Cholera in Cuba: Regime spin continues as body count rises

Totalitarian regimes lie and in a healthcare crisis that means more people die

Cholera and totalitarianism: a dangerous combination

Last wrote about this in September, but the continued propaganda offensive by the dictatorship to claim that the cholera outbreak in Cuba is over but the reality on the ground necessitates speaking out.

There is also now the need to mention that in addition to cholera dissidents are now reporting that dengue has returned in force and is not being reported in the official press.

Pan American Health Organization now reports that Cuban authorities informed on September 27, 2013 that there have been 678 cases of cholera and 3 deaths but now claim that there are no new cases reported as of October 1, 2013. 

The Cuban regime made the same claim that the outbreak was over more than a year earlier on August 29, 2013 when they admitted that there had been 417 cholera cases and 3 cholera deaths.

An employee of the public health ministry, "who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to comment to the media," told Reuters on August 22, 2013: "There is cholera in various places and you can imagine we are having a very busy summer ..."Many of us think the government should stop keeping it a secret."

Despite the protests by Raul Castro the response by the Cuban government to this healthcare emergency speaks volumes about the real nature of a system which prioritizes appearances over lives.

Cuban dissident journalist Calixto Martinez broke the cholera story at the cost of nearly seven months in prison which earned him a designation as an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience.

As the cover up continues the body count continues to rise.

Travelers to Cuba should be wary and take precautions for both cholera and dengue not to mention common sense precautions with regards to crime which is unreported by Cuban officials.

Official Cholera Statistics in Cuba: It just doesn't pass the smell test.

Does anyone believe the statistics provided by the Cuban government on the cholera outbreak?

Cholera and totalitarianism: A dangerous combination

The Pan American Health Organization has generated a report using official data provided to it that does not make sense. Cholera is making a big impact in Haiti with 669,645 cases and 8,224 fatalities and neighboring Dominican Republic reports 30,671 cases 454 fatalities. Meanwhile, even though reports indicate that cholera has spread across Cuba from the east to Havana in the worse outbreak since the 19th century the official number of cases is 98 cases and apparently no fatalities according to this report.

Meanwhile PAHO's only mention of tourists contracting cholera are 5 cases from Cuba.

Between late July and early August 2013, five cases of cholera associated with a history of

travel to Cuba were confirmed, as follow:

On 24 July 2013, the National IHR Focal Point for Italy reported to WHO a confirmed case of cholera (V.cholerae serogroup O1 Ogawa) in a 47 year old male patient, with travel history to Havana from 23 June to 13 July of 2013. Relevant details of the case, including detailed travel history while in Cuba and further laboratory investigations were shared with competent local authorities in Cuba and WHO.

 

On 9 August 2013, the National IHR Focal Point for Venezuela confirmed two cases of cholera (V. cholerae serogroup O1 Ogawa) in persons, a 51 year old male and 55 year old female, with history of travel to Havana, Cuba.

 

On the same date, 9 August 2013, the National IHR Focal Point for Chile reported two cases of cholera, one laboratory confirmed (V. cholerae serogroup O1 Ogawa) and the other by epidemiological link, in persons returning from travel to Cuba.

The record in Cuba is clear. Cuba remains a totalitarian dictatorship without a free press and even international and accredited press bureaus are cowed into silence out of the justified fear that they would be ejected from the country for reporting negative news. The Cuban government is engaged in a practice of deceit that endangers lives.

The government of Cuba initially covered up the cholera outbreak. The story was broken by dissident journalists. Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias, the journalist who broke the story on the cholera outbreak,  was arrested in September 2012 for disrespecting the dictatorship, and recognized by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience in January of 2013. He was finally released after spending nearly 7 months in prison in April of 2013. Unlike Michael Moore who continues to repeat Cuban government propaganda on the wonders of Cuban healthcare, Calixto reported on the actual situation on the ground and spent several months in prison.

Calixto R Martínez Arias jailed nearly 7 months for breaking cholera story

 All of this raises two obvious questions: If the number of cases in Cuba are as low as reported by the government are accurate why are the only reported cases of tourists from these three impacted countries with cholera from Cuba? What are the actual number of cases and fatalities in Cuba?

Amnesty International issues Urgent Action for Cuban prisoner of conscience on hunger strike

Document - Cuba: Further information: Prisoner of conscience on hunger strike: Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias

Further information on UA: 25/13 Index: AMR 25/002/2013 Cuba Date: 14 March 2013

URGENT ACTION

PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE ON HUNGER STRIKE

 

Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias

 Independent journalist and prisoner of conscience Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias is on hunger strike to protest against his detention in Cuba. As a result, he has been placed in solitary confinement in a punishment cell.

