Committee to Protect
Journalists. (Full
report)
CUBA
Throughout 2002, scores of journalists in Cuba were harassed, detained,
threatened with prosecution or jail, or had their freedom of movement
restricted. Some had their reporting materials confiscated or their phone
communications disrupted. Often, the government prevented journalists from
covering opposition activities, turning reporters back or even forcing them to
stay at their homes under surveillance. The state security agency also tried to
tarnish the reputations of journalists and damage their relations with their
families or colleagues. Occasionally, journalists' relatives were harassed or
denied government services.
State repression continued to be more severe in the provinces, far from the
scrutiny of the Havana-based foreign news bureaus and diplomatic corps. While
some independent journalists fled the country to escape repression, others have
stayed and continue to work under harsh conditions. Although independent news
reports cannot circulate inside Cuba, where the government owns and controls all
media outlets, independent journalists inform the Cuban community abroad and the
world at large about local developments that the official press chooses to
ignore.
Many foreign news outlets have correspondents in Havana, but it is hard to
tell what effect their presence has had on the government's actions against the
independent press. While foreign journalists can report on human rights abuses,
the government has calculated that it can influence international coverage and
derive some benefit by appearing to show tolerance. Nonetheless, the government
often subjects foreign correspondents to subtle and not-so-subtle pressures. In
the past, the government has accused foreign journalists of "spreading lies
and insults against the Revolution" and has hinted that it might consider
closing entire news bureaus rather than expelling individual reporters.
Officials grant visas to foreign journalists selectively, excluding those from
outlets deemed unfriendly, such as The Miami Herald. Most significantly, Cubans
don't have access to foreign news about their own country.
In the single most important initiative ever to challenge the regime, a
coalition of opposition groups in May submitted the Varela Project, a petition
calling for the reform of laws that violate human rights and other
constitutional rights, to Cuba's National Assembly. The country's constitution
allows petitions with signatures from at least 10,000 eligible voters to be
presented to the assembly for consideration. Varela Project organizers gathered
more than 11,000 signatures and requested that five proposals, including one
demanding the right to freedom of expression and the press, be submitted to a
national referendum. In response, the government held its own petition drive in
June to support a constitutional reform making Cuba's socialist system "irrevocable."
While the government-backed reform was quickly adopted, the National Assembly
has refused to consider the Varela Project, which has received widespread
international support.
The Sociedad de Periodistas Manuel Márquez Sterling, which was
founded in 2001 and is the most active of three organizations of independent
journalists, continued its work in 2002 despite government intimidation. In
March, the association was forced to suspend its journalism courses temporarily
after members were blocked from the group's offices. The association condemned
the harassment and vowed to continue the classes, changing schedules and
choosing different locations to evade police surveillance. In late December, the
association launched its magazine, Revista de Cuba, which features articles by
independent journalists.
Journalist Bernardo Arévalo Padrón, imprisoned since 1997 for "disrespecting"
President Fidel Castro and Cuban State Council member Carlos Lage in statements
made to Miami-based radio stations, was transferred in July from a labor camp to
the infamous maximum-security Ariza Prison. Arévalo Padrón remains
in jail despite being eligible for parole since October 2000, and his health has
suffered as a result of his prolonged incarceration. During a reporting trip to
Cuba in May, CPJ board member and Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page
visited the Sociedad de Periodistas Manuel Márquez Sterling and delivered
medicine to Arévalo Padrón.
Carlos Alberto Domínguez, Léster Téllez Castro, and
Carlos Brizuela Yera, three journalists who are also active members of
opposition groups, have been imprisoned since early 2002. CPJ has concluded that
these journalists were jailed for their human rights activism rather than for
their journalistic work. A public prosecutor has asked a court to give Téllez
Castro and Brizuela Yera six-year and five-year prison sentences, respectively.
It is unclear whether any charges have been brought against Domínguez.
All three have written letters from jail denouncing harsh prison conditions.
Concerned about the growing popularity of the quarterly magazine Encuentro
de la cultura cubana, which is published by a group of Cuban exiles based in
Madrid, Spain, the Cuban government in December accused the publication of being
"a political operation of the U.S. government." The magazine provides
a forum for cultural and political debate for Cubans from the island and abroad.
Although it is banned in Cuba, copies are distributed by hand and are in great
demand.
The government continues to deny exit permits to journalists who have
obtained foreign visas to resettle abroad. Other journalists invited to
conferences or seminars abroad have been told that they would be allowed to
leave Cuba only if they promise never to return.
Jesús Joel Díaz Hernández, who received an
International Press Freedom Award from CPJ in 1999 while imprisoned in Cuba, was
finally presented with his award at the 2002 ceremony in November. Díaz
Hernández was sentenced to four years in prison in 1999 for "dangerousness."
He was released in 2001, after an intensive campaign by CPJ and other press
freedom groups, and then moved to the United States.
