Midyear Meeting
Cartagena de índias, Colombia
March 16 - 19, 2007
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CUBA
Midyear Meeting
Cartagena de índias, Colombia
March 16 - 19, 2007
WHEREAS
the Cuban government has shut down press freedom and its citizens’ right to free expression for 48 years
WHEREAS
the number of journalists in jail has increased to 28, most of them with serious health problems, and mistreatment, inadequate food and deficient health care are common in the prisons
WHEREAS
in the past six months repressive actions against independent journalists have increased, as they face police threats, public beatings, “acts of repudiation” by pro-government mobs, raids on their homes, fines, restrictions on travel within the country and prohibitions against emigration
WHEREAS
the Cuban authorities have imposed stricter regulation for the foreign press and recently took away the visas of three foreign correspondents in the country
WHEREAS
the Cuban government blocks citizens from free access to the Internet, and, at the same time, it tries to use the Internet as an area of propaganda and influence under strict government control
WHEREAS
Principle 1 of the Declaration of Chapultepec establishes that “no people or society can be free without freedom of expression and of the press. The exercise of this freedom is not something authorities grant, it is an inalienable right of the people”
WHEREAS
Principle 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec establishes that “Freedom of expression and of the press are severely limited by murder, terrorism, kidnapping, pressure, intimidation, the unjust imprisonment of journalists, the destruction of facilities, violence of any kind and impunity for perpetrators. Such acts must be investigated promptly and punished harshly”
THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES
to demand the unconditional release of all the jailed journalists and an end to government repression against independent newsgathering practices
to demand that the Cuban government allow the journalists who have received visas to leave the country immediately
to demand that the Cuban government treat the foreign press in accordance with international norms to condemn the arbitrary expulsion of three foreign correspondents accredited on the island
to demand that the Cuban government allow its citizens free access to the Internet and not limit use of the Internet to the dissemination of its own propaganda.
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