|
May
3, World Press Freedom Day
By John Virtue
As the
United Nations' May 3 World Press Freedom Day approaches,
it might be appropriate to consider that Cuba has the largest
number of journalists in prison of any country in the world.
The 28 journalists suffering in Cuban prisons is two more
imprisoned journalists than in runnerup China, which has 100
times the population of Cuba. And they’re imprisoned
in Cuba simply because of what they’ve reported.
Some of
the 28 will surely die before completing their sentences of
up to 27 years because they're already aging and sick.
Cuban
President Fidel Castro, who ordered the arrests and one-day
trials of the journalists and 47 other dissidents on March
18, 2003, is himself 77 and would be 104 when the last prisoners
completed their sentences. They were accused and convicted
of working with the United States to undermine the government.
The average
age of the imprisoned journalists is 51. Three are in their
60s. One of them, Oscar Espinosa Chepe, 62, suffers from colon
cancer. Another, Carmelo Diaz Fernández, 66, has complained
of heart problems. Héctor Maseda, 60, is suffering
from a skin disease. They are serving sentences of 20, 16
and 20 years, respectively.
That Castro
fears the independent journalists is evident by the fact that
undercover agents from state security infiltrated the movement.
Espinosa Chepe, Díaz Fernández and Maseda were
among the 18 independent journalists who participated in a
clandestine workshop I gave in Havana Dec. 16, 2002. Three
others later identified themselves as undercover agents. One
of them, Manuel David Orrio, had been passing himself off
as an independent journalist for 12 years.
Orrio
orchestrated the chain of events that led to the arrests and
shed his cover to be a key witness in some of the trials where
the independent journalists were sentenced.
Since
I ran out of time before I could discuss ethics, Orrio said
he would lead an ethics workshop himself. He asked the U.S.
Interests Section if he could use the official residence of
Chief of Mission James C. Cason for the workshop, since he
planned to invite 60 journalists.
The workshop
was held March 14, 2003. Four days later, when world media
were focused on the invasion of Iraq, Castro said that the
chief of mission had gone too far in opening his residence
to dissidents and ordered the arrests.
Raul Rivero,
57, the best known of the imprisoned journalists and one of
the few with formal journalism training, suffers from a circulatory
problem and has dropped 40 pounds. Rivero is serving a 20-year
sentence. Manuel Vázquez Portal, 52, a well-known poet
and journalist who is serving an 18-year sentence, has been
moved to a prison hospital several times. He suffers from
emphysema. Normando Hernández, at 32 the youngest imprisoned
journalist, suffers from stomach problems. He is currently
in solitary confinement because he refuses to share space
with common criminals.
Most of
the journalists have been purposely confined in prisons far
from their homes, up to 600 miles in some cases, which makes
visits from family members – usually every three months
– arduous and costly. These visits are essential as the
relatives bring food, sanitary supplies and medicines; otherwise
the prisoners go without when prison supplies run out. Many
bring mattresses and bedding which some prisons lack.
Those
family members who speak out against the treatment of the
prisoners are subject to harassment by government officials.
It has included threats to place their school children in
disciplinary centers, in effect, taking them away from the
parents.
When the
arrests were made in March of last year, there were 116 independent
journalists registered for the distance-learning course offered
by the International Media Center at Florida International
University. The center had expected some dropouts and no further
registrations. But the opposite has occurred: none dropped
out and 16 additional journalists registered. All appear determined
to fill the void caused by the imprisonments.
"I
feel more committed than ever since the wave of arrests last
year because this system has demonstrated to the world that
it is more unjust and violates more human rights with every
passing day," one independent journalist told us.
Another
independent journalist reported that authorities have taken
his telephone, which was illegally installed, since dissidents
cannot obtain legal telephones. "That makes my job harder
because colleagues all over the island used to call in their
stories," he said. "But my job has not ended and
I'll be here until the final act, the restoration of democracy
in Cuba."
A third
independent journalist said news sources are increasingly
reluctant to talk to her. "When I have to check out something,
those who know me will talk, but they insist I change the
details so they can't be identified," she said.
The independent
journalists form what they call agencies, really informal
groups. Most of their articles are filed to Internet sites
outside the island for posting. The articles mainly deal problems
of everyday life in Cuba, the type of stories not available
to the foreign correspondents based in Havana.
They are
not recognized as journalists by the Cuban government because
they lack journalism degrees and do not work for recognized
news media, all of which are controlled by the state.
Maybe
this legalism helps to convince some journalists outside of
Cuba that their independent colleagues in Cuba must have done
something wrong. It is not a wrong they committed but a right
they exercised: that of a free press.
John
Virtue is deputy director of the International Media Center
at Florida International University in Miami
(April
27, 2004)
|