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January 17
Omar Rodríguez Saludes, Nueva Prensa Cubana HARASSED
Rodríguez Saludes, 36, director of the independent news agency Nueva
Prensa Cubana, was arrested by police after covering a meeting between several
well-known dissidents and a Spanish official. The journalist was arrested at
about 6 p.m. outside the Spanish Embassy, in the municipality of Habana Vieja,
where several opposition leaders met with Josep Antoni Duran Lleida,
secretary-general of Catalonia's ruling party, Convergencia i Unió
(Convergence and Union). After the meeting, Rodríguez Saludes tried to
interview the dissidents but was arrested by the police.
The journalist was handcuffed and taken to a police station, where a state
security officer interrogated him about his work. The officer called Rodríguez
Saludes' writing "counterrevolutionary," according to the independent
news agency CubaPress. Sources in Cuba told CPJ that the journalist was released
around 11:45 p.m. the same day. Some of the dissidents who attended the earlier
meeting waited for him outside the police station until his release.
February 27
Andrew Cawthorne, Reuters Alfredo Tedeschi, Reuters ATTACKED
Police and state security agents attacked Reuters journalists Tedeschi and
Cawthorne with batons while they covered an incident in front of the Mexican
Embassy in the capital, Havana. A group of Cuban citizens had used a bus to
crash into the gates of the embassy in hopes of seeking asylum, according to
international news reports.
Police chased, beat, and detained several onlookers who had congregated
outside the embassy. The two journalists were caught in the fray: Tedeschi, a
cameraman, was beaten to the ground by police, and his camera was taken.
Cawthorne, Reuters' Cuba correspondent, was beaten on the arm and back.
Although violent attacks against journalists in Cuba are unusual, Reuters
reported that police and state security agents aggressively moved foreign media
workers away from the scene, calling them "sons of bitches."
Plainclothes state security agents and police with dogs later cordoned off an
area of several blocks around the embassy, banning access to journalists and
passers-by.
The gate crash was prompted by rumors that Mexico had offered to grant
asylum to all Cubans who wanted to leave the country. As a result, hundreds of
Cubans gathered outside the embassy to seek information. Mexican chargé
d'affaires Andrés Ordóñez later met with foreign
journalists and denied that Mexico had changed its immigration policy toward
Cuba.
March 4
Léster Téllez Castro, Agencia de Prensa Libre Avileña HARASSED
Jesús
Álvarez Castillo, CubaPress ATTACKED, LEGAL ACTION
Álvarez Castillo, correspondent for the independent news agency
CubaPress in the central province of Ciego de Ávila, was attacked by
state security forces. Álvarez Castillo told CPJ that at about 11 a.m.,
he and a colleague, Téllez Castro of the independent news agency Agencia
de Prensa Libre Avileña, were on their way to cover a demonstration by
the human rights organization Fundación Cubana de Derechos Humanos (FCDH)
in the city of Ciego de Ávila when Interior Ministry officers stopped
them and turned them back.
The journalists then went to a post office nearby and called a colleague.
While they were on the phone, State Security Department (DSE) officers arrived
and told the journalists they were under arrest. As Téllez Castro started
shouting, "Long live human rights!" and anti-government slogans, an
officer held him from behind, while another officer applied a chokehold to Álvarez
Castillo and dragged him to the officers' car. Both journalists were taken to
the local DSE headquarters.
As Álvarez Castillo exited the car in front of the DSE headquarters,
he fainted and was taken to a hospital. Téllez Castro was released soon
after arriving at the DSE headquarters. At the hospital, X-rays revealed that Álvarez
Castillo had a sprained neck. Meanwhile, at around 1 p.m., several journalists
and FCDH activists gathered at the hospital to inquire about Álvarez
Castillo's condition and to protest the attack. The group included Téllez
Castro, who is also the organizing secretary of the FCDH, and Carlos Brizuela
Yera, a reporter with the independent news agency Colegio de Periodistas
Independientes de Camagüey who is also active in the organization.
The protesters were charged with "public disorder" and other
offenses for allegedly physically blocking access to a hallway inside the
hospital. They were arrested by police and taken to the Technical Department of
Investigations (DTI). At around 2 p.m., Álvarez Õastillo was
discharged from the hospital and also brought to DTI headquarters, where he was
held until 6:30 p.m. During that time, he was told to describe the beating
incident and his statements were videotaped.
On March 11, the police transferred the hospital protesters, which included
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. In April, Téllez Castro was transferred to Canaleta Prison,
in Ciego de Ávila, while Brizuela Yera was moved to a prison in Holguín.
All of the hospital protesters have been charged and are facing stiff sentences,
but the Ciego de Ávila public prosecutor cited the past criminal records
of Téllez Castro and Brizuela Yera in seeking prison sentences of six and
five years, respectively, for the two men. Téllez Castro had previously
served six years for armed robbery; Brizuela had been convicted of assaulting a
police officer.
Local authorities have called Álvarez Castillo to testify against his
colleagues charged for protesting his attack. In early August, officials charged
him with perjury, a crime punishable by six months to eight years in prison. The
cases remained pending at year's end.
