AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
URGENT ACTION APPEAL

UA 273/97 Prisoners of conscience / Legal concern 14 August 1997

CUBA

- William CORTES, correspondent for Cuba Press

- Efren MARTINEZ PURGARON, correspondent for Cuba Press

- Raul RIVERO CASTANEDA, journalist and founder of Cuba Press, aged 52

Three members of Cuba Press, an independent press agency, are reported to have been detained in recent days. None of the journalists is believed to have had access to a lawyer since arrest, and Amnesty International is concerned that they may be put under psychological pressure to sign incriminating statements or to agree to go into exile. The organization believes that all three are prisoners of conscience, detained solely for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression.

Raul Rivero Castaneda, the founder of Cuba Press, was detained by State Security officials at his home in Havana on 12 August. Officials are also reported to have searched his home for several hours, removing several files relating to Cuba Press, as well as books and documents. He was taken to Villa Marista, the headquarters of the Department of State Security. When his wife went there on 13 August, she was informed by an official that her husband was being held for 'posesion de documentos ilegales que constituyen un delito', 'possession of illegal documents which constitute a criminal offence'. She was also told that she should return on the 19 August with a lawyer to find out the exact charges against her husband.

Raul Rivero has been detained on several occasions in the past. The last time, on 28 July 1997, he was reportedly told that the authorities intended to destroy Cuba Press and that if he did not cease his activities, he would face long-term imprisonment. It is believed that the latest action against him may be due to his reporting of the arrest on 16 July of four members of the Grupo de Trabajo de la Disidencia Interna para el Analisis de la Situacion Socio-Economica Cubana, the Internal Dissidents' Working Group for the Analysis of the Cuban Socio-Economic Situation. The four remain in detention and are believed to be under investigation on a charge of 'propaganda enemiga', 'enemy propaganda', and possibly other serious charges.

Two other correspondents for Cuba Press are currently in detention in Pinar del Rio. William Cortes was detained on 28 July, together with several other journalists in that region. The others were released shortly afterwards but William Cortes has remained in detention at the State Security headquarters. No official explanation has been given for his arrest. Efren Martinez Purgaron was detained on 13 August in San Luis, Pinar del Rio. It is not yet clear where he is being held.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Since April at least 18 other independent journalists have been detained for short periods and threatened because of their activities. They include Luis Lopez Prendez, who was detained on 16 July and held for two days before being released. Another independent journalist, Lorenzo Paez Nunez, was arrested in Artemisa, Havana, on 10 July 1997, tried the following day in a municipal court and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for 'difamacion', 'defamation', and 'desacato', 'disrespect'. Two other independent journalists, Lazaro Lazo and Olance Nogueras, left the country on 28 July after having been subjected to serious threats and harassment because of their journalistic activities for the past two years. Upon arriving in the USA, Olance Nogueras reportedly said that he had been asked by State Security officials to persuade Raul Rivero to leave Cuba, and that if Rivero chose not to leave, he would face many years in prison.

All media in Cuba are state-controlled and freedom of expression, association and assembly are severely limited. In recent years a number of independent press agencies have emerged in an attempt to challenge the state monopoly on news but in the face of the restrictions are only able to disseminate their reports outside Cuba. Journalists working for such agencies suffer frequent harassment, short-term detention and threats that they will be imprisoned if they do not cease their activities or leave the country. Others have been tried and sentenced and have become prisoners of conscience.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail letters:

expressing concern at the reported arrest of Raul Rivero Castaneda, William Cortes and Efren Martinez Purgaron, all journalists working for Cuba Press; - urging that they be immediately and unconditionally released, on the grounds that they are prisoners of conscience, detained solely for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression; - urging that as long as they are in detention, they be provided with full judicial guarantees, including immediate and continuing access to a lawyer of their choice; - urging that members of Cuba Press and other freelance journalists be permitted to carry out their legitimate peaceful activities without interference from the authorities.

APPEALS TO:

1) Attorney-General:

Dr Juan Escalona Reguera

Fiscal General de la Republica

Fiscalia General de la Republica

San Rafael 3

La Habana, Cuba

Dear Attorney General:

[Telegrams: Fiscal General, Havana, Cuba]

[Telex: 307 511456 fisge]

2) Minister of the Interior:

General Abelardo Colome Ibarra

Ministro de Interior, Ministerio del Interior

Plaza de la Revolucion

La Habana, Cuba

Dear Minister:

[Telegrams: Ministro Interior, Havana, Cuba]

[Fax: 011 53 7 335261 / 011 53 7 333085 (via Foreign Affairs, ask for

fax to be forwarded)]

3) [For Raul Rivero only] Department of State Security, Havana:

Sr Director, Departamento de Seguridad del Estado

Villa Marista, Cuba

Dear Sir:

[Telegrams: Director, Seguridad del Estado, Villa Marista, Cuba]

4) [For William Cortes and Efren Martinez Purgaron only]:

Department of State Security, Pinar del Rio

Sr Director, Departamento de Seguridad del Estado

Pinar del Rio, Cuba

Dear Sir:

[Telegrams: Director, Seguridad del Estado, Pinar del Rio, Cuba]

COPIES TO:

Cuban Journalists Union (official body)

Union de Periodistas de Cuba

Calle 23 No. 452, Apartado 6656

Vedado, La Habana, Cuba

Editor of Granma (daily newspaper)

Sr Jacinto Granda de Laserna

Granma, Apdo 6260, La Habana, Cuba

Cuba has no embassy in the US at present.

to contact its interest in the US, write

Cuban Interests Section

Mr. Fernando Remirez de Estenoz

2630 - 16th St. NW

Washington, DC 20009

Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after September 17, 1997.