Is Cuba coming to Seattle at the the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP)? Press freedoms violated by revolutionaries in control

Have constitutional rights been suspended at the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP)

Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) in Seattle Washington

Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone "CHAZ" renamed now the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP), consists of six city blocks that protesters have taken over, is apparently following aspects of the the Cuban model of policing when dealing with journalists who record them without their permission. The video below starting at 3 hours and 44 minutes starts calm, but then the sound of gun fire erupts, followed by CHOP security coming in and trying to censor the citizen journalist at 3 hours and 50 minutes.

Here's my unedited footage of the shooting at the Seattle #CHAZ / #CHOP free zone tonight: https://t.co/7nAsWHAc50

I have no details on what happened besides what appears in the video. Afterwards no one laid hands on me but they did take my phone. They then gave it back. ↓

— Shawn Whiting (@ShawnGui_) June 22, 2020

Citizen journalist Shawn Gui was recording with a live feed from his phone when shooting erupted, and shortly afterwards the CHOP's security forces grabbed his camera and tried to delete it.

Daily Wire reported what transpired:

On Sunday night, a second shooting occurred in Seattle’s so-called “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,” dubbed “CHAZ” or “CHOP,” that was captured via livestream by Twitch user Shawn Whiting.
In footage of the aftermath of the shooting, a member of CHAZ “security” is seen stealing Whiting’s phone and demanding he “delete” the damning footage.

“Whiting was livestreaming on Twitch for just under four hours,” reported NOQ Report posted Monday morning. “Near the end, gunshots can be heard. At the time, it was unclear if the noise was actual gunshots or fireworks, but his phone continued to livestream after it was taken by a member of CHOP ‘security.’ The man who carried the phone away confirmed at least one person had been shot.”
Following the ring of gunfire, folks in CHAZ who’ve reached safety call the area a “war zone.”
“Another n***** just got shot,” one man says. “This is a war zone.”
Whiting suggests the shooting, the second in just two days (the Saturday shooting included at least one fatality), will be the “end of CHOP.”
“This is kind of a nightmare,” the Twitch user says aloud.
Earlier this month, far-left protesters including Antifa and Black Lives Matter supporters commandeered six blocks of property, including the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct, which has since been abandoned.

At one point during the stream, Whiting is questioned by a “security” member of CHAZ and told to delete the footage. Whiting suggests he has permission to live-stream, directing the man to a person named “James Madison.”
“Give me that f***ing phone, man,” the man tells Whiting. “What the f*** are you doing? … Hey, hey! Delete that s***! Delete that f***ing s***!”
“That’s my phone!” Whiting says after his phone is stolen.
“I do not give a f***,” CHAZ “security” replies. “I do not care.”

Last week The Progressive, a publication founded in 1909 in Madison, Wisconsin published an article titled "Foreign Correspondent: Police Lessons From Cuba" by Reese Erlich that claimed "Contrary to the image of brutal and repressive communists, police in Cuba offer an instructive example for activists in the United States." 

At the time I outlined that in Cuba individuals uploading images of the police on a digital platform with out their permission would be guilty of violating Cuban law  and it would be compounded if the images portrayed the police in a negative light. 

At the time I naively pointed out that a law, patterned after Cuba's, would require those who record police on or off the job to get the approval of the police officer recorded before sharing the video with any digital platforms, and that it would run afoul of First Amendment  guarantees.

Evan Gerstmann writing in Forbes said, "The situation inside CHOP represents an egregious deprivation of its residents’ constitutional rights. The residents of the area have not consented to being ruled over by the leaders of CHOP. They have not consented to the withdrawal of police protection of their persons and property or to violations of freedom of the press."  

Americans in 2020 in six city blocks of Seattle, Washington are getting a little taste of Cuba. Reading the manifesto of some of the protesters, if they have their way many more Americans will be experiencing what being derived of your Constitutional rights feels like, but hey for the folks tearing down statues of Washington, and Jefferson all that is so 1787.

Hey #CHAZ or #CHOP or whatever they call themselves is applying the Cuba policing strategy that @theprogressive said Americans could learn from: https://t.co/dVIGhTSr4N They are confiscating cameras and deleting video that makes them look bad. https://t.co/nGFGgaS4J9 pic.twitter.com/6Gqap3kZyd

— Justice for the Four (@justiceforthe4) June 23, 2020

End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists: Cuba

Remembering Missing Cuban Journalist on this day

The United Nations has declared November 2nd "International Day To End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists" and a call has been raised for accountability. Unfortunately, the United Nations General Assembly wasn't listening when it elected China, Cuba, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and other systematic human violators to the UN Human Rights Council last week.

