E/CN.4/1993/62 page 24 Cuba 23. In a message sent to the Government of Cuba on 29 November 1991, the Special Rapporteur transmitted the following information: "According to information received, the following persons or groups of persons are said to have been persecuted for their religious beliefs: 1. Alejandro Rodríguez Castillo, a prisoner at Combinado del Este. He was robbed of his Bible in May 1990 and refused another one by the authorities. He therefore went on hunger strike, for which he was moved to a punishment cell. 2. Oscar Peña Rodríguez, a Jehovah’s Witness, was arrested on 12 December 1989 and taken to Jagua psychiatric hospital, where he has been given large doses of psychotropic drugs. 3. Emilio Rodríguez was taken for a time to a psychiatric hospital in Santa Clara at the end of February 1990, after religious publications relating to the Jehovah’s Witnesses were found in his possession. 4. Mabel López González, Fidel Díaz Pacheco, Alberto Bárbaro Villavicencio, Narciso Ramírez Lorenzo, Alfredo Falcón Moncada and Mercedes Peito Paredes, Jehovah’s Witnesses, were arrested in Sagua La Grande, Las Villas province, on 18 January 1990. Religious literature was confiscated from them and they were accused of running a clandestine printing press. 5. Marcela Rodríguez Rodríguez, Paulino Aguila Pérez, Ramón López Peña and Guillermo Montes, Jehovah’s Witnesses, were fined by the Municipal Court of San Cristobal on 2 August 1990 for possession of religious literature." 24. On 28 January 1992, the Government of Cuba sent its comments regarding the above-mentioned communication transmitted to it by the Special Rapporteur: "First of all, I wish to inform you that in Cuba no individual or groups of individuals are persecuted or harassed for professing the religious belief of their choice, that religion is practised freely in our country and that religious texts are accessible to those who desire them. Even at this time, when Cuba is experiencing a special situation in which the effects of the economic, financial and trade blockade imposed on the country are worsening, the main religious publications, such as the Bible, have been imported and may be obtained at a reasonable price. Any previous situation arising out of incomprehension or restrictions has been completely overcome. In Cuba, there are 41 congregations of the Catholic religion and 51 institutions or associations of Protestant congregations. In other words, any religious association or association that fulfils the requirements laid down in the existing Act on the Registration of Associations may operate and is highly respected and supported as such. However, the religious sect of ’Jehovah’s Witnesses’, mentioned in your communication, has never submitted an application for registration since it does not fulfil the requirements established for recognition and has therefore not acquired that status.