International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists: Taking a closer look at Cuba

"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." - Elie Wiesel, Nobel Lecture 1986

The United Nations has declared November 2nd the "International Day To End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists" and a call has been raised for accountability. Cuba has a terrible record with regards to journalism and journalists. For the sake of brevity will focus on a recent case, a cold case, and a brief summary of what happened to the press in Cuba over the past six decades.

On August 7, 2019 Roberto de Jesus Quiñones was sentenced to a year in prison in a rigged trial. Amnesty International has recognized the jailed journalist as a prisoner of conscience. On September 11, 2019 he began serving his time in prison. Roberto is in prison for being a journalist and covering a story in Cuba.

Cuban Independent journalist Roberto Quiñones in prison since September 11th

On April 22, 2019 Roberto de Jesús Quiñones was beaten up for covering the trial of a religious couple sentenced to prison for homeschooling their kids. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported on April 24th what had happened:

On April 22nd at around 2:00 p.m., Cuban police agents detained Quiñones, a contributor to the news website CubaNet, as he was standing outside of the Guantánamo Municipal Tribunal, according to CubaNet and the Association for Press Freedom (APLP), a Cuban press freedom organization. At the time of his detention, Quiñones was covering the trial of two Cuban evangelical pastors facing charges for homeschooling their children, CubaNet reported. While being transported in the police car, agents beat Quiñones, injuring his mouth, tongue, and right thumb and causing an inflammation in his right ear, his wife told APLP.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists in the same report "Cuba is one of the most hostile environments for the press in the world, and ranks among CPJ's 10 Most Censored Countries."

Roberto Quiñones was physically assaulted on April 22, 2019.

Providing historical context on journalism in Cuba over the past sixty years

Prior to 1959, Cuba had problems – an authoritarian dictatorship imposed in 1952 that was unwanted – however it did have numerous newspapers, radio stations and television that challenged the Batista regime along with a vibrant civil society that struggled and protested against the dictator.

Now with the arrival of the Castro regime in 1959 promising the restoration of democracy and the rule of law – the exact opposite was done. Mass executions were broadcast and filmed to terrorize the population. Independent newspaper editors, were first warned that their lives were at hazard if they wrote critically against the regime and within a year and a couple of months all of the independent newspapers were shutdown, on occasion by violent mobs organized by the dictatorship and replaced with regime publications subordinated to the communist party line.

On August 3, 2011, José Ignacio Rivero passed away in exile in Miami he was the last publisher of Cuba’s legendary Diario de la Marina from 1944 to 1960. It was a family paper handed down from father to son over three generations. José Ignacio was the son of Pepín Rivero (publisher from 1919-1944) and the grandson of its founder Nicolás Rivero. It was Cuba’s longest running newspaper with the highest circulation with roots back to two newspapers: 1813 with El Lucero de la Habana (The Havana Star) and the Noticioso Mercantil (The Mercantile Seer) whose 1832 merger established El Noticioso y Lucero de la Habana, which in 1844 was renamed the Diario de la Marina.

This newspaper gave voice to a wide range of opinion. It gave a platform to many distinguished Cuban intellectuals. From 1902 to 1959 it defended the best interests of a democratic Cuba, while opposing the dictatorships of Gerardo Machado in the 1930s and Fulgencio Batista in the 1950s. It was the only newspaper in Cuba that published the letters of Huber Matos, one of the commanders of the revolution, denouncing the emerging communist dictatorship written from his prison cell after his October 1959 arrest for “counter-revolutionary treason”.

On May 12, 1960—the Diario de la Marina newspaper was closed, a day after José Ignacio Rivero took refuge in the Peruvian Embassy in Havana. The day following the closing of La Marina, Cuba's last remaining privately-owned newspaper (Prensa Libre) “Free Press” was attacked by a mob and shut down. La Marina’s offices and equipment were confiscated by the dictatorship and used to publish its dictatorship controlled newspapers.

Things did not improve over the next six decades. 

