Global call issued for release of jailed Cuban journalists

The worldwide organization’s resolutions were jointly adopted by the International Association of Broadcasting (IAB), World Association of Newspapers (WAN), World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC) and Inter American Press Association (IAPA).

The IAPA was represented by it president, Rafael Molina, editor of the Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, newspaper El Día, International Affairs Committee Chairman Jorge Canahuati, editor of the Honduras newspapers El Heraldo and La Prensa, and Executive Director Julio Munoz.

The Coordinating Committee also issued other resolutions that referred, among other issues, to “interference in news content” in Brazil and “unlawful radio activity.” In the latter case the organization declared that “in those countries where illegal broadcast stations operate, and cause harmful interference to the radio frequency spectrum it is fundamental that government exercise the necessary control by applying specific domestic legislation and the international treaties on the matter.”

Attached are the resolutions on Cuba and Venezuela.   

International Association of Broadcasting

World Association of Newspapers

Inter American Press Association

The members of the Global Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom Organizations at its meeting on November 21, 2006, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, issued the following resolution on:

WHEREAS

in Cuba press freedom and freedom of expression have been suppressed for 47 years

WHEREAS

the government is holding in prison Ricardo González Alfonso, Víctor Rolando Arroyo, Normando Hernández González, Julio César Gálvez, Adolfo Fernández Sainz, Omar Rodríguez Saludes, Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, Mijaíl Barzaga Lugo, Pedro Argüelles Morán, Pablo Pacheco Ávila, Alejandro González Raga, Alfredo Pulido López, Fabio Prieto Llorente, Iván Hernández Carrillo, José Luis García Paneque, Juan Carlos Herrera, Miguel Galván Gutiérrez, José Ubaldo Izquierdo, Omar Ruiz Hernández, José Gabriel Ramón Castillo, Lester Luis González Pentón, Alfredo Felipe Fuentes, Armando Betancourt, Alberto Gil Triay, Odelín Alfonso and Oscar Mario González

WHEREAS

many of the 26 prisoners are suffering from serious health problems while conditions of unhealthiness and overcrowding prevail in the prisons, made worse by poor diet, lack of medical treatment, abuse of the inmates and forced sharing of cells with highly dangerous common prisoners

WHEREAS

there has been an increase in the number of police intimidations, government reprisals, temporary detentions, house searches and harassment by mobs mobilized and instigated by State Security agents, acts that are carried out with complete impunity

WHEREAS

the government of Cuba engages in a highly restrictive policy in the issuance of work visas for foreign journalists

WHEREAS

journalist Guillermo Fariñas ended his seven-month hunger strike for health reasons, even though the reason for his protest – the lack of access to the Internet ­– remains unchanged

WHEREAS

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”

to demand the unconditional release of all imprisoned journalists and an end to government reprisals

to call upon the Cuban government to end its selective policy regarding the issuance of visas to foreign journalists

to call upon the government to respect international standards concerning the necessary mobility of journalists and to permit imprisoned journalists who already have visas to emigrate for health reasons to leave the country

to demand that the government accept the proposal of Guillermo Fariñas that the Internet be accessible by all Cuban citizens without restriction.  

International Association of Broadcasting

World Association of Newspapers

Inter American Press Association

The members of the Global Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom Organizations at their meeting on November 21, 2006, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, issued the following resolution on:

presidential elections will be held in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on December 3, 2006

WHEREAS

the control that the current Venezuelan president exercises over the branches of government has enabled it to legislate and put pressure on the judiciary and the actions of the Attorney General’s Office and as a result of that pressure there now exists in the country a structured legal framework to punish the media to the point of closing them down. At the same time, in recent months violence against independent journalists and news media has increased dramatically, with the murder of journalists, sabotage and aggressions being reported

WHEREAS

summonses issued by the Attorney General’s Office and independent media, their executives and journalists being put on trial for reporting and expressing opinions restrict freedom of expression and encourage self-censorship

WHEREAS

discrimination, bans and the placing of limits by the government of Venezuela on independent journalists and media in coverage of official activities denies the free practice of journalism and the people’s right to receive information

WHEREAS

the important role of journalists and news media is to inform the people and ensure access to all ideas and opinions, which is an essential right in any democratic system, especially within the framework of an electoral process

WHEREAS

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”

The Global Coordinating Committee resolves:

to condemn the repeated violation on the part of the Venezuelan government of the principles contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights concerning freedom of expression and the right to be informed, enshrined in Articles 57 and 58 of the Venezuelan Constitution

to warn that any act of intimidation, hostility, or direct or indirect attack that restricts the work of journalists and the independent media or that limits or controls the free dissemination of ideas and opinions is considered an attack upon Freedom of Expression that affects information concerning the electoral process

to ratify their support for Venezuelan journalists and news media

to reiterate to the government of Venezuela that it should restore respect for and observance of the norms on which the right to freedom of expression and to information in that country are based

to maintain permanent watch over the situation of independent journalists and news media in Venezuela.

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