On 6 March, journalist Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias went on hunger strike to protest against his detention in Combinado del Este prison on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba. He was consequently transferred by the prison authorities to a punishment cell. According to his relatives, the small cell where he is now held has no light, toilet facilities or bedding, and he is not permitted to leave the cell to exercise in the open air. These kinds of punitive measures are typically used by the Cuban authorities against prisoners on hunger strike.

Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias works for the unofficial news agency, Let’s Talk Press (Hablemos Press). He was arrested in Havana on 16 September 2012 by the Cuban Revolutionary Police (Policía Revolucionaria de Cuba) at José Martí International Airport in Havana. He had been investigating allegations that medicine provided by the World Health Organization to fight the cholera outbreak (which began in mid-2012) was being kept at the airport instead of being distributed. Since then, he has been detained in various detention centres. He has been held at Combinado del Este prison since November 2012.

Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias is yet to be formally charged by the public prosecutor, and according to his relatives he is reportedly being accused of “disrespect” (“desacato”). Amnesty International believes Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias’ detention is politically motivated and related to his peaceful exercise of freedom of expression. 

Please write immediately in Spanish or your own language:

Calling on the Cuban authorities to release Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias immediately and unconditionally, as he is a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression; 

Urging them to remove him from solitary confinement, and ensure he is granted any medical attention he may require; 

Urging them to refrain from taking punitive measures against prisoners for undertaking hunger strikes.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 25 APRIL 2013 TO:

Attorney General 

Dr. Darío Delgado Cura 

Fiscal General de la República, 

Fiscalía General de la República, 

Amistad 552, e/Monte y Estrella, Centro Habana, 

La Habana, Cuba 

Salutation: Dear Attorney General

And copies to:

Interior Minister General Abelardo Coloma Ibarra Ministro del Interior y Prisiones Ministerio del Interior, Plaza de la Revolución, La Habana, Cuba 

Fax+1 212 779 1697       

(via Cuban Mission to UN) Email: correominint@mn.mn.co.cu 
Salutation: Your Excellency

And solidarity letters to:

Centro de Información Hablemos Press

Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez –

Director

Calle Santa Marta 394, Apto 3 alto, entre Franco y Subirana, municipio Centro Habana, 

La Habana, Cuba

Email: robersm2007@gmail.com

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the first update of UA 25/13. Further information: http://amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR25/001/2013/en

Additional Information

Restrictions on the Cuban media are stringent and pervasive and clearly stop those in the country from enjoying their right to freedom of opinion and expression, including freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. The state maintains a total monopoly on television, radio, the press, internet service providers, and other electronic means of communication. 

Article 53 of the Cuban Constitution recognizes freedom of the press but expressly prohibits private ownership of the mass media: “Citizens have freedom of speech and of the press in keeping with the objectives of socialist society. Material conditions for the exercise of that right are provided by the fact that the press, radio, television, cinema, and other mass media are state or social property and can never be private property. This assures their use at exclusive service of the working people and in the interests of society. The law regulates the exercise of those freedoms.” Although there is no censorship law that explicitly regulates the functioning of the press or establishes what is published, journalists must join the Cuban Journalists Association (Unión de Periodistas Cubanos, UPEC) in order to practice journalism in the state-owned media. UPEC is self-governing; however, in its statutes it recognizes the Cuban Communist Party as “the highest leading force of society and of the state” and agrees to abide by Article 53 of the Constitution (see above).

Compulsory membership of a professional association for the practice of journalism is an unlawful restriction on freedom of expression and a violation of the right to freedom of association. Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that, “no one may be compelled to belong to an association”. In the particular case of UPEC, whose members are employees of the government of Cuba, compulsory membership is a means of exerting political control in the field of communications. Only journalists expressing views in line with official government policies are accredited by UPEC; independent journalists are barred from joining.

The news agency Hablemos Press is an unofficial Cuban news agency founded in February 2009 by independent journalists and human rights activists, “for the purpose of gathering and disseminating news within the country and for the rest of the world” according to their website. Hablemos Press journalists are regular victims of short-term arrests and harassment related to their work. Prior to his September arrest, Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias had been detained without charge on a number of occasions in 2012. On 11 September 2012 the director of Hablemos Press – Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez – was forced into a car and reportedly beaten as he was driven to a police station. Before being released, he was told that he had become the “number one dissident journalist” and would face imprisonment if he continued his activities.

Amnesty International believes no prisoner should be confined long term in conditions of isolation and reduced sensory stimulation, and that conditions of detention should conform to the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and other international human rights standards. Amnesty International believes that if solitary confinement is used, strict limits should be imposed on the practice, including regular and adequate medical supervision by a doctor.