Therefore instead of focusing on the deteriorating situation world wide and the increasing challenges faced by journalists in a hostile environment will instead speak out for a journalist who can no longer speak for himself.

Omar Darío Pérez Hernández missing since 2003

His name is Omar Darío Pérez Hernández and he was an independent journalist in Cuba and 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.

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."

Thirteen years with no answers.

Thirteen years without justice.

Thirteen 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 remember them and continue to ask questions and demand answers.

Press Freedom in Decline in the Western Hemisphere

Freedom in retreat?

"No country safe from the censorship power," concludes the IAPA

Charleston, SC (October 6, 2015).- The 71st General Assembly of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA ), which gathered more than 300 media executives and journalists, ended today after five days of sessions. The following document summarizes the debates and discussions that took place over press freedom in the Western Hemisphere.

CONCLUSIONS

of the 71th General Assembly

October 2 – 6, 2015

 

Unremitting violence against media outlets and journalists; the proliferation of laws, initiatives, and pressures from governments attempting to control the free flow of information both in the traditional media and on new media platforms; restrictions on access to public information; the discriminatory placement of government advertising; and greater concentration of media outlets in the hands of those with ties to governments. These were the warnings sounded most loudly by the publishers gathered at the 71st General Assembly of the Inter American Press Association.

No country in the Americas is safe from the wave of censorship that is spreading like a massive oil spill. This is true even in countries that have traditionally upheld press freedom, in some cases under the paradoxical pretext of promoting pluralism, of ensuring the “right to forget,” or of stopping “hate speech.” This, combined with the rising prominence of thugs affiliated with drug trafficking and urban gangs, poses clear risks for civil liberties, and for freedom of expression and freedom of the press in particular, and hence for the strengthening of democracy in the Americas.

The unlawful actions of organized crime, drug trafficking gangs, and parapolice groups — many of which have gone unpunished — have left a toll of 11 journalists killed since March 2015: three each in Brazil and Mexico, two in Guatemala, and one each in Colombia, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. In Colombia, the statute of limitations ran out on two 1995 killings, although it should be noted that former Congressman Ferney Tapasco was convicted of ordering the murder of Orlando Sierra.

Various countries in the region saw physical assaults, attacks, acts of coercion and threats against journalists and media outlets for reasons related to their work. In Bolivia, three journalists were detained and temporarily jailed in retaliation for their reporting on government corruption. Acts of repression were directed against reporters covering elections in Guatemala and Argentina, and against those reporting on conflicts and social protests in Peru, Ecuador and Brazil.

In Venezuela, where the government is establishing totalitarian control over the media, 287 violations of press freedom have been documented so far this year, including assaults on journalists, efforts to criminalize the work of journalists, and restrictions on access to information. In a positive development, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a ruling in early September ordering the return of equipment and licenses to RCTV, but this ruling has been ignored thus far by the administration of Nicolás Maduro.

In Cuba, despite the reestablishment of relations between the Cuban and U.S. governments, little progress has been made in freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom of the press, and two journalists remain behind bars. The methods of repression include censorship of critical websites, inspection of emails, suspension of mobile phone service, and physical and verbal attacks on activists and independent journalists.

In Ecuador, the climate of repression from oversight entities tasked with enforcing the Communication Act remains in place. Penalized media outlets and organizations invoked their constitutional right to resistance. A proceeding that would have dissolved FUNDAMEDIOS was dismissed, but the threats remain. The Saturday presidential addresses continue, in which those who dare to dissent from the government line are called out and stigmatized. In Argentina and Venezuela, the respective presidents abusively use national networks to air partisan propaganda and lambaste their critics.

Abuses and the discriminatory use of government advertising are on the rise in Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Mexico.

In the United States, the Justice Department revealed that in 2014 it issued two subpoenas and a search warrant, and that it twice authorized the questioning of media outlets and journalists. Two reporters who covered last year’s unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, were charged with “interference” and “trespassing.”

Restrictions on access to government-held information were exacerbated in Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

In Chile, proposed laws could constitute severely undermine press freedom, including through interference in the editorial line of media outlets, restrictions on property rights and the undermining of the right to free enterprise, harm to journalistic enterprises and journalists, and restrictions on access to information.

In Panama, a bill currently under consideration would require journalists to be members of professional associations and would establish prison terms for illegally practicing journalism, among other serious restrictions. The investigations into illegal wiretappings of journalists are ongoing.

