Miami (May 18, 2022) - The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) described as retrograde the new Penal Code that takes Cuba back to "obscurantist times when officials distanced themselves from the people through abuses and privileges."
The IAPA regretted that the new legislation criminalizes freedom of the press, freedom of expression, and freedom of association and assembly. "The Code has elements akin to military accouterments, which the regime will be able to use to attack and undermine information and independent opinions of dissidents. Citizens will not even be able to use social media or call their friends to protest freely," IAPA officials said.
The Cuban National Assembly approved on May 15 the new Penal Code, which maintains the death penalty by firing squad for 24 crimes and formalizes penalties of life imprisonment. It will enter into force in three months. It also stipulates up to three years in prison for anyone who insults high-ranking public officials. In addition, it imposes ten years in prison for anyone who "supports, promotes, finances, provides, receives or has in his or her possession funds, material or financial resources" from non-governmental organizations or international institutions.
Jorge Canahuati, president of the IAPA, regretted that the "Cuban authorities travel to the past, against the developed world, to obscurantist times, when officials distanced themselves from the people through abuses and privileges." Referring to the renewed offense of contempt, Canahuati, CEO of Grupo Opsa, regretted that "Cuban officials continue to protect themselves with absolutist privileges, typical of the past monarchies."
Carlos Jornet, president of the Commission on Freedom of the Press and Information, stated that Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela are among the few countries to contravene the American Convention on Human Rights precepts by criminalizing foreign economic assistance to human rights groups and independent media.
Anyone who provides information to non-governmental organizations, international institutions, associations, or any natural or legal person the government does not authorize could face prison for ten or up to 30 years.
Jornet also recalled point 11 of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which states: "Laws that penalize offensive expressions directed at public officials, generally known as 'contempt laws,' restrict freedom of expression and the right to information."
The new Code considers crimes of "sedition" the "civil disobedience; propaganda against the constitutional order and the socialist state" and will punish those who "spread false news that endangers the prestige of the Cuban State," as well as participation in "subversive activities and aggressions to information and communications technologies."
"We already have the experience - said Jornet, editor of La Voz del Interior from Argentina - on how these provisions, under the excuse of the defense of sovereignty, are used to muzzle the independent press and silence dissident voices."
IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications from the western hemisphere; and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.
