CPJ condemns ongoing harassment
of independent journalists
Committee
to Protect Journalists.
New York, February 24, 2006-The Committee
to Protect Journalists condemns Cuban authorities
for continuing to harass independent journalists
and failing to provide adequate medical
treatment for those in prison.
Independent journalist Jorge Olivera Castillo,
who was released from jail in December 2004
on medical parole, was ordered by a Havana
municipal court on February 21 to work at
a state-controlled office that the court
would select. Olivera told CPJ he was barred
from attending public gatherings and leaving
Havana.
Olivera was sentenced in March 2003 to
18 years in prison in a massive crackdown
on the independent media. While on medical
parole he has contributed to the Miami-based
news Web site CubaNet and other international
publications. If he does not comply with
the court orders his parole could be revoked,
he said.
"It is outrageous that Cuba, which
jails more journalists than any other country
in the world except China, should continue
to harass journalists even after they have
left prison," said CPJ Executive Director
Ann Cooper. "Cuba now has 24 journalists
behind bars solely for exercising their
right to free expression. Some of them are
not receiving the medical treatment that
they need. We call on the authorities to
release these 24 prisoners immediately and
to stop harassing all journalists."
On February 13, independent journalist
Roberto Santana Rodríguez was summoned
to a police station in Havana and questioned
about his work. An officer showed Santana
a file containing articles he wrote in 2005.
Santana told CPJ he was threatened with
jail if he did not stop working as journalist.
The wife of jailed journalist Albert Santiago
Du Bouchet Hernández, director of
the independent news agency Havana Press,
said her husband had suffered severe headaches
and progressive loss of his vision since
his arrest in August 2004. Bárbara
Pérez Araya told CPJ that her husband
staged a nine-day hunger strike in December
2005 to demand medical attention. He was
finally admitted to Julio Trigo Hospital,
in Arroyo Naranjo, on January 6 where doctors
are evaluating his condition.
Du Bouchet was sentenced in August, 2005
after a three-day trial to one year in jail.
His family learned of his detention only
after he smuggled a note out of prison.
He was detained while on a reporting trip
to the town of Artemisa, 38 miles (60 kilometers)
from Havana, and charged with "disrespecting"
the local chief of police and resisting
arrest.
Santana also told CPJ that imprisoned
journalist José Ubaldo Izquierdo
Hernández had complained that he
was suffering from severe stomach problems.
He had seen the prison doctor but has not
received adequate follow-up medical attention.
Santana spoke to Izquierdo recently. Izquierdo
was detained in the 2003 crackdown and sentenced
to 16 years in prison.
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