WINDOW-DRESSING FOR PAPAL VISIT

WINDOW-DRESSING FOR PAPAL VISIT
PUBLISHED ON FRIDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2015.

The Cuban government's announced release of 3,522 prisoners a week
before Pope Francis's arrival today for a five-day visit was a public
relations exercise that must not divert attention from the disastrous
situation of dissidents and independent journalists in Cuba.

Did the announcement nonetheless reflect a government desire to evolve
politically or was it just opportunistic?

It was certainly timely, coming just days before the papal visit and a
few weeks before a visit by US secretary of State John Kerry in the
aftermath of the resumption of diplomatic relations with the United States.

But on close inspection it is hard to find any sign that the regime is
loosening its draconian restrictions on freedom of expression and
information. The released prisoners included no journalist or blogger.
Yoeni de Jesús Guerra García and José Antonio Torres will remain in prison.

"The Cuban government has continued to maintain its monopoly on news and
information in 2015 and tolerates no independent media outlets," said
Emmanuel Colombié, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Latin
America desk.

"Pope Francis, who plans to meet President Raúl Castro, cannot ignore
the issue of human rights and, in particular, freedom of information.
After all the regime's public relations announcements, it is high time
that the persecution of journalists and bloggers ended."

Conditions for journalists in Cuba have worsened in recent months. They
are still subjected to harassment, which typically takes the form of
arbitrary arrest. Dozens of independent journalists covering the marches
through the streets of Havana that the Ladies in White opposition
movement stages every Sunday have been arrested, held for several hours
and then released.

"Official" media require the government's authorization and any
unauthorized media are deemed to be illegal and are censored. The
independent press is still gagged and the equipment of several reporters
working for the unauthorized Hablemos Press news agency was recently
confiscated.

The state security police have invited opposition journalists and
bloggers to stay at work during the pope's visit or risk imprisonment.

Cuba is ranked 169th out of 180 countries in the 2015 Reporters Without
Borders press freedom index.

Source: Window-dressing for papal visit - Reporters Without Borders -
http://en.rsf.org/cuba-window-dressing-for-papal-visit-18-09-2015,48371.html