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Cubanet contributor threatened
under law 88 and told he cannot leave home
Reporters
Without Borders,
April 27, 2006.
Roberto Santana Rodríguez, a contributor
to the Miami-based website Cubanet, has
been harassed by State Security agents since
February and ordered to stop writing, Reporters
Without Borders said today, reiterating
its criticism of the use of Law 88 (about
Cuba's independence and economy) to threaten
dissidents with heavy prison sentences.
"We condemn the insidious methods
used by State Security to silence the independent
press," the press freedom organisation
said. "Summonses, threats of imprisonment
and unexpected visits from State Security
agents are all part of what dissident journalists
have to endure these days. But brandishing
the spectre of Law 88 is the most outrageous
of all these practices, as if the existence
of an independent press could threaten a
country's integrity."
Santana received a surprise visit at his
home in Santiago de las Vegas (on the outskirts
of Havana) on 25 April from the local police
chief, the local secretary of the Communist
Party, the local coordinator of the Committees
for the Defence of the Revolution and a
member of the Veterans Association. They
told him was henceforth banned from leaving
home, under pain of reprisals.
Santana described the visit as an act of
intimidation orchestrated by State Security
with the aim of preventing him from taking
part in a teleconference due to take place
later that day at the US Interests Section
in Havana (which functions as an embassy
in the absence of diplomatic relations between
the United States and Cuba).
Santana has had other recent run-ins with
the political police. He was summoned by
the local police chief on 7 April and questioned
by two State Security officers, who again
told him he should stop working as a journalist
or risk being sentenced to 20 years in prison
under Law 88. They also mentioned his mother's
frail health.
The State Security also tried to discredit
him in the eyes of his neighbours and asked
them not to greet him any more. Despite
this harassment, Santana said he was determined
to continue reporting and writing.
He was previously summoned and interrogated
on 13 February by two State Security officers,
Lt. Col. Iván and Maj. Moisés
Leonardo. Iván (whose surname is
not known) showed Santana a bundle of articles
he had written as well as recordings of
calls he had made to Miami-based Radio Martí,
and threatened him with imprisonment if
he did not stop.
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