WHEREAS, journalist Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca has served five years in prison in serious health condition and government repression against the free expression of thought will surely intensify with the implementation of a new Penal Code which imposes severe penalties on government critics
WHEREAS, the Interior Ministry engages in direct extortion of journalists with offers to grant permission to leave the country in exchange for publicly resigning from the independent media and that those who resist are forbidden to travel abroad
WHEREAS, independent and opposition journalists have received onerous fines for expressing themselves on social networks, and the internet is used as a tool for surveillance and censorship by the state-owned telecommunications company
WHEREAS, arrests of journalists continue to be commonplace and, in this period, some have been arrested two or three times for their coverage - including the IAPA's regional vice-president for Cuba, Henry Constantín
WHEREAS, house arrests for a few hours to several week are another form of frequent harassment and the government openly pressures landlords not to rent houses to independent journalists and their families
WHEREAS, the government maintains a hostile policy towards the foreign press, denying access to correspondents and hindering the work of their staff - according to reports from various press agencies
WHEREAS, as a consequence of the worsening political and social crisis in the country, a massive exodus is taking place and the government keeps intact its entire repressive apparatus, including the legal and justice system, police repression, propaganda and control of telecommunications and the Internet
WHEREAS, Principle 1 of the Chapultepec Declaration states: "There are no free people or societies without freedom of speech and press. The exercise of these freedoms is not granted by authorities; it is an inalienable right of the people."
THE 78TH IAPA GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLVES
To condemn in the strongest possible terms the systematic repression of the independent press in Cuba and the constant harassment - in multiple forms and subterfuges - that stifle freedom of expression and freedom of the press on a daily basis
To demand respect for the foreign press seeking access to information sources inside Cuba in order to better carry out their work.
To urge the government to desist from implementing the new Penal Code approved by the one-party system, which, in particular, further violates the practice of independent journalism by threatening increased punishments and the creation of new crimes tailored to its repressive policy.
