His Excellency Fidel Castro Ruz
President of Cuba
c/o the United Nations Mission
New York NY
United States
Fax:
+1 212 689 9073
4 March 1999
Your Excellency,
I am writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers, which represents over 15,000 publications in more than 90 countries, to express our grave concern over the disappearance of two journalists, the arrests of nine others and the passing of a recent law that imposes sentences of up to 20 years of prison for the distribution of "subversive" documents.
According to reports, José Edel García Díaz, a reporter with "Centro Norte del País" based in Caibarién in the Province of Villa Clara, was last seen on 25 February in Havana. His whereabouts, together with those of Jesús Díaz Loyola, a "Havana Press" reporter in Havana, are unknown.
With respect, we call for a full investigation into the location of these journalists, whose disappearance is particularly disturbing in the context of the recent repression of media in your country.
We understand that at least 17 journalists from the independent press have been arrested since 1 January 1999, and that nine journalists remain behind bars, seven of whom have not been given a trial. According to our information:
… Raúl Rivero, a member of the WAN Press Freedom Committee and the director of "CubaPress", was detained on 1 March and is being held in the Playa Municipality police station;
… Mercedes Moreno, director of Agencia Nueva Prensa, was detained on 1 March and is being held at a Havana police station. Her colleagues fear for her health as she suffers from asthma;
… Tania Quintero, a "CubaPress" reporter in Havana, was detained on 1 March and is still being held in the Seventh Division headquarters of the Havana National Revolutionary Police;
... Omar Rodríguez Saludes, deputy director of Agencia Nueva Prensa, was abducted from his mother's home by State Security agents on 28 February and is being held in the Technical Department of Investigations in Havana;
… Luis Alberto Lazo, correspondent with Agencia Nueva Prensa, was detained on 27 February and is being held at Alquizar Prison in the Province of Havana;
… Marvin Hernández Monzón, a "CubaPress" correspondent in Cienfuegos, was detained on 27 February and is allegedly being held in a Cienfuegos police station;
… Manuel Antonio González Castellanos, a "CubaPress" correspondent, has been detained since 1 October 1998 for "insulting" you and has still not been given a trial;
… Bernardo Arévalo Padrón, founder of the Línea Sur Press Agency, and Jesús Joel Díaz Hernández, correspondent with the Avileña Cooperative of Independent Journalists agency, have each been condemned to six years in jail for "insulting" you and Vice President Carlos Lage, and to four years in jail for "social dangerousness".
The alarming news of these arrests coincides with the passing of a law, on 16 February 1999, to suppress freedom of expression in your country. As we understand it, the "Law for the Protection of the Cuban National Independence and Economy" prescribes up to twenty years of imprisonment for those who distribute information directly opposed to Cuban "fundamental interests", are in contact with foreign media, or possess or distribute documents of a "subversive" nature.
The passing of this law, the continuing detention of these journalists and the sporadic arrests of several others in the last month, constitute a sinister attack on the press and brazenly flout the American Convention of Human Rights, a convention signed by Cuba, which states that "everyone has the right to freedom of thought and expression".
With respect, we urge you to put a firm end to this persecution of the media, to free those journalists still in detention and to revoke the recent law. By doing so, you will demonstrate your own concern to maintain diplomatic relations with governments across the globe, your individual commitment to freedom of expression and your respect for the rights of journalists in Cuba.
I look forward to receiving your comments on this case.
Yours Sincerely,
Bengt Braun
President
cc: Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations - Mrs. Mary
Robinson,
UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights - Mr. Federico Mayor,
Director-General,
UNESCO - Santiago Canton,
Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression in Latin America