Hunger strikes are often used in Cuba by political dissidents and other activists as a way of protest, and demonstrate the situation of despair and hopelessness that they face when victims of unfair and prolonged incarcerations. For further information, see: Cuba must release prisoner of conscience on hunger strike (http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/cuba-must-release-prisoner-conscience-hunger-strike-2011-03-11). In September 2012 Jorge Vázquez Chaviano carried out a hunger strike after the Cuban authorities failed to release him following the end of his 18-month prison sentence. In recent years hunger strikes have led to the death of two prisoners: Orlando Zapata Tamayo (see: Death of Cuban prisoner of conscience on hunger strike must herald change, https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/death-cuban-prisoner-conscience-hunger-strike-must-herald-change-2010-02-24) in February 2010, and Wilmar Villar Mendoza (see: Cuban authorities 'responsible' for activist's death on hunger strike, http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/cuban-authorities-responsible-activists-death-hunger-strike-2012-01-20) in January 2012 – both prisoners of conscience.

Name: Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias

Gender m/f: m

Further information on UA: 25/13 Index: AMR 25/002/2013 Issue Date: 14 March 2013

Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias © Hablemos Press

 

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR25/002/2013/en/f2ef351c-54ab-43cb-a99e-0c39b3e9adab/amr250022013en.html

Pen International Call to Action: Three journalists imprisoned in Cuba

Ángel Santiesteban Prats and Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias

 News: CUBA: Two journalists jailed, one writer sentenced to five years in prison

***Please note that since this alert was issued, Ángel Santiesteban Prats has been ordered to report to the Tribunal Provincial on 28 February 2013 to be transferred to prison. See him speak here.***
RAN 09/13 22 February 2013

The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International protests a renewed wave of repression and harassment against journalists and writers in Cuba, including the imprisonment of two journalists and the conviction of a writer. Independent journalist Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias has been detained pending trial since September 2012 on charges of “disrespect” against the head of state, while state journalist José Antonio Torres is reportedly serving a 14-year sentence for espionage; both were jailed after reporting on sensitive subjects. Writer and blogger Ángel Santiesteban Prats has been sentenced to five years in prison for alleged trespassing and assault on the basis of an apparently flawed trial. The WiPC calls for Martínez Arias’ immediate and unconditional release. It also calls on the Cuban authorities to provide assurances that Torres’ and Santiesteban’s sentences are not related to their reporting, and to make public details of their trials.

Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias, journalist for the independent news agency Hablemos Press, was arrested by the Cuban Revolutionary Police at José Martí International airport on 16 September 2012. He had been investigating allegations that medicine provided by the World Health Organisation to fight the cholera outbreak, which began in mid-2012, was being kept at the airport instead of being distributed, as the Cuban government was trying to downplay the seriousness of the outbreak. He was taken to a police station near the airport where he was put in a cell. When he complained about his detention, he was allegedly beaten and pepper-sprayed in the eyes and called out “Down with Raúl, down with Fidel” (“Abajo Raúl, abajo Fidel”). He was held at the police station for 10 days before being transferred to Valle Grande prison until 10 November 2012, when he was transferred to Combinado del Este prison, where he remains.

Although Martínez Arias has not been informed of any official charges against him, he is reportedly being accused of “disrespect” (desacato) towards President Raúl Castro and former president Fidel Castro, which carries a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment. His lawyer has not been allowed access to his case file.

There are concerns for Martínez Arias’ welfare in prison. In September 2012 he was reportedly transferred to hospital for treatment for blows received to the left eye. In November-December 2012, he carried out a 33-day hunger strike in protest against at prison conditions. On 12 December 2012 he was placed in solitary confinement after calling Hablemos Press and informing them of the poor conditions inside the prison, in defiance of an order by prison authorities forbidding him to use the telephone. In early January 2013 Martínez Arias reported that he was running a fever but had been denied medical attention.

Prior to his detention, Martínez Arias was arrested several times in May and June 2012. Amnesty International considers him to be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for his peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression.

Also imprisoned is José Antonio Torres, former correspondent for the government newspaper Granma. Torres was arrested in February 2011 after writing articles about the mismanagement of an aqueduct project in Santiago de Cuba and the installation of fibre-optic cable between Venezuela and Cuba. Torres’ 5,000-word article on the mismanagement of the aqueduct project, published in July 2010, was reportedly praised by President Raúl Castro, who wrote in Granma that “this is the spirit that should characterise the (Communist) Party press: transparent, critical and self-critical.” His report on the fibre-optic cable was published four months later. Torres noted in neutral terms that the Vice President Ramiro Valdés was responsible for supervising both projects.

