WHEREAS the government keeps some 1,100 people in prison, among them independent journalists such as Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca, deprived of his freedom since June 2021 and with serious health problems; Jorge Bello and José Antonio López Piña, imprisoned after the national protests of July 2021; and Mayelín Rodríguez Prado and influencer Sulmira Martínez, convicted for exercising their freedom of expression
WHEREAS other journalists are arbitrarily prevented from leaving the country, among them the editor-in-chief of the 14ymedio portal, Reinaldo Escobar; CubaNet contributors Camila Acosta and Anais Remón, and Henry Constantín, director of La Hora de Cuba and vice president for Cuba of the IAPA's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information
WHEREAS, writer Jorge Fernández Era remains under house arrest, and Iris Mariño, of La Hora de Cuba, was the victim of a sexual assault in the street while under the surveillance of security agents
WHEREAS, the government imposed military service as a compulsory condition for women who wish to study journalism, and this restriction reduces interest in the profession among Cuban women university students
WHEREAS Decree 370 continues to be the spearhead with which the Cuban regime represses free expression on the Internet. Under penalty of imprisonment, independent media are prevented from receiving external support without state authorization
WHEREAS, the journalists working in these media, most of whom remain anonymous, have no access to social benefits or bank accounts and are restricted from accessing the Internet
WHEREAS, Principle 1 of the Declaration of Chapultepec states: "There are no free persons and societies without freedom of expression and of the press" and that "the exercise of this is not a concession of the authorities; it is an inalienable right of the people"; that principle 4 establishes that "the unjust imprisonment of journalists and violence of any kind and the impunity of the aggressors severely curtail freedom of expression" and that principle ten states that "no media or journalist should be punished for disseminating the truth or formulating criticisms or denunciations against the public power."
THE IAPA MID-YEAR MEETING RESOLVES
To demand the immediate release of all Cuban journalists imprisoned for the exercise of their profession and to demand an end to the sanctions and punishments they receive for not bending to the will of the State
Demand an end to house arrests and the forced retention in the country of journalists who wish to travel abroad
Urge the government to cease implementing laws and policies that would affect the practice and teaching of journalism in universitiesa
Ask international organizations to accept the calls for help from dissident journalists who work anonymously under intense pressure and restrictions without access to social and compensatory benefits.