The Cold Case: Omar Darío Pérez Hernández
Omar Darío Pérez Hernández was an independent journalist in Cuba and he has been missing since 2004. He was just 39 years old at the time of his disappearance. They said that the secret police were threatening him with prison and that he and three others had set out to leave the country on December 7, 2003 but they were never heard from again.

Omar Darío Pérez Hernández missing since 2003

One of the things that had outraged Castro's secret police was Omar Darío's video interview of young university students expelled from school in November of 2002 for having signed the Varela Project.

In a grainy video Omar asked Roger Rubio Lima, Joan Columbié Rodríguez and Harold Cepero Escalante about what had happened. In Cuba asking who, what, where, when and why can get you jailed, killed or in the case of Omar Darío disappeared.

Sixty one days after his disappearance his poor 60 year old mother, Zenaida Hernández Nápoles, exclaimed: ""I'm desperate, I have the hope that they are alive, although sometimes I think the worst."

Fifteen years with no answers. Fifteen years without justice. Fifteen years of impunity.

Nine years later on July 22, 2012 Harold Cepero Escalante, one of the students who had been expelled from university for signing Project Varela and interviewed by Omar, was killed along with Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas.

We the living have an obligation to ask: What happened to Omar Darío Pérez Hernández? We also have an obligation to demand that Roberto de Jesús Quiñones be freed immediately, and finally we must continue to demand that a free and independent press be legal once again in Cuba.

Please tell the Castro regime to end impunity for crimes against journalists, free jailed reporters, and recognize that Cubans have a right to a free press.

Repression rising in Cuba, opposition leader threatened with prison or being disappeared

Urgent notice from Cuba. Possible death threat.

MCL Coordinator in Santiago de Cuba, Eliécer Porto arrested by the political police.

Eliecer Porto, MCL

Eliecer Porto, Coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement in Stgo de Cuba has been arrested and interrogated today by the political police of Palma Soriano.

He was threatened with "imprisonment or disappearance." There have been numerous occasions when he and other members of the MCL have received this kind of threats

"The regime intends to suffocate the opposition, the level of repression is very high and very punctual and personalized," says MCL National Coordinator Eduardo Cardet

Original text here.

Amnesty International: #LiuXiaobo died unjustly in custody, but we can still make China free #LiuXia.

"Her husband Liu Xiaobo died unjustly in custody, but we can still make China free Liu Xia." - Amnesty International

Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia in happier times

Chinese activist Rose Tang over FaceBook called for solidarity with Liu Xiaobo's widow, Liu Xia who has been forcibly disappeared and following her request signed and shared the petition and her call to action below:

"#LiuXiaobo's poet/artist wife Liu Xia has been missing since her husband died of liver cancer in Chinese police custody on July 13. She's been under house arrest for 7 years since Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. Her only "crime" is that she's Liu's widow. She's been suffering from severe depression and heart disease.
We're very worried she's been detained, and even worse, she could be murdered by the Chinese government. She was last seen in this photo (below) released by the state-owned propaganda media -- she was being forced to watch the sea burial of Liu's ashes. Liu Xiaobo was cremated merely 2 days after he passed away. His plea from his death bed to let him and Liu Xia leave China to be treated in the west was denied by Beijing.
Pls sign and share this Amnesty International petition for Liu Xia. Thanks!"

Liu Xia forced to watch the sea burial of Liu Xiaobo's ashes

China: Free Liu Xia

Liu Xia has been kept in isolation since October 2010, and she has suffered from psychological stress, anxiety and depression as a result.

Her crime? She refused to stop trying to release her wrongfully imprisoned husband.
Artist, poet, and human rights defender, Liu Xia was placed under illegal house arrest and heavy surveillance and harassed by the Chinese authorities, ever since her late husband Liu Xiaobo was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

Especially now that her husband has passed, it’s time the Chinese authorities stop cruelly punishing Liu Xia.

