Cuba
The Writers in Prison Committee of English PEN is deeply disturbed at the draconian prison sentences handed down to a host of writers and independent journalists on 3 and 4 April 2003 under laws governing the protection of the Cuban state. The arrests appear, at least in part, to have been made in reprisal for the continued detention in the US of five Cubans who infiltrