|
International Press Freedom Award Recepient Granted U. S.
Asylum
By
The Committee to Protect Journalists
Cuban
independent journalist and Committee to Protect Journalists
(CPJ) International Press Freedom awardee Jesús Joel
Díaz Hernández has left Cuba for the United
States, where he has been granted political asylum.
Díaz
Hernández arrived in the United States on March 21
and has settled in Fort Worth, Texas.
Díaz
Hernández, formerly the executive director of the independent
news agency Cooperativa Avileña de Periodistas Independientes
(CAPI), served two years in prison under degrading conditions
after a 1999 sham trial in which he was convicted of "dangerousness,"
a crime unknown outside Cuba.
In November
1999, CPJ honored Díaz Hernández with an International
Press Freedom Award. In January 2001, after having served
half of his prison term, Díaz Hernández was
released. He immediately returned to work for CAPI.
Among
the reasons Díaz Hernández cited for his departure
for exile were the harassment he was constantly subjected
to after going back to his work as an independent journalist
and the "imminence of jail."
"It's
a difficult moment because I have left behind other colleagues
who are going through hard times," Díaz Hernández
told CPJ.
Díaz
Hernández is one of many journalists who have left
Cuba in recent years because of official harassment and threats
against them and their families. According to estimates by
Cuban journalists, about 50 independent journalists have left
the island since 1995, the year that for many marks the emergence
of the independent press in Cuba.
In Cuba
all media is state-owned and is largely charged with spreading
the official views of the Cuban government. Independent journalists,
who try to cover issues that are neglected by the official
press, usually file their reports by phone to radio stations
and Web sites based in Miami and Spain.
In some
cases, the Cuban government has denied exit permits to journalists
who have already obtained a visa to travel to other countries.
Other journalists invited abroad are allowed to leave Cuba
only if they promise never to return. As a political refugee,
Díaz Hernández has effectively no chance of
returning to Cuba under the current regime.
One Cuban
journalist remains in jail as of today. Bernardo Arévalo
Padrón, a journalist who was jailed in 1997 for "disrespecting"
Cuban president Fidel Castro Ruz and Cuban State Council member
Carlos Lage, continues to be held in a labor camp despite
being eligible for parole. His health has suffered as a result
of his prolonged imprisonment.
For more
information about press freedom conditions in Cuba, visit
www.cpj.org.
The Committee
to Protect Journalists is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit
organization that works to safeguard press freedom around
the world.
(April
1, 2002)
Links to related site
The
Committee to Protect Journalists
|
