Courthouse Square

510 King Street, Suite 340

Alexandria, Virginia 22314
P 703.566.3037
F 703.566.3972

August 21, 2020

Secretary Mike Pompeo

U.S. State Department
2201 C Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20520

SUBJECT: Update; Office of Religious Affairs of the Communist Party of Cuba, Request for
Sanctions Under U.S. Law

Secretary Pompeo,

A year ago, this month, a group of human rights defenders sent to the
Department of State a list of Communist Party officials and regime leaders in Cuba for
sanctioning under U.S. laws for ongoing violations of religious liberty. See Exhibit A. I
am writing to provide additional names of Cuban regime officials involved in violations
of the fundamental rights of Christians and other believers.

The Annual Report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

(2020) recommended that the United States “[i]mpose targeted sanctions on Cuban
government agencies and officials responsible for severe violations of religious
freedom—including Caridad Diego, head of the ORA [Office of Religious Affairs]—by
freezing those individuals’ assets or barring their entry into the United States under
human rights-related financial and visa authorities, citing specific religious freedom
violations.”

During the past year, the Global Liberty Alliance has collected additional names
of persons who, according to human rights defenders on the island, work for the Office
of Religious Affairs and are engaging in persistent human rights abuses against people
of faith and believers. Other names are under review and will be added to the list as
soon as human rights defenders in Cuba verify the identities of the alleged Religious
Police personnel or officials. See Exhibit B.

Information provided to GLA, and verified by the GLA team, shows that
persecution of people of faith and other belief traditions has intensified, despite the
COVID-19 pandemic. In some instances, it appears that the abuse has become more
intense as the regime has tried to exploit this crisis by placing additional restrictions on
independent churches and other places of worship.
A part of The Global Rule of Law & Liberty Legal Defense Fund
globallibertyalliance.org
 Sanctioning the Office of Religious Affairs and restricting access to the United
States for anyone connected with Cuba’s Religion Police, including family members,
will send a strong message to communities in Cuba, of all traditions, that the people of
the United States stand with them and for the defense of their freedoms. Thank you for
your leadership and the Trump administration’s commitment to hold to account
violators of fundamental rights in Cuba and around the world.

Sincerely,

For the Global Liberty Alliance

Jason Ian Poblete i.x.

Jason Ian Poblete i.x. (Aug 21, 2020 15:09 EDT)

Jason I. Poblete, Esq.

President

Enclosures

JIP/cds

Page 2 of 2
2020-8 ORA Sanctions Request
Final Audit Report 2020-08-21

Created: 2020-08-21

By: Mauricio Tamargo (mtamargo@globallibertyalliance.org)

Status: Signed

Transaction ID: CBJCHBCAABAA_xlMEdNNSzy_4aqB2iYITYw5SswwD2z1

"2020-8 ORA Sanctions Request" History

Document created by Mauricio Tamargo (mtamargo@globallibertyalliance.org)
2020-08-21 - 7:08:37 PM GMT- IP address: 96.88.199.165

Document emailed to Jason Ian Poblete i.x. (jpoblete@globallibertyalliance.org) for signature

2020-08-21 - 7:09:01 PM GMT

Email viewed by Jason Ian Poblete i.x. (jpoblete@globallibertyalliance.org)

2020-08-21 - 7:09:25 PM GMT- IP address: 96.88.199.165

Document e-signed by Jason Ian Poblete i.x. (jpoblete@globallibertyalliance.org)

Signature Date: 2020-08-21 - 7:09:57 PM GMT - Time Source: server- IP address: 96.88.199.165

Signed document emailed to Mauricio Tamargo (mtamargo@globallibertyalliance.org) and Jason Ian Poblete i.x.
(jpoblete@globallibertyalliance.org)
2020-08-21 - 7:09:57 PM GMT


Exhibit “A”
 August 19, 2019

Secretary Mike Pompeo

U.S. State Department
2201 C Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20520

SUBJECT: Cuba; Violations of Religious Liberty & Other Fundamental Rights

Dear Secretary Pompeo,

Thank you for your leadership defending people of faith around the globe. During the
ministerial last month, you called attention to the plight of people of faith in Cuba and reminded
participants how several Cuban Evangelical leaders and other religious leaders were prohibited
from traveling to Washington, D.C. for the event. The faith leaders you mentioned in your
remarks included representatives of the ​Alianza de Iglesias Evangélicas de Cuba​, a coalition
recently formed by the largest Evangelical churches in Cuba to advocate for common goals,
including religious freedom.

The Communist Party’s religion police or Office of Religious Affairs (“ORA”) is

responsible for making it harder for people of faith to exercise their fundamental rights. They
engage in tactics used by other repressive systems such as the East German Stasi. For years the
ORA has engaged in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations nor religious freedom of
people of faith. We strongly urge the U.S. government to consider adding to the Specially
Designated Nationals list the following Cuban nationals who direct and manage ORA: Ms.
Caridad del Rosario Diego Bello, Ms. Sonia Garcia Garcia, Mr. Rober Noa Frometa, among
others.