The concentration of media outlets in the hands of government entities or of people with ties to the government is an increasing phenomenon in the Americas. In Paraguay, for example, a business group linked to President Horacio Cartes purchased a group of media outlets, triggering controversy over the concentration of media in the hands of those close to the government. In Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega maintains firm control over media outlets and journalists. Only one television station, one radio station, and one newspaper remain as independent media outlets; the remainder are owned by the Ortega family or by people close to them. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa failed to fulfill his commitment to reprivatize the media outlets that had been expropriated by his administration. And Argentina has seen a proliferation of multimedia groups born and raised on government advertising, despite paltry audience numbers.

In Uruguay, the online surveillance program of the Interior Ministry has caused concern, and pending before the Supreme Court are 18 claims seeking to have the Law of Audiovisual Communication Services declared unconstitutional.

In Costa Rica, meanwhile, a proposed law on radio and television that was hostile to private enterprises and press freedom was set aside, and initiatives to regulate government advertising, decriminalize the work of journalists, and legalize community radio stations are under consideration. Still, free journalism continues to face a number of threats.

Also worth noting are the coordinated efforts of press freedom organizations in the region, such as the recently formed Quito Forum, which put forward an action plan to demand that press freedom be upheld in Ecuador.

http://www.sipiapa.org/en/no-country-safe-from-the-censorship-power-concludes-the-iapa/

Press Freedom: Believing the government can be dangerous to your freedom

 Yesterday was World Press Freedom Day and Raul Castro remains designated as one of the predators of press freedom, by Reporters Without Borders but a closer look is needed. Raul Castro criticized the lack of quality journalism in Cuba in his Report To The 6th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, April 6, 2011 and issued the following call for:

"The Cuban media in its various formats should play a decisive role in the pursuit of this goal with clarifications and objective, continuous and critical reports on the progress of the updating of the Economic Model ...Written materials and television and radio programs should be produced that catch the attention of the audience with their content and style while encouraging public debate." 

 Most Cubans, journalists among them, are completely jaded and cynical about such calls by the dictatorship for reform and wisely so based on the past 54 years of Cuban history. Sadly, on occasion someone actually believes what the Cuban government is peddling and goes out on a limb.

The latest victim is José Antonio Torres, a writer for the official publication Granma, who foolishly bought into Raul Castro's previous calls for quality journalism and wrote stories "about the mismanagement of an aqueduct project in Santiago de Cuba and the installation of fiber-optic cable between Venezuela and Cuba. Torres’s 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 characterize the (Communist) Party press: transparent, critical, and self-critical,'" reported Pen America and went on to describe the price paid by Antonio Torres for his professionalism:

"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."

Learning about the circumstances surrounding this case brought back memories of Sacha Baron Cohen's movie, The Dictator and the scene were the nuclear scientist is speaking candidly to the dictator about rocket design and they tyrant responds "lets agree to disagree" then signals to his security apparatus to have him killed.


If it weren't so tragic it would be funny.

IAPA condemns increased harassment in Cuba

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 print publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere. Today, it condemned over 400 detentions over the month of September in Cuba, the systematic violation of free expression and intimidation of foreign press correspondents. For more information on Cuba from IAPA the April 6, 2011 country report is also available here.



Points to the absence of solidarity of Latin American governments with the Cuban people

Miami (September 29, 2011)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today condemned a recent escalation in Cuban repression of dissidents, violations of freedom of expression and obstacles to foreign correspondents, an issue that will be taken up by a special committee of the organization at its General Assembly to be held in Lima, Peru, October 14-18.

In an incident Tuesday political police officers beat and insulted Martha Beatriz Roque, head of the Cuban Community Communicators Network (RCCC), Arnaldo Ramos Lauzerique, a member of that organization, and Berta Soler, of the Ladies in White group and a former political prisoner, who declared, “I have been arrested and mistreated many times … but never like I was beaten today.” She added, “The blows really hurt, but what hurts more is the lack of freedom.”

IAPA President Gonzalo Marroquín said, “The lack of respect in Cuba for freedom of expression, of the press and of assembly -- pillars in any political system that should respect human rights -- are a reflection of an archaic regime that stifles and harasses criticism and demands for change by citizens.”

The Cuban Human Rights and National Reconciliation Commission reports that the repression of independent and opposition media has become more frequent, and that this month alone 400 arbitrary detentions have taken place, ranging from a few hours to several days – the highest number of arrests in the last 10 years according to that organization.

“Added to this repression, “Marroquín declared, “is the regime’s failure to abide by promises to allow greater access to the Internet – all of which just goes to show the fear the authorities have of the flow of information and how they seek to prevent effects such as those of the Arab Spring.”

