In the wake of the European Union's decision to lift political sanctions on the Castro dictatorship and word that its correspondent on the island is seriously ill, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Wednesday renewed its plea for Cuba to release imprisoned journalists.
RSF reports:
Reporters Without Borders appeals to Raúl Castro’s government for a show of magnanimity towards the organisation’s correspondent, Ricardo González Alfonso, and other imprisoned journalists in return for the European Union’s decision on 23 June to lift the political sanctions it had imposed Cuba. The Cuban government had made this a condition for restoring normal relations with the EU.
“There have been a few advances in freedom of expression and information since Raúl Castro took over as Council of State president on 24 February, with Cuban being given the right to buy their own computer equipment or enter tourist hotels that have better Internet connections,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The dialogue begun by the Spanish government undoubtedly contributed to this, just as it led to the release in February of independent journalist Alejandro González Raga and two other detainees from the 2003 ‘Black Spring.'"
The press freedom organisation added: “A similar gesture is now needed with the 23 other journalists who are still imprisoned, 19 of whom have been held since the March 2003 crackdown. The EU sanctions imposed after the crackdown, which were suspended in 2005, have now been definitively lifted. The Cuba government got its way, so there is no longer any excuse for sidestepping the call for an improvement in human rights and free expression.”
As well as being the Reporters Without Borders Cuba correspondent, González is the founder of the Manuel Márquez Sterling journalists’ association and the independent magazine De Cuba. He was arrested on 18 March 2003 and was given a 20-year prison sentence on the absurd charge of being a “mercenary” in the pay of the United States. He has been held in Havana’s Combinado del Este prison since the end of 2004.
Read the rest of the statement here, and RSF's profiles of imprisoned journalists, here.
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