Since February 2006, when Raúl Castro assumed the presidency of Cuba from his brother Fidel, harassment of journalists, their censorship and imprisonment has continued – despite the occasional suggestion by the president, of a journalistic, cultural and economic liberalisation in the country. The question of whether Cuba has substantially moved away from the policies of the old regime was thrown into sharp relief by the three-year prison sentence imposed on Habana Press director and independent journalist Alberto Santiago Du Bouchet on 12 May 2009.
The exact circumstances of Du Bouchet’s arrest on 18 April remain unclear, though the police stated that Du Bouchet was shouting anti-government slogans in the street and that he was charged with ‘disrespect’. The authorities transferred the journalist to Melena 2 Prison, south of Havana, on 10 May; his trial and sentencing was held on Tuesday 12 May, where, according to Elizardo Sánchez Santa Cruz of the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation, he was not given access to a defence lawyer. A lawyer who later filed an appeal on Du Bouchet’s behalf was not permitted to attend the trial. The journalist was jailed on similar charges in May 2005 after covering the congress of the Assembly to Promote Civil Society (APSC) despite warnings from state officials to stop working or face imprisonment.
Du Bouchet’s imprisonment brings the number of journalists and writers currently imprisoned in Cuba to 26; the majority of these are victims of the March 2003 crackdown on political dissidents and those involved in the independent press movement, which is called ‘Black Spring’ by some Cubans. Raúl Castro’s presidency has seen a further four journalists jailed.
For Cuban bloggers President Castro’s 2006 announcement that citizens were to be able to enter tourist hotels was met with guarded optimism. The US embargo on Cuba includes denying the island the use of high-speed fibre optic cables lying under the Caribbean Sea; this, combined with the government’s opposition to widespread internet access, means that hotels are some of the few places Cubans are able to access the internet. However, a recent exposé by Generation Y blogger Yoanni Sanchez revealed the government’s reluctance to translate its words into action – bloggers attempting to use the internet in hotels found that they were denied access due to a government resolution. Efforts to isolate Sanchez, who has an international profile, have also continued; most recently she was denied permission to travel to the Turin International Book Fair held in mid-May.
Protests by Sanchez and other Cuba-based bloggers, resulted in most hotels ignoring the resolution – but this should not obscure the fact that Cuban authorities continue to be willing to hamper the development of free expression in Cuba, a country which is second only to the People´s Republic of China in the jailing of journalists.
English PEN’s Writers in Prison programme is exerting pressure on the Cuban authorities to release Alberto Santiago Du Bouchet along with the 25 other Cuban writers, journalists and librarians who are currently imprisoned in violation of their right to freedom of expression.
