Six years after Cuba’s notorious “Primavera Negra” (Black Spring) crackdown on journalists and other accused dissenters, the country continues to trample on free expression and remains a leading jailer of journalists, with more than 20 reporters and news managers behind bars.
On the eve of the Primavera Negra anniversary, the International Press Institute’s Justice Denied Campaign urged President Raul Castro to free journalists who were given summary trials and convicted on charges of undermining the government in March 2003. Many received lengthy prison sentences and their appeals were dismissed.
“Raul Castro has had a year to make a break with the past and free journalists and others who were jailed on outlandish charges”, IPI Director David Dadge said. “President Castro’s recent Cabinet shuffle and his diplomatic overtures may show promise, but his government will remain an international pariah until he takes concrete steps to free journalists and other prisoners of conscience”.
More than 20 journalists arrested in the Primavera Negra roundups that began in 18 March 2003 remain imprisoned, according to IPI’s Justice Denied Campaign, which highlights cases of imprisonment and impunity in crimes against journalists worldwide. At least two others have been arrested in the years since the crackdown.
Among those imprisoned is Omar Rodriguez Saludes, who was arrested on 18 March 2003 and three weeks later sentenced to 27 years in prison for “acting against the independence or territorial integrity of the State”. It was the longest sentence handed down to any of the journalists charged in the crackdown.
Rodriguez was head of the independent news agency Nueva Prensa Cubana in Havana at the time of his arrest. He was known for his reports about political repression under the regime of Fidel Castro, the island nation’s ailing former leader and elder brother of the current president. Friends and family members say Rodriguez is housed in the crowded Toledo Prison in the capital, and today suffers from health problems.
Dozens of people were jailed on treason-related charges in the sweeping crackdown launched by the Castro regime in the spring of 2003. Despite condemnations from the United Nations, foreign governments and human rights groups, many remain behind bars. Along with the tiny Horn of Africa nation Eritrea, Cuba is one of the world’s top jailers of journalists as a percentage of population.
Raul Castro, who became president in February 2008, has taken steps to improve his country’s diplomatic relations with traditional foes, allowed Cubans to buy mobile phones, and has permitted some economic liberalisation. He recently removed 10 members of his Cabinet who were deemed fiercely loyal to his brother. Earlier in March, Washington appeared to extend an olive branch when Congress eased a 47-year-old trade embargo on Cuba.
But IPI cautioned that free expression should remain a prerequisite before the United States and other governments move to dramatically improve relations with Havana. “While we welcome recent changes in the country, Cuba’s government must be held accountable for its continued suppression of dissent”, said Uta Melzer, IPI’s press freedom manager.
