Leonardo RodrÃguez Alonso was detained on 28th February in Villa Clara, and is being held in the Provincial Unit for Investigations in the city of Santa Clara.
According to CSW, Alonso is a regional coordinator for the Patmos Institute, an independent civil society organization that promotes inter-religious dialogue and freedom of religion or belief for all.
It's been reported that he was arrested on his way home from the town of Caibarién, where he was leading meetings with human rights campaigners who were discussing responses to a series of religious violations affecting Apostolic Movement churches in central and eastern Cuba.
Rev Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso, a founder of the Patmos Institute, said Captain Erick Francis Aquino Year, the regional Head of Confrontation (Jefe de Enfrentemiento) dealt directly with Alonso.
Year reportedly told members of RodrÃguez Alonso's family that the government considers the Patmos Institute to be a counter-revolutionary organization, and that if charges are brought against him they will be serious.
Rev Barroso told (CSW) that the government is unhappy with their work raising religious freedom concerns in and outside Cuba, including through the submission of a report by the Patmos Institute to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Cuba at the United Nations.
Anna-Lee Stangl, Americas Team Leader at CSW, said the organisation is deeply concerned.
"It is telling that the Cuban government considers the peaceful defence of freedom of religion or belief to be a 'counter-revolutionary' activity.
"We call on the Cuban government to release Leonardo immediately, to cease its harassment of Apostolic Movement churches, and to allow them to worship peacefully."
Meanwhile, church leaders in the central Cuban city of Camagüey and the eastern city of Santiago denounced a series of religious freedom violations this week.
Apostle Alain Toledano, a leader in the unregistered Apostolic Movement network of churches, reported that government officials in Santiago have banned him and members of his church from buying any construction materials. They have been working to rebuild their church which was demolished in early 2016.
CSW said Apostle Bernardo de Quesada, another leader in the same network, complained this week that government officials had interrupted bible studies held in private homes and attempted to intimidate the homeowners into stopping their religious activities.
He also complained that government inspectors attempted to enter his family's property, where the church meets, while he and his wife were out of the country.
In a statement to CSW, he said: "Today we use collapsible pipes and screws to prop up old canvases in order to provide some cover from the sun to the hundreds of people who meet here every week.
"Are the barbarities that have already been committed by this inhuman and anti-God regime against the Church in Camagüey not enough? What bothers them more: the torn, improvised tent that we meet under or the hundreds who meet there every week and are physically and spiritually freed from wounds and enslaving ideological strongholds?"
Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.
