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News from The Committee To
Protect Journalists.
New York, March 14, 2002- An independent Cuban journalist is recuperating at
home after suffering a brutal assault by local police earlier this month, CPJ
has learned. Two other journalists who protested the attack remain in
detention.
Around 11:30 a.m. on March 4, CubaPress correspondent Jesús Álvarez
Castillo was covering a demonstration by the human rights organization Fundación
Cubana de Derechos Humanos (FCDH) in the city of Ciego de Ávila when
police applied a chokehold to the journalist, injuring his neck.
On the way to the police station, Álvarez Castillo fainted. He was
taken to a local hospital, where X-rays revealed a sprained neck.
At around one p.m. on March 4, several journalists and FCDH activists
gathered at the hospital to protest the attack against Álvarez Castillo.
The group included Léster Téllez Castro, director of the
independent news agency Agencia de Prensa Libre Avileña and organizing
secretary of the FCDH, and Carlos Brizuela Yera, a reporter with the independent
news agency Colegio de Periodistas Independientes de Camagüey.
As the protesters shouted anti-government slogans, they were beaten by
police, forced into police vehicles, and taken to the local headquarters of the
Technical Department of Investigations (DTI), Cuba's criminal police force. Álvarez
Castillo was discharged from the hospital that same evening.
On March 11, the police transferred Brizuela Yera to a detention center in
the eastern province of Holguín. Téllez Castro was moved to a
facility in the central province of Cienfuegos. Both journalists will likely be
charged with "disrespect," "public disorder in a medical
institution," and "resistance," according to local sources.
Téllez Castro has started a hunger strike, sources said.
Álvarez Castillo is currently at home recovering from his injuries.
He is taking anti-inflammatory medication and is experiencing pain and
dizziness, according to CubaPress. Although no charges have been brought against
him, he remains under police surveillance.
"Cuban journalists have long faced systematic harassment, criminal
prosecution, and jail because of their work," said CPJ executive director
Ann Cooper. "These recent attacks represent a disturbing escalation in the
Cuban government's ongoing efforts to silence independent journalism in the
country."
For more information about press freedom conditions in Cuba, visit
www.cpj.org. CPJ is a New York-based,
independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom around
the world.
Sauro González Rodríguez -
Researcher/investigador
The Americas Program/Programa de las Américas/Programa
das Américas
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Comité
para la Protección de los Periodistas (CPJ)
Comitê para a
Proteção dos Jornalistas (CPJ)
330 Seventh Avenue, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10001
Phone/teléfono/telefone:
212-465-9344 ext. 118
Fax: 212-465-9568 Web site/Internet:
www.cpj.org | 
