(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Justice Minister Roberto T. Díaz Sotolongo, RSF protested the sentencing of José Orlando González Bridon to two years in prison, accused of distributing “false information” after publishing an article on a foreign-based website. RSF asked for his immediate release and that the charges against him be dismissed. “This sentence […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Justice Minister Roberto T. Díaz Sotolongo, RSF protested the sentencing of José Orlando González Bridon to two years in prison, accused of distributing “false information” after publishing an article on a foreign-based website. RSF asked for his immediate release and that the charges against him be dismissed. “This sentence represents a toughening of the repression against dissidents who publish thier ideas on the web,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. “The Cuban authorities are no longer satisfied with controlling access to the net on the island, they are also repressing the distribution of information on sites which the Cuban population does not even have access to,” added Ménard.
According to information collected by RSF, González Bridon, secretary-general of the Cuban Democratic Workers’ Confederation (Confederacion de Trabajadores Democráticos de Cuba, CTDC, an illegal entity), was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for “distributing false information, seriously endangering Cuba’s prestige and credibility.” His family was informed of the sentence on 12 June. The trial took place on 24 May after being postponed several times. Only González Bridon’s family was allowed to attend the trial. Foreign press and opponents were denied access to the court by a large police presence. According to those close to the trade unionist, seats open to the public in the courtroom were occupied by military officers.
In an article published on 5 August 2000 on the Cuba Free Press website (cubafreepress.org), based in Florida (U.S.A.), the trade unionist called into question the authorities’ responsibility in the death of National CTDC Coordinator Joanna González Herrera. González Bridon also reported this information, which was deemed “subversive” by the court, on a Miami-based radio station. He was arrested on 15 December and has been imprisoned since that date. Aged fifty, he suffers from kidney problems. According to family members, he is believed to be very depressed and suffering psychological pressures in the Combinado del Este (province of La Habana) prison where he is currently being held. The authorities have denied his mother-in-law the right to visit him.
In Cuba, small independent press agencies, human rights and civil society organisations, not recognized by the government, regularly publish articles on websites housed in Miami, sending articles transmitted by fax phone.
RSF recalls that journalist Bernardo Arévalo Padron, director of the independent press agency Línea Sur Press, is still imprisoned (see IFEX alerts of 12 April, 26 and 12 March and 20 February 2001, 25 July and 11 April 2000, 10 December, 22 October, 17 June and 29 January 1999 and 21 September 1998). In November 1997, he was convicted and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for insulting (“desacato”) President Fidel Castro and vice president Carlos Lage. He is being held at a forced labour camp in El Diamante, in Cienfuegos province (centre of the island). Believing that he was not “politically re-educated” yet, the camp authorities denied his petition for conditional leave on 1 April. Theoretically, he could have had recourse to such an option as of October for having completed half his sentence.
In a report titled “The enemies of the Internet” and published by RSF in March, the organisation noted:
“In 1996, the Cuban government adopted Law 209 titled ‘Access from the Republic of Cuba to the global network.’ Use of the internet, according to this law, should not ‘violate the moral principles of Cuban society nor the country’s laws.’ E-mail should not ‘compromise national security.’ On the other hand, on 13 January 2000, Castro created the Information Technology and Communications Ministry and announced that he wanted to ‘transform Cuba into an information society.'”
Castro regularly condemns this “manipulative instrument of capitalism, in which the majority of the information is available in English.” Citizens who wish to have access to the Internet must provide a “valid reason”. If their petition is granted, a contract of use with restrictive clauses is signed. Only the Cuban nomenclature has access to the Internet: politicians, high-ranking civil servants, intellectuals and journalists who are close to circles of power, as well as embassies and foreign companies. Cuban exporting communities do not have complete access to the Net and are limited to e-mail.
A black market for e-mail addresses has arisen, serving few Cubans who have access to a computer. Similar to fax copiers, computers must be declared to the government. Cuban Internet users suspect that information services intercept their e-mails because foreign messages either arrive hours after they have been sent or not at all.
All Internet traffic is centralised in a single machine, which carries out censorship via filters. Many sites are not available from Cuba. The filter is implemented on several levels: the site’s URL, the IP addess and its contents are all carefully controlled through a list of hundreds of keywords. Some young Internet users, however, have been able to access the entire Net, prevailing over the obstacles.
Indirectly, the Internet permits independent journalists (a hundred or so in the island, harassed and considered “counterrevolutionary”) to enlarge their audience. Even though they do not have access to the Net, Cuban communities in exile (particularly in Miami) spread their articles transmitted by telephone or by fax
Official newspapers “Granma”, “Juventud Rebeld” or “Trabajadores”, and the national news agency Prensa Latina each have a website. The Cuban regime censures the Internet but also uses it to spread its propaganda.