Her husband, Liu Xiaobo, helped devise a call for political reform in China, known as Charter 08. All he did was exercise his human rights: but as a result, he was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment in 2009 for "inciting subversion of state power". He was recognized by Amnesty International as a Prisoner of Conscience.
He was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer in May and despite repeated requests from Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia, the Chinese authorities refused to let them travel abroad for treatment.
Although Liu Xiaobo has passed away on 13 July while on medical parole,  he leaves behind a powerful legacy to inspire others to continue the struggle for human rights in China. Our greatest tribute to him will be to ensure that Liu Xia is free to do the same.

Sign the petition and urge Chinese authorities to end the illegal house arrest and surveillance of Liu Xia, stop the harassment and allow her to travel freely:

"We urge your government to end the illegal house arrest and surveillance of Liu Xia, stop her harassment and allow her to travel freely.
Chinese poet, artist and human rights defender Liu Xia was placed under illegal house arrest and heavy surveillance ever since her late husband, Liu Xiaobo, was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

Following her husband's death, it’s time the Chinese authorities stop cruelly punishing Liu Xia."

Source: https://www.amnesty.org/en/get-involved/take-action/china-free-liu-xia/

 

AI Urgent Action for 43 disappeared Mexican Students and Miami shows it solidarity at Cafe Tacvba Concert

"Where are the 57 students missing after confronting police in Guerrero, Mexico?" -  Rosa María Payá over twitter on September 30, 2014

Tonight in Miami at the launch of Cafe Tacvba's tour the missing students are remembered

Rosa María Payá asked the question back on September 30, 2014 and the news is grim 28 bodies have been found in unmarked graves but have not been identified and Amnesty International has an urgent action underway for 43 missing students. On the opening night in Miami of the iconic Mexican rock band Cafe Tacvba tour celebrating 25 years since its founding the audience displayed a banner throughout the concert that ended up on stage that read "We are all Ayotzinapa - 43 WITH LIFE - Florida is with you AYOTZINAPA."  

Students at the Attorney General Office in D.F. over 43 students missing in Mexico

 Below is the latest Urgent Action from Amnesty that outlines what has happened and calls people of good will to action. The students have been missing since September 26, 2014.


Document - Mexico: Further information: Disappeared students still missing in Mexico

Further information UA: 246/14 Index: AMR 41/039/2014 Mexico Date: 7 October 2014

 

URGENT ACTION 

 

disappeared students still missing in mexico

The 43 disappeared students are still missing after being fired at by police and later attacked by unknown individuals in Iguala, Guerrero state. Twenty-eight bodies have been found in unmarked mass graves near Iguala, but their identities remain unclear and the search for those abducted continues.

The 43 students remain disappeared since 26 September in the city of Iguala, Guerrero state, southern Mexico. Around 25 of them had been arrested by municipal police, while those remaining were abducted by unidentified armed men operating with the acquiescence of local authorities, a few hours later. All missing students are victims of enforced disappearances. On 5 October Guerrero state officials found six unmarked mass graves near Iguala, apparently as a result of information provided by some of the 22 municipal police presently under arrest. At least 28 bodies have been exhumed, but forensic tests will have to be carried out in order to identify the remains. It is not yet clear if the bodies are those of the abducted students. On the basis of a petition from representatives of relatives of victims, independent international forensic experts are assisting with the identification process.

The Federal Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR) has taken up the investigation into the unmarked graves and the identification of the dead bodies. However, the investigation into the enforced disappearances and murder of six others on 26 September, including establishing the whereabouts of the 43 students, remains with the Guerrero state Attorney General’s Office despite allegations of possible links with criminal groups and its repeated failure to carry out effective investigations into grave human rights violations. The seriousness of these enforced disappearances and killings couple with the involvement of organized criminal groups are grounds for the PGR to claim jurisdiction in the cases, but so far it has stopped short of doing so.

