On eve of official visit, Spain's foreign minister asked to intercede on behalf of imprisoned journalists
Organisation:
Spanish foreign minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyaubé is due to begin a two-day official visit to Cuba on 2 April. In an open letter, Reporters Without Borders calls on him to intercede with the Cuban government on behalf of the 25 imprisoned journalists.
Mr. Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyaubé
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation
Madrid, Spain
Dear Foreign Minister, You are about to begin a two-day official visit to Cuba on 2 April at the invitation of your Cuban counterpart, Mr. Felipe Pérez Roque. Reporters Without Borders, a press freedom organisation, hopes that this visit will contribute to an improvement in the human rights situation in Cuba. This will be the first time that a foreign minister from a European Union member country has visited Cuba since the EU imposed political sanctions on Cuba after the “Black Spring” of March 2003. These sanctions were finally lifted in 2005 at your government's request, in the name of dialogue with the Cuban authorities. They will again be the subject of a debate among the member states in June. Four years after this unprecedented crackdown on Cuban dissidents, and despite the recent transfer of power to an acting president, Cuba still has 270 political prisoners. Twenty-five of them are contributors to small independent news agencies, some of whom - such as our own correspondent, Ricardo González Alfonso - are serving jail terms ranging from 14 to 27 years. Cuba is the world's second biggest prison for journalists, after China, and is the only country in the western hemisphere where there is no free speech or press freedom. A member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Cuba nonetheless undertook to “promote” and “ensure respect” for basic freedoms when it took over the rotating presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement in September 2006. Dialogue with the Cuban government, which is deaf to the international community's appeals, in no way precludes firmness towards it. You are the representative of one of the only governments likely to remind the Cuban authorities of their duty to act with humanity and justice. The imprisoned dissidents must be freed. We thank you in advance for giving this request your careful consideration. Sincerely, Robert Ménard
Secretary-General
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation
Madrid, Spain
Dear Foreign Minister, You are about to begin a two-day official visit to Cuba on 2 April at the invitation of your Cuban counterpart, Mr. Felipe Pérez Roque. Reporters Without Borders, a press freedom organisation, hopes that this visit will contribute to an improvement in the human rights situation in Cuba. This will be the first time that a foreign minister from a European Union member country has visited Cuba since the EU imposed political sanctions on Cuba after the “Black Spring” of March 2003. These sanctions were finally lifted in 2005 at your government's request, in the name of dialogue with the Cuban authorities. They will again be the subject of a debate among the member states in June. Four years after this unprecedented crackdown on Cuban dissidents, and despite the recent transfer of power to an acting president, Cuba still has 270 political prisoners. Twenty-five of them are contributors to small independent news agencies, some of whom - such as our own correspondent, Ricardo González Alfonso - are serving jail terms ranging from 14 to 27 years. Cuba is the world's second biggest prison for journalists, after China, and is the only country in the western hemisphere where there is no free speech or press freedom. A member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Cuba nonetheless undertook to “promote” and “ensure respect” for basic freedoms when it took over the rotating presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement in September 2006. Dialogue with the Cuban government, which is deaf to the international community's appeals, in no way precludes firmness towards it. You are the representative of one of the only governments likely to remind the Cuban authorities of their duty to act with humanity and justice. The imprisoned dissidents must be freed. We thank you in advance for giving this request your careful consideration. Sincerely, Robert Ménard
Secretary-General
Published on
Updated on
20.01.2016
