Cuba

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is outraged over the appalling prison conditions which most of the 26 recently-detained, independent journalists have had to endure since they were rounded up with other dissidents in March 2003 and handed long jail terms. The information about their prison conditions, published on the http://cubanet.org and http://nuevaprensa.org websites, was confirmed by the […]

(IFLA/FAIFE/IFEX) – The following is an IFLA/FAIFE media release: Intellectual freedom in Cuba “Once again, IFLA urges the Cuban government to eliminate obstacles to access to information imposed by its policies”, says the Chair of the IFLA/FAIFE Committee, Mr Alex Byrne. The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and its Committee on Freedom […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On 5 May 2003, RSF protested the confiscation of videotapes from French freelance journalist Bernard Briançon. The journalist was in Cuba reporting on the recent crackdown on 78 dissidents who were handed heavy prison sentences in March. A tape of an interview with the wife of one of the 26 jailed journalists was […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On 26 April 2003, RSF protested over plans to transfer a dozen independent journalists arrested last month to provincial prisons hundreds of kilometres from their Havana area homes and warned that it would lead to their ill-treatment. The families of a dozen of the 26 journalists detained in a crackdown on 78 dissidents […]

(RSF/IFEX) – On 24 April 2003, RSF activists were beaten by staff of the Cuban embassy in Paris when they chained themselves to the embassy railings, in the presence of several prominent cultural figures, to protest the imprisonment of 26 journalists in Cuba. Some 15 RSF protesters were attacked by Cuban embassy staff after the […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 23 April 2003 CPJ press release: CUBA: CPJ concerned about health of imprisoned journalist New York, April 23, 2003-The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is very concerned about the deteriorating health of Oscar Espinosa Chepe, an independent journalist who is currently imprisoned at the national headquarters of the State […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has denounced what it termed a “travesty of justice” in which independent journalists in Cuba were handed down stiff jail sentences. “In these trials of independent journalists and opposition figures that opened on 3 April, you see all the ingredients of Stalinist trials: closed-door sessions, summary justice, denial of the right to […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 9 April 2003 CPJ press release: CPJ CONDEMNS CONVICTIONS OF INDEPENDENT CUBAN JOURNALISTS New York, April 9, 2003-The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) deplores the convictions of 28 independent Cuban journalists who have been detained since a crackdown began there on March 18. The journalists’ one-day trials were held […]

(WiPC/IFEX) – The following is an 8 April 2003 International PEN letter to President Fidel Castro Ruz: Dr Fidel Castro Ruz Presidente de los Consejos de Estaco y de Ministros La Habana Cuba Via Cuban Mission to the United Nations Fax: +212 779 1697 8 April 2003 Excelencia, The sentencing yesterday in Havana of the […]

(IPI/IFEX) – The following is an IPI letter to President Fidel Castro: H.E. Fidel Castro Ruz President Office of the President Havana Republic of Cuba Vienna, 8 April 2003 Your Excellency, The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, wishes to condemn in the strongest possible terms the […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 4 April 2003 CPJ press release: CUBA: CPJ condemns trials of independent journalists New York, April 4, 2003 – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the trials of 28 independent Cuban journalists who have been detained since a crackdown began on March 18. The hearings began yesterday and […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 2 April 2003 letter to Cuban President Fidel Castro, CPJ strongly condemned the Cuban government’s latest crackdown on the independent press, during which 27 journalists have been detained and await prosecution. The timing of these actions, wrote CPJ, suggests that the Cuban government has taken advantage of the fact that the […]

(RSF/IFEX) – As of 24 March 2003, the families of several of the independent journalists and dissidents arrested during the week of 17 March have been allowed to visit the detainees in a number of detention centres around the country. Family members were allowed to stay between 15 and 30 minutes, mostly in the presence […]

(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is a 24 March 2003 IFJ media release: IFJ Condemns Cuba Over Arrests and Jail Threat to Independent Journalists The International Federation of Journalists has warned that the arrest and detention of journalists and dissidents last week will further isolate Cuba in the international community. “The victimisation of independent journalists and […]

(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 21 March 2003 RSF press release: Two dozen independent journalists arrested, including news agency editor and poet Raúl Rivero Government takes advantage of the war with Iraq to launch an unprecedented wave of repression. Reporters Without Borders urges the European Union to send a clear signal by freezing consideration […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 19 March 2003 CPJ press release: CUBA: Ten journalists detained New York, March 19, 2003-In a harsh crackdown on the political opposition and independent media, Cuban authorities have arrested at least 10 independent journalists and 20 political activists throughout the country. The government has vowed to prosecute the detainees […]