Marroquín, president of the Guatemala City, Guatemala, newspaper Siglo 21, added that the repression is also aimed at the foreign press. He recalled the cases of the new bureau chief of Agence France Presse news agency and that of Mauricio Vicent, correspondent of Spanish newspaper El País and Cadena Ser radio, both of whom were denied permission to work in Cuba.

“What is noteworthy is the absence of solidarity shown by Latin American governments to the Cuban people and their failure to denounce human rights violations. The only solidarity we have noted to date is that which the governments are giving the Raúl Castro regime,” Marroquín said.

He added that while the government freed imprisoned journalists during the Black Spring (March 2003), the majority of whom were sent into exile in Spain, “it now appears that the regime has redoubled its efforts to punish and censor all dissidence.”

Since July last year, following talks between the Cuban authorities, the Roman Catholic Church and the Spanish government, a total of 22 independent journalists have been released from jail and ordered to leave Cuba, most of them going to Spain.

http://www.sipiapa.org/v4/index.php?page=cont_comunicados&seccion=detalles&idioma=us&id=4619

Another Sunday in Cuba: More repression and news bureaus remain silent

Ladies in White harassed and detained in Cuba again this Sunday

Update: Yoani Sanchez lists on twitter those detained today in Matanzas: Arrested today Yaneris Perez, Laura Pollan, Caridad Burunate, Sara M Fonseca, Julio L Perez, Carlos Olivera, Lazaro Diaz, and Francisco Rangel.

Today, regime agents were at it again detaining Ladies in White and their supporters, to prevent them from attending Mass. Laura Pollán, spokeswoman for the Ladies in White was detained in Colón, Matanzas on her way to join with women attending Mass there and returned to Havana. Others were detained, according to Yoani Sanchez, among them Jose Alberto Alvarez whose wife can be reached at +53 53341878 to inquire about his whereabouts. The regime is advertising ahead of time its continuing violence against nonviolent Cuban activists such as the Ladies in White. As usual the dictatorship blames the United States as the cause for the women's protests not that their loved ones have been unjustly imprisoned and deserve to be free. News bureaus remain mute on this ongoing story. Thankfully international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Frontline, Human Rights First have not remained silent and along with a few international media outlets reported on what is taking place.



The beatings carried out last week led to the hospitalization of one of the activists spitting up blood for days following the brutal attack reported human rights defender and former prisoner of conscience Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia above. Martha Beatriz Roque over twitter identified the activist as Nivaldo Amelo Ramirez and the hospital he was admitted to the provincial hospital Saturnino Lora.



Ten activists continue detained in inhumane conditions after last weekend's repression and Ladies in White and continue to suffer harassment from state security agents reported Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia above. None of this has been reported by the news bureaus in Cuba.

However, there is now light into what is taking place in the lack of coverage. According to an Associated Press story, several correspondents on the island in recent months, who have been reporting in an impartial manner, have had their credentials revoked. The latest is Mauricio Vicent, correspondent for EL PAÍS and Cadena Ser, a winner of Spain's 1998 International Press Club award for best work.

This sends a chilling message to serious reporting on the island which explains why, while the Ladies in White and other activists have been brutalized by agents of the Cuban dictatorship and large crowds of Cubans have responded denouncing the regime agents, there has been little coverage of these newsworthy stories.



In conclusion, the dictatorship's strategy is one of more repression and more intimidation against nonviolent activists and the press that should be covering them. The response by people of good will is to denounce both and highlight what is taking place. One way to do it is to take action with Amnesty International.

Reporters Without Borders Names Raúl Castro a predator of press freedom

Raúl Castro: one of forty predators of press freedom

Raúl Castro - Cuba President of the Council of State and Council of Ministers

Fidel Castro passed the reins of power to his younger brother Raúl, the defence minister, five days after falling ill on 26 July 2006 and undergoing a major operation. Formally confirmed as President of the Council of State on 24 February 2008, Raúl has behaved little better than his brother as regards human rights, despite a few cautious hints of a possible opening. The so-called transition period saw continued harassment of independent journalists including police brutality, summonses and searches by State Security (the political police) and detention for short periods. Nineteen of the journalists arrested during the March 2003 “Black Spring” continue to serve jail terms ranging from 14 to 27 years in appalling conditions. A 20th journalist has been held without trial since 2005. Five others have been imprisoned since Raúl took over. With a total of 25 journalists detained, Cuba is one of the world’s biggest prisons for the media, just behind China and Iran.

http://en.rsf.org/spip.php?page=predateur&id_article=37206