LETTER TO OBAMA - MAKE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION PRIORITIES IN CUBA - RSF

LETTER TO OBAMA: MAKE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION
PRIORITIES IN CUBA
PUBLISHED ON FRIDAY 18 MARCH 2016.

Next week, President Barack Obama will visit Cuba, the first sitting
President of the United States to do so since 1928. Reporters Without
Borders (RSF) has written an open letter to President Obama asking him
to consider freedom of the press and access to information top
priorities during his trip.

Paris, March 18, 2016

Dear Mr. President,

While you are about to embark on a landmark visit to Cuba next week,
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges you to make freedom of the press
and access to information top priorities. As the first sitting American
president to visit Cuba in 88 years, you have the power and the duty to
positively influence its policies on these issues, by raising them both
publicly and privately with Cuban President Raúl Castro, the Cuban
people, and during your meetings with the press and Cuban civil society.
We must stress how important it is that you meet with journalists and
members of civil society to hear first hand how their rights are being
restricted.

Cuba represents the Western Hemisphere's lowest position on Reporters
Without Borders' 2015 World Press Freedom Index, ranking 169th out of
180 countries. The Cuban government maintains a complete monopoly on
information and will not tolerate any independent voices, ensuring that
there is no free media. It is almost impossible to broadcast and publish
information without authorization from the government. Media sources
that have not received official recognition are deemed illegal and are
censored. Foreign journalists are also subject to Cuba's censorship
practices and restrictions, receiving accreditation only selectively.
Furthermore, when foreign journalists cover stories that portray the
current regime "too negatively," they are deported.

In addition to its tradition of censorship, Cuba has a long history of
violence and harassment toward journalists. Many journalists working for
independent media have received violent threats from the government.
Roberto de Jesus Guerra, editor of independent news agency and free
speech NGO Hablemos Press, was physically attacked by the Internal
Security Department in June 2014. Another correspondent from the same
publication was run down by a car that same month. In July 2015, many
activists and journalists were arrested at a protest organized by the
"Ladies in White" opposition movement, but were never charged. Arrests,
confiscation of equipment, and short detentions continue to occur on a
regular basis for journalists covering this opposition movement and
other events.

While the number of journalists imprisoned in Cuba has dwindled since
2010, the independent blogger from the agency Yayabo Press Yoeni de
Jesús Guerra García who was sentenced to 7 years in prison in March 2014
on charges of illegally slaughtering cattle, remains behind bars. He
claimed that the charges against him were fabricated due to his
reporting. Yoeni has repeatedly been the victim of violence and possible
torture by prison staff. RSF advocated for his release as part of the
amnesty preceding Pope Francis' visit to Cuba last September, yet Yoeni
still languishes in prison.

Even after the U.S. and Cuba restored diplomatic relations last summer,
the climate for free media still needs to improve. So far in 2016, the
Cuban government has arrested three journalists, detained one, and
banned distribution of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Authorities also found journalist and bookseller Ángel Herrera Oviedo
murdered last month.

Additionally, Cuba is among the worst nations in the world for Internet
Access. Civilian use of the Internet has only been legal since June
2013, and even then it is regulated by the state. According to the
United Nations Broadband Commission, less than five percent of
households in Cuba have Internet access, which ranks 115th out of 133
countries. American aid worker Alan Gross, who you worked to free in
2014, spent five years in a Cuban prison for working on a project to
help provide Cuban citizens better internet access.

In post-embargo Cuba, barriers to press freedom must be broken. Arrests
of independent journalists, confiscation of material, and short
detentions happen daily or weekly. The United States has the opportunity
and the responsibility to facilitate a change through diplomacy. Now is
the time to urge the government to allow independent media to operate
without fear of violence or arrest. Now is the time to make sure all of
Cuba's many voices are heard.

I thank you in advance, Mr. President, for the attention you give to
this letter.

Sincerely,

Christophe Deloire Secretary-General, Reporters Without Borders

Source: Letter to Obama: Make freedom of the press and access to
information priorities in Cuba - Reporters Without Borders -
http://en.rsf.org/cuba-letter-to-obama-make-freedom-of-18-03-2016,48922.html