence:

8 Years’ Imprisonment

reason for persecution:

Participating in peaceful protests criticizing 

the government

Loreto Hernández García

religion or belief:

Santería 

arrested:

July 15, 2021

sentence:

7 Years’ Imprisonment

reports of torture: Yes

reports of medical neglect: Yes 

reason for persecution:

Participating in peaceful protests criticizing 

the government

Donaida Pérez Paseiro

religion or belief:

Santería 

arrested:

July 16, 2021

sentence:

8 Years’ Imprisonment

religious leader: Yes

reason for persecution:

Participating in peaceful protests criticizing 

the government

FoRB Victims List Stats

11 out of 2,282

Religion or Belief # of Victims

Protestant 6

Santería 5

Total 11

Type of Abuse # of Victims

Imprisoned 6

House Arrest 4

Detained 1

Total 11

Average Prison Sentence

6 Years, 5 Months

Reports of # of Victims

Torture 2

Medical Neglect 1

Total 3
Frank R. Wolf FoRB Victims List: Cuba

www.uscirf.gov/victims-list

USCIRF Recommended for Country of Particular Concern

Cuba

Updated March 2024

Frank R. Wolf FoRB Victims List Background

The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA), as amended by the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2016, 

requires USCIRF to:

make publicly available, to the extent practicable...lists of persons it determines are imprisoned or detained, have 

disappeared, been placed under house arrest, been tortured, or subjected to forced renunciation of faith for their religious 

activity or religious freedom advocacy by the government of a foreign country that the Commission recommends for 

designation as a country of particular concern [CPC]...or by a nonstate actor that the Commission recommends for 

designation as an entity of particular concern [EPC]. 

USCIRF developed the Frank R. Wolf Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) Victims List—an online public database—to implement this 

provision for countries USCIRF recommends for Country of Particular Concern (CPC) or Special Watch List (SWL) status. The list also 

includes such victims located in the de facto territories of nonstate actors that USCIRF recommends for Entity of Particular Concern (EPC) 

status, according to the same criteria.

Due to limited resources, USCIRF is unable to identify and document all victims that meet the statutory requirement to be included on 

the FoRB Victims List and generally relies on receiving submissions from outside individuals and organizations. As such, the information 

contained in the database does not reflect country, regional, or global trends. Furthermore, percentages highlighted in this section should 

not be used for extrapolation purposes nor interpreted as a particular group experiencing greater violations than another or a particular 

country committing violations at a greater rate than others. To support this project, USCIRF invites those with credible information on 

victims to submit information using the Victims List Intake Form at www.uscirf.gov/form/uscirf-victims-list-intake-form. 

FoRB Victims List Stats Overall

Perpetrator Victims Documented

Algeria 5 

Azerbaijan 11 

Burma 5 

China 798 

Cuba 11 

Egypt 18 

Eritrea 61

Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) 2 

Houthis 3 

India 55 

Indonesia 9 

Iran 351 

Iraq 2 

Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) 1 

Kazakhstan 16 

Malaysia 4 

Nicaragua 68 

Nigeria 9 

North Korea 11 

Pakistan 87 

Russia 488 

Saudi Arabia 50 

Sri Lanka 1 

Tajikistan 16 

Turkmenistan 31 

Uzbekistan 88 

Vietnam 81 

Total 2,282 

Religion or Belief Victims Documented

Adivasi 1 

Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light 3

Baha’i 169 

Bon 1 

Buddhist – Hoa Hao 6 

Buddhist – Theravada 3 

Buddhist – Tibetan 93 

Buddhist – Unspecified/Other 32 

Christian – Catholic 79 

Christian – Church of Almighty God 240 

Christian – Jehovah’s Witness 283

Christian – Orthodox 21 

Christian – Protestant 150 

Christian – Unspecified/Other 65 

Duong Van Minh 4 

ECKist (Eckankar) 1 

Erfan-e Halgheh Practitioner 3 

Falun Gong 217

Hindu 10 

Humanist 1 

Jewish 1 

Muslim – Ahmadiyya 20

Muslim – Qur’anist 1 

Muslim – Shi’a 40 

Muslim – Sufi 64 

Muslim – Sunni 412 

Muslim – Unspecified/Other 233

Santeria 5 

Scientologist 1 

Shaman 1 

Sikh 1 

Yarsani 38 

Unknown/Unspecified 83

Total 2,282
Frank R. Wolf FoRB Victims List: Cuba

www.uscirf.gov/victims-list

USCIRF Recommended for Country of Particular Concern

Cuba

Updated March 2024

Not Released

Donaida Pérez Paseiro 

Lisdani Rodríguez Isaac

Lisdiani Rodríguez Isaac 

Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo

Loreto Hernández García

Released

Elizabeth Cintra García

Yéremi Blanco Ramírez 

Yarian Sierra Madrigal

Unknown

Denis Rosabal

Jorge Naranjo

Ibrahim Figueredo Fonseca