March 21
Sociedad de Periodistas Manuel Márquez Sterling HARASSED
The Sociedad de Periodistas Manuel Márquez Sterling (SPMMS), an
association of independent journalists, was forced to suspend its journalism
courses temporarily after its members were blocked from entering the
association's offices.
At about 1 p.m., several Department of State Security (DSE) officers stopped
journalists Jorge Olivera Castillo, Dorka Céspedes Vila, Omar Rodríguez
Saludes, Adolfo Fernández Sainz, Aimée Cabrera Álvarez, and
Pedro Pablo Álvarez before they reached the SPMMS offices, which are
located in the municipality of Playa in the capital, Havana. Journalists Ricardo
González Alfonso, Carmelo Díaz Fernández, Víctor
Manuel Domínguez, and Álida Viso Bello, who were already inside,
were forced to postpone the classes.
On March 22, the SPMMS issued a communiqué condemning the crackdown.
Members have vowed to continue the courses and have changed class schedules and
locations to overcome DSE surveillance.
May 3
Juan Carlos Garcell Pérez, Agencia de Prensa Libre Oriental HARASSED
Garcell Pérez, a journalist with the independent news agency Agencia
de Prensa Libre Oriental in the eastern province of Holguín, was detained
twice and beaten by police, according to the journalists' association Sociedad
de Periodistas Manuel Márquez Sterling, of which Garcell Pérez is
a local representative.
At around 7 p.m. on May 3, when Garcell Pérez was interviewing a
patient's mother at a hospital in the town of Sagua de Tánamo, a police
officer grabbed him and took him to the local police station. He was released an
hour later, but an officer hit him twice during the detention.
Later the same day, at around midnight, eight police officers arrived at the
journalist's house, detained him, and searched his home for two hours. The
officers confiscated several books on journalism, as well as personal documents.
Garcell Pérez was released at 1 p.m. the next day. He was fined, and the
police registered him as a person with "high criminal potential."
July 11
Juan Carlos Garcell Pérez, Agencia de Prensa Libre Oriental HARASSED
Garcell Pérez, a journalist with the independent news agency Agencia
de Prensa Libre Oriental in the eastern province of Holguín, was detained
at the Holguín train station as he returned from the capital, Havana,
according to the Sociedad de Periodistas Manuel Márquez Sterling, of
which Garcell Pérez is a local representative. A police officer and two
state security agents searched his belongings and took him to the Holguín
Police Station, where he was interrogated, held for two hours, and threatened
with charges of violating Law 88, which mandates prison terms of up to 20 years
for anyone found guilty of "ruining internal order" and "destabilizing
the country."
The agents asked the journalist about a fax machine he had bought in Havana
and about books on journalism and office materials he was given while visiting
the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.
July 30
Ángel Pablo Polanco, Noticuba IMPRISONED
Polanco, 60, director of the independent news agency Noticuba, was detained
at around 11:30 a.m. by plainclothes state security agents who came to his
apartment, in the Havana municipality of Diez de Octubre, according to Polanco's
wife.
ùhe security agents, who said they were looking for "illegal
items," searched the apartment until 8:30 p.m., confiscating several
electronic appliances, including a fax machine and a cordless phone, documents,
books, money, and Polanco's passport.
The security agents did not have a warrant, but they arrested Polanco, who
is handicapped and can barely walk, and demanded that he leave with them. When
he refused, the officers lifted him, carried him away, and forced him into a
car.
The journalist, who was released on August 3, told the independent
journalists' association Sociedad de Periodistas Manuel Márquez Sterling
that the authorities charged him with instigating others to commit the crimes of
"contempt for authority" and "insulting the nation's symbols."
ýolanco is now required to report bimonthly to a local police station
while police continue an investigation. His confiscated items have not been
returned to him. In the past, Polanco has filed news reports for the Miami-based
Web sites Nueva Prensa Cubana and Cubanet. More recently, his reports have been
broadcast back to Cuba over Miami-based, U.S. governmentfunded Radio Martí.
November 10
Pablo Pacheco, Cooperativa Avileña de Periodistas Independientes THREATENED,
HARASSED
Pacheco, a journalist with the independent news agency Cooperativa Avileña
de Periodistas Independientes (CAPI), based in the central province of Ciego de
Ávila, was harassed and threatened by police.
The journalist, accompanied by his wife and his son, was filming a rodeo
tournament in the town of Jicotea at around 5 p.m. when he saw several police
officers beating two women. As Pacheco attempted to videotape the incident,
officers grabbed the camera, arrested the journalist, and took him to the
Jicotea Police Station, where he was held for 45 minutes. The police then took
him to the Ciego de Ávila police headquarters, where he arrived at around
7 p.m.
At the Ciego de Ávila police headquarters, police insulted Pacheco
and threatened to imprison him. The journalist was told he wasn't under arrest,
but that they needed to erase the material he had recorded because he could send
it abroad "to discredit the Revolution," according to the journalist.
Pacheco remained at the police station for four hours, until the police returned
the camera to him with the erased tape.
(Full report) |