Three months later Torres was arrested and in mid-June 2012, following a closed trial, he was convicted of espionage and sentenced to 14 years in prison and the withdrawal of his university degree in journalism. He has reportedly appealed against his conviction, but fears that his sentence could be increased as a result. Cuba’s state-run media has made only a few brief references to Torres’ case and little is known about the espionage charge, although there are rumours that he may have offered or given confidential information to the US diplomatic mission in Havana.

Meanwhile, Ángel Santiesteban Prats, award-winning writer and author of the blog ‘The Children Who Nobody Loved’ (‘Los Hijos que Nadie Quiso’), is awaiting imprisonment after being sentenced to five years in prison for alleged assault and trespassing. The case dates back to 2009, when a number of charges were filed against him, including charges of a hit and run and aggravated robbery. He was eventually found guilty of having broken into his ex-wife’s house and physically assaulted her; all of the other charges were dropped. His sentence was handed down on 8 December 2012 and confirmed on appeal by the Supreme Court on 28 January.

Santiesteban maintains that the charges are fabricated and politically motivated, retribution for his blog which is critical of the Cuban situation and government. He also claims that he was informed of what the outcome of the trial would be on 8 November 2012, one month before the sentencing took place, when he was arrested along with 15 others following the detention of lawyer Yaremis Flores Julián, and then beaten.

Details of the case against Santiesteban have not been made public in state media. However, according to the appeal lodged by his lawyer, there were a number of irregularities in the trial and sentencing. The plaintiff is said to have changed her statement four times and overall her testimony was inconsistent with the crimes of which Santiesteban was eventually found guilty. A supposed eyewitness for the plaintiff allegedly later confessed in a home video that he had been pressured and bribed by the plaintiff to lie, but this was reportedly discarded by the court. A number of important witnesses in Santiesteban’s defence are said to have been overlooked, including three individuals who testified that he was not at the scene at the time that the crimes are alleged to have taken place, and the headmistress at his son’s school, who stated that the boy had confessed to her that his mother had forced him to make statements incriminating his father. The two-year sentence for trespassing is reportedly a year above the maximum one year penalty for such an offence.

Sanitesteban is a member of the official Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba – UNEAC). He has won a number of awards, including the Juan Rudolfo Prize from Radio France International (1989), National Prize from UNEAC (1995), Cesar Galeano award (1999), Alejo Carpentier Prize from the Cuban Book Institute for his short story collection Los hijos que nadie quiso (2001) and the Casa de las Américas Prize for his book Dichosos los que lloran (2006).

Please send appeals:

· Protesting the imprisonment of Hablemos Press journalist Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias in violation of his right to freedom of expression, guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Cuba signed in 2008;
· Calling for Martínez Arias to be released immediately and unconditionally;
· Expressing concern that the trials of former Granma correspondent José Antonio Torres and writer and blogger Ángel Santiesteban Prats apparently failed to meet international human rights standards for fair trials, outlined in Article 14 of the ICCPR;
· Calling on the Cuban authorities to provide assurances that Torres’ and Santiesteban’s sentences are not related to their reporting, and to make public details of their trials;
· Urging the Cuban authorities to remove unlawful restrictions on freedom of expression, association and assembly in Cuba.

Appeals to:
Head of State and Government
Raúl Castro Ruz
Presidente de la República de Cuba
La Habana, Cuba
Fax: +41 22 758 9431 (Cuba office in Geneva);
+1 212 779 1697 (via Cuban Mission to UN)
Email: cuba@un.int (c/o Cuban Mission to UN)
Salutation: Your Excellency

Attorney General
Dr. Darío Delgado Cura
Fiscal General de la República
Fiscalía General de la República
Amistad 552, e/Monte y Estrella, Centro Habana, La Habana, Cuba
Salutation: Dear Attorney General

Interior Minister
General Abelardo Coloma Ibarra
Ministro del Interior y Prisiones
Ministerio del Interior, Plaza de la Revolución, La Habana, Cuba
Fax: +1 212 779 1697 (via Cuban Mission to UN)
Email: correominint@mn.mn.co.cu
Salutation: Your Excellency

Please send also appeals to diplomatic representatives of Cuba in your country.
***Please send appeals immediately. Check with the WiPC if sending appeals after 20 April 2013***

For further details contact Tamsin Mitchell at the Writers in Prison Committee London Office: PEN International, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER UK, United Kingdom Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7405 0338 Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7405 0339 e-mail: tamsin.mitchell@pen-international.org

This post is also available in: Spanish

http://www.pen-international.org/newsitems/cuba-two-journalists-jailed-one-writer-sentenced-to-five-years-in-prison/