 

Please write immediately in Spanish, English or your own language:

Urging the Federal Attorney General (PGR) to assume full responsibility for the investigation into the enforced disappearance of 43 students in order to establish their whereabouts promptly, ensure their physical and mental safety and bring those responsible to justice;

Urging the PGR to carry out a full, prompt and impartial investigation into the killing of six people on 26 September and the wounding of many others at the hands of Iguala municipal police and unidentified armed men;

Calling on the authorities to keep the relatives of all victims adequately informed and give them support and protection in accordance with their wishes, including supporting the work of international forensic experts;

Calling for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the attack and abduction of students on 26 September, including the repeated failure of state and federal authorities to investigate frequent reports of collusion between local public officials and criminal gangs.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 18 NOVEMBER 2014 TO:

Minister of Interior

Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong

Secretario de Gobernación

Bucareli 99, col. Juárez, C.P. 6600, México D.F., México

Fax: +52 55 5093 3414 (keep trying)

Email: secretario@segob.gob.mx

Twitter: @osoriochong

Salutation: Dear Minister / Estimado Ministro

Attorney General

Jesús Murillo Karam

Procuraduría General de la República

Reforma 211-213, Col. Cuauhtémoc, C.P. 06500, Mexico City, Mexico

Fax: +52 55 5346 0908

Email: ofproc@pgr.gob.mx or click here

Twitter: @PGR_mx

 Salutation: Dear Attorney General / Estimado Señor Procurador

 

And copies to:

Local human rights organization

Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña “Tlachinollan”

Email: accion.urgente@tlachinollan.org

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:

Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the first update of UA 246/14. Further information: www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR41/038/2014/en

URGENT ACTION

disappeared students still missing in mexico

Additional Information

Some 500 students attend the Raúl Isidro Burgos Rural Teacher Training College (Escuela Normal Rural Raúl Isidro Burgos) in the town of Ayotzinapa, Guerrero state, some 300km south of Mexico City. They receive training to become primary school teachers in rural communities. Some of the local inhabitants are of Indigenous origin. In general, these communities – and the students themselves – are poor and suffer from high levels of discrimination, marginalization and lack of access to basic services.

The students at the rural training college are also politically active and they have staged many demonstrations in relation to rural teachers, education policy and other political issues. Acts of violence have been reported in some of these demonstrations, and public authorities have frequently blamed the student teachers. The training colleges have frequently been starved of resources in recent years as rural education has not been a priority.

In December 2011 Ayotzinapa students who were protesting on the main highway outside Chilpancingo, the state capital, were attacked by state and federal police resulting in three deaths, two of them students. At least 24 people suffered torture and other ill-treatment. Those police and superiors responsible for the abuses against students have never been held to account, encouraging a climate of impunity. Amnesty International has highlighted this case many times, most recently in its report Out of control: Torture and other ill-treatment in Mexico (http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR41/020/2014/en).

Arbitrary detention, torture and other forms of ill-treatment are widespread and persistent across Mexico. Most cases take place in the context of criminal investigations in which those arrested are tortured in order to extract “confessions” or “information”. Those implicated in torture, including police, army and navy, are very rarely brought to justice, with just seven convictions recorded to date at the federal level. Torture victims frequently face insurmountable challenges to prove their cases, including official forensic examinations which are rarely applied in time and in line with international human rights standards.

Abduction and disappearances remain routine in Mexico with public officials often acting in collusion with criminal gangs. The 43 students who have been forcibly disappeared since 26 September are part of the more than 22,000 cases of people who are missing or disappeared in Mexico and whose whereabouts remain unknown, according to government figures released in August 2014. The government has repeatedly failed to explain how they have calculated this figure, as well as any further information about those cases. It is unknown how many of those people have been victims of enforced disappearances in which public officials are directly or indirectly involved. 

In 2013 the Federal Attorney General’s Office set up a specialized unit to investigate cases of abductions and disappearances and establish the whereabouts of victims. To date, they have not released any detailed information regarding its effectiveness. For further information see Confronting a nightmare: Disappearances in Mexico (http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR41/025/2013/en).

Further information on UA: 246/14 Index: AMR 41/039/2014 Issue Date: 7 October 2014

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR41/039/2014/en/1b6e7cf9-e962-43fc-8d47-05748682d65a/amr410392014en.html