Freedom of Expression
Press Release R206/19
Office of the Special Rapporteur
condemns prison sentence against journalist Roberto Quiñones and expresses
concern about the persistence of criminalization and harassment against
communicators and human rights defenders in Cuba
August 20, 2019
Washington D.C. – The Office of the Special Rapporteur
for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
(IACHR) condemns the detention and conviction of one year in prison against the
independent journalist Roberto Jesús Quiñones Haces, for the alleged crimes of
"resistance and disobedience" in Guantanamo, Cuba. The Office of the
Special Rapporteur also expresses its concern regarding the persistence of
criminalization of those who exercise the right to freedom of expression on the
island, and notes that arbitrary detentions have been used as a method for
intimidation and harassment of activists, human rights defenders, and
journalists.
As the Office of the Special Rapporteur has remarked
in its recent Special Report on the Situation of Freedom of Expression in Cuba,
presented this year by Special Rapporteur Edison Lanza, state agents are the
main source of threats and attacks against the press, a practice that must be
dismantled and sanctioned. Acts of violence against journalists violate the right
of victims to express and disseminate their ideas, opinions, and information;
they generate a chilling and silencing effect on their peers and violate the
rights of people and societies in general to seek and receive information and
ideas of any kind. Its consequences for democracy—which depends on the free,
open, and dynamic exchange of ideas and information—are particularly serious.
On April 22, Quiñones was detained for five days. It
is reported that he was beaten by agents of the National Revolutionary Police
(PNR). The incident occurred while the journalist was covering a trial that the
Cuban State carried out against the married couple Rigal-Exposito, who were
prosecuted for the decision to homeschool their children.
This Office was informed about a series of processes
by which Quiñones would have tried to report the injuries caused by the police
during his detention. Among them, human rights organizations reported bruises, excoriations,
injuries, and perforation of his right eardrum. Even so, neither the provincial
nor the municipal court accepted the complaints. According to information from
the Attorney General's Office, he would have been transferred to the Delegation
of the Ministry of Interior, but Quiñones in reality was interrogated at the same
offices where his aggressors worked.
"They didn't admit the evidence I presented about the
injuries they caused me with that beating. They say they were self-inflicted
injuries," Quiñones told the CubaNet newspaper site, where he has been a ongoing
contributor for 12 years. The 62-year-old journalist reported that he refused
to pay a fine that would have stopped his trial, arguing that it would imply
admitting responsibility for the accusation.
On August 7, the Provincial Court of Guantanamo
notified Quiñones about the conviction of one year in prison for the crime of
resistance and disobedience. The journalist said that he is appealing so that
Provincial Court of Guantanamo accepts the evidence that the Municipal Court
would have rejected. While the appeal process goes on, Quiñones must remain at
his house and is banned from leaving the Guantanamo province or carrying out
any type of immigration process.
So far in 2019, this Office has monitored the increase
in acts of intimidation and harassment against activists, human rights
defenders, and independent journalists so that, through punishment or
intimidation, they refrain from exercising their right to comment express,
associate, and meet peacefully.
In the Special Report on the Situation of Freedom of Expression
in Cuba, the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression
recommended that the State ends the practice of harassment in the shortest
possible time, including citations, detentions of any duration, and harassment
of any person for reasons related to the exercise of their freedom of
expression, freedom of association, assembly, or other related freedoms.
"The State must stop the harassment and
criminalization of journalistic activity in Cuba and ensure that a pluralistic
journalism independent form State media can flourish," said country
Commissioner and Rapporteur Antonia Urrejola.
For his part, the Special Rapporteur Edison Lanza
recalled that the existing legal framework in Cuba puts independent journalists
in a situation of illegality due to the fact that they do not belong to the
Union of Journalists of Cuba (UPEC), and maintain a critical stance against the
Government. Based on this, he emphasizes that the repression of independent
journalists in Cuba constitutes a systematic and prolonged practice.
Likewise, this Office urges the State of Cuba to adopt
adequate prevention mechanisms to prevent violence against journalists,
including publicly condemning any act of aggression and training public
officials, especially police and security forces. It also urges the State to
carry out serious, impartial, and effective investigations into the
aggressions, threats, and acts of intimidation committed against journalists
and social media workers.
The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of
Expression was created by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)
with the aim of encouraging the defense of the right to freedom of thought and
expression in the hemisphere, given its fundamental role in consolidating and
developing the democratic system.