Cuba

CUBA Resolution of the Midyear Meeting Caracas, Venezuela March 28–30, 2008 WHEREAS for 49 years now, the Cuban government has denied freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the people’s right to access information outside the monopolistic control of the government; WHEREAS after 20 months at the head of the government, first on a provisional basis and then as the elected ruler, Raúl Castro maintains Cuban journalism in the same state of stagnation, characterized by the control of information and the repression of independent journalists; WHEREAS Twenty-five journalists are in prison, 12 of them with serious health problems, and the authorities have not agreed to release them for humanitarian reasons or allowed them to emigrate with their families; WHEREAS journalists Alejandro González Raga, sentenced to 14 years in prison, and José Gabriel Ramón Castillo, sentenced to 20 years, were released for health reasons; WHEREAS the government continues to repress independent journalism through fines, searches, seizures of money and personal effects, preventive detentions, restrictions on movement, home raids, bans on emigration, and reprisals against journalists’ family members; WHEREAS restrictions on Internet access have been tightened in recent months, including the blocking of independent blogs posted from Cuba; WHEREAS in recent months the foreign press in Cuba has been targeted in attacks by high-ranking officials and the government-controlled media, and foreign journalists are closely monitored by the authorities; WHEREAS Principle 1 of the Declaration of Chapultepec 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”; and WHEREAS Principle 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states, “Freedom of expression and of the press are severely limited by murder, terrorism, kidnapping, intimidation, the unjust imprisonment of journalists, the destruction of facilities, violence of any kind and impunity for perpetrators. Such acts must be investigated promptly and punished harshly”; THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES to demand the unconditional release of the journalists who are behind bars, and government recognition of independent journalism; to demand an end to acts of repression against independent journalists and to reprisals against their family members; to salute the release of journalists Alejandro González Raga and José Gabriel Ramón Castillo; to call on the Cuban government to allow all journalists who have obtained emigrant visas to leave the country immediately and without restrictions; to condemn the tightening of government controls on Internet access and the blocking of blogs posted from Cuba; and to call on the Cuban authorities to treat foreign correspondents in Cuba with respect.