Cuba torturing jailed homeschooling dad

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Cuba has been caught "torturing" an imprisoned homeschooling father, and Americans should urge Congress to pass a resolution condemning the communist regime, says the Home School Legal Defense Association.

Mike Donnelly, HSLDA's senior counsel and director of global outreach, said Ramon Rigal and his wife, Ayda, were imprisoned last year for educating their children at home.

Cuban officials are pressuring him to renounce homeschooling and his Christian faith.

Donnelly cited the United Nations Convention against Torture, signed by Cuba in the 1990s, which prohibits government officials from inflicting physical or mental suffering on a person in an attempt to obtain something.

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"In this case, it appears Cuban officials are trying to extract a pledge from Pastor Rigal to comply with laws that force children to attend state schools. They apparently wish to make an example of him because of his influence as a pastor," Donnelly said.

"But Pastor Rigal and others initially resisted sending their children to state school because they did not want their students indoctrinated in Marxist ideology – which is founded on militant atheism. Punishing Pastor Rigal for wanting to convey religious values to his family, then, comprises a double violation of basic rights which Cuba promised to uphold in other international protocols.

Donnelly said he wants to see Congress pass Senate Resolution 215, which calls for greater religious and political freedoms in Cuba.

That resolution states:

Whereas the Castro regime has used arbitrary incarcerations, harassment, and intimidation to deny basic freedoms to thousands of Cubans since the Cuban Revolution;

Whereas, in April 2019, a family was sent to prison by authorities in Cuba for homeschooling their children;

Whereas the children were enrolled in a Christian distance school in Honduras;

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Whereas the families involved, which included a pastor, cited religious reasons for homeschooling their children;

Whereas the Government of Cuba has a history of arresting individuals who chose to homeschool their children and sentencing them to prison time and hard labor;

Whereas the Government of Cuba’s insistence on state-controlled education is a sign of authoritarianism, enabling them to indoctrinate youth with a communist ideology;

Whereas parents have the right to teach their children free from the state indoctrination of an autocratic regime;

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Whereas the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom formerly condemned Cuba for actions pertaining to the April 2019 imprisonment of those who homeschool their children;

Whereas the United States has instituted an embargo on Cuba in 1960;

Whereas the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act of 1996 (22 U.S.C. 6021 et seq.) does not permit these sanctions to be lifted until the Castro regime has been deposed and Cuba has legalized political activity and made a commitment to free and fair elections; and

Whereas, despite the 2014 Executive branch decision to normalize relations with Cuba, it is still in the power of Congress to lift an embargo: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate—

(1) expresses solidarity with the people of Cuba in their pursuit of religious freedom;

(2) calls on the Government of Cuba to release all political prisoners, including those who have been imprisoned for homeschooling their children;

(3) calls on the OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to grant the Precautionary Measures requested on April 25, 2019;

(4) calls on the Government of Cuba to recognize the right of parents to teach their own children free from state communist indoctrination;

(5) calls on the Government of Cuba to institute democratic reforms, including reforms that guarantee freedom of religion; and

(6) calls for the continued implementation of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996.

Donnelly said Americans can encourage members of Congress to pass the resolution by signing an online petition.

Psychological torture

Rigal and his wife were jailed last year shortly after fellow homeschoolers Golquis Almaguer and his wife were also imprisoned for homeschooling.

"I have heard from several people who are close to these families that Pastor Rigal is being denied food and other necessities. Officials are also mistreating his mother and other relatives," Donnelly said.

He was told the state security officers are confiscating medicine for the pastor's mother and threatening family members who go to visit him in jail.

"They are doing this … to get him to renounce his faith and his commitment to educating his children as Christians at home. Tell me this isn’t psychological torture," Donnelly said.

"What really angers friends of Pastor Rigal, however, is how officials are retaliating against him through the use of punitive restrictions. 'Ramón is only allowed one visit a month,' one of them told me. 'We are simple, hardworking people who just want to bring him a little coffee, food and toilet articles. We have to save up a lot to afford these things that the state denies him.'"

WND reported last year a lawyer in Cuba was sentenced to hard labor for trying to provide legal advice to the Rigals.

The municipal court in Guantanamo determined Haces was guilty of "resistance and disobedience."

The family's case attracted the attention of an international watchdog established by Congress.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said regarding the prosecution of the Rigals that Cuba is "singling out religious leaders and activists for harassment and discrimination."

"We urge the Cuban government to immediately cease all intimidation tactics and release Pastor Rigal and his wife along with others detained for homeschooling their children according to their religious beliefs," said USCIRF Vice Chair Kristina Arriaga.