According to the State Department’s Cuba 2018 International Religious Freedom Report,
the Cuban Communist Party, through the ORA and the Cuban Ministry of Justice (“MOJ”)
continue to control all aspects of religious life. The ORA, with the complicity of the MOJ and
other organizations, is directly responsible for a majority of the Cuban government’s violations
of religious liberty. The ORA is responsible for systematic violations denounced by the

Secretary of State Pompeo/Cuba

OAA/GLA/CSW - August 2019
Page 1 of 3.
undersigned organizations and documented and reported by the USCIRF, as well as the State
Department’s International Religious Freedom Report on Cuba.

Under the ORA’s direction, the government has continued to restrict domestic and
international travel, detain, and, if necessary, use violence against religious leaders and their
followers. The ORA event restricts the rights of prisoners to practice religion freely. The ORA
and other entities of the Communist Party harasses or detains members of religious groups
advocating for greater religious and political freedom, including the ​Ladies in White​, the ​Patmos
Institute​, among others.

In order to impede groups to practice their religion, the Communist Party’s ORA and
MOJ have conspired and used the color of law to deny religious groups a discriminatory “official
registration” in order to worship. The ORA fails to respond to long-pending applications from
Apostolic groups, ​Jehovah’s Witnesses​, ​The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints​, among
many others.

Earlier this year in a high-profile case in Guantanamo, Cuba, the MOJ prosecuted and
imprisoned the family of Ramon Rigal and Ayda Exposito for practicing homeschooling and
educating their children according to their conscience. There are reports of other families
suffering persecution for the same reasons. The attorney who bravely attempted to defend the
Rigal family was beaten, tried, and sentenced to a year in prison -- a common occurrence in
Cuba because the lawyers who defend fundamental rights cases do so at great risk.

As it has been for decades, the Cuban Catholic Church is also under threat from the ORA
and its leaders. A few weeks ago, the ORA canceled public celebrations of the “Jornada
Nacional de la Juventud Católica en Cuba”, while all preparations and permits were previously
granted. Catholic Priest Jorge Luis Perez said: “​We received official communication from the
ORA, that public celebrations would not be authorized in any diocese of the country except in the
archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba​.” In addition, the regime prohibited Catholic lay leaders from
attending the funeral services for Cardinal Jaime Ortega y Alamino, who died last month.

Because of the systemic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom and
other fundamental rights, the undersigned organizations respectfully urge the U.S. government to

Secretary of State Pompeo/Cuba

OAA/GLA/CSW - August 2019
Page 2 of 3.
impose economic sanctions1 and restrict U.S. visas2 to persons who work for the ORA and the
Cuban Ministry of Justice. Moreover, these restrictions should also extend to any individual or
organization, no matter where they are located, who supports thee ORA and the Cuban Ministry
of Justice.

We respectfully urge the U.S. government, especially the Human Rights Violators and
War Crimes Unit (“HRVWCU”) of the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, to investigate the entry into the United States of persons who may have
been affiliated with these Cuban entities that operate with impunity in Cuba. The ORA and
related entities in Cuba also try to spread Cuba's state policy on religion to other nations
throughout the Western Hemisphere posing a threat to regional stability in places such as
Nicaragua, Venezuela, and other nations.

Thank you for your leadership on religious liberty and other fundamental rights. We are
available to assist as needed.

Sincerely,

Dr. Teo A. Babun Jr. Jason I. Poblete Anna Lee B. Stangl

Outreach Aid to the Americas Global Liberty Alliance Christian Solidarity Worldwide

1
50 U.S.C. App. §§ 5 and 16; Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, 22 U.S.C. §§ 6001-6010; Cuban Liberty
and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996, 22 U.S.C. §§ 6021-6091; Global MagnitskyHuman Rights
Accountability Act, 22 U.S.C. §§ 2656; the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 50
U.S.C. §§ 1701-1706, and other U.S. laws and regulations.

2
Immigration and Nationality Act, §§ 212(a)(2)(G), 212(a)(3)(E)(ii), 212(a)(3)(E)(iii), et seq., and other
U.S. laws and regulations.

Secretary of State Pompeo/Cuba

OAA/GLA/CSW - August 2019
Page 3 of 3.


Exhibit “B”
 Exhibit B


1. Office of Religious Affairs Island wide
2. Caridad Rosario Diego Bello Havana
3. Sonia Garcia Garcia
4. Odalis Zabado Mira Villa Clara
5. Carlos Alvarez Holguin
6. Ruben Durive Holguin
7. Roxana Noa Martinez
8. Maria de los Angeles Perez
9. Rober Noa Frometa Santiago de Cuba
10. Mariela Castro Titolo
11. Salvador Valdez Meza
12. Marianmy Rodriguez Dia Placetas, Villa Clara
13. Juan Carlos Lopez Ruiz Santa Clara (city)
14. Hugo Remedios Saiz Sancti Spíritus (province)
15. Omar Gonzales Naranjo Cienfuegos (province)
16. Edelis Perez Ramos Cienfuegos, Villa Clara
17. Niurka Gonzalez Sotolongo Havana
18. Maida Suarez Mayor Matanzas
19. Nerelis Lopez Pinar del Rio