WHEREAS independent journalists continue to suffer political repression through surveillance, tracking, direct physical or digital intimidation against them and their families, and assaults, among other coercive mechanisms that go unpunished
WHEREAS independent journalists continue to suffer political repression through surveillance, tracking, direct physical or digital intimidation against them and their families, and assaults, among other coercive mechanisms that go unpunished
WHEREAS the government uses stigmatizing rhetoric to attack and undermine credibility; public media serve as the main tool for government propaganda, and access to public information remains prohibited for the independent press
WHEREAS the government, through ETECSA, the state-owned company that manages telecommunications, censors websites and content, monitors citizens’ communications, and reduces or cuts their access to the internet or telephone services
WHEREAS access remains blocked to the websites of dozens of media outlets, organizations, and digital services, such as SIP, Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, Cubanet, Diario de Cuba, El Toque, Cibercuba, and the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press
WHEREAS the government continues the practice of carrying out arbitrary house arrests for hours or days on special dates, of which at least eight occurred during this period, including the case of Henry Constantín, regional vice president of the SIP Press Freedom and Information Commission, who was detained for four days, while journalist José Gabriel Barrenechea has remained imprisoned for nearly a year
WHEREAS laws are used abusively to silence the press; among other provisions is the Penal Code, which contains more than a dozen articles to charge and imprison journalists or media executives, as well as the Personal Data Protection Law and regulations on computer crimes that impose restrictions on freedom of expression
WHEREAS the first principle of the Chapultepec Declaration states: “No people or society can be free without freedom of expression and of the press. The exercise of this freedom is not something authorities grant, it is an inalienable right of the people”; that the fourth principle establishes that “the unjust imprisonment of journalists, the destruction of facilities, violence of any kind and impunity for perpetrators”, severely restricts freedom of expression; and that the tenth principle affirms that “no news media nor journalist may be punished for publishing the truth or criticizing or denouncing the government.”
THE 81st GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SIP RESOLVES
To demand an end to the repression and harassment of independent journalists; that arbitrary detentions, raids, house arrests, surveillance, threats, and defamation campaigns be stopped
To urge the government to desist from implementing laws and policies aimed at gagging free journalism, and to align national legislation with international standards regarding press freedom and access to information
To lift the blockade on national and international media and digital platforms
To demand that missions from the UN, the IACHR, SIP, and other intergovernmental organizations be allowed to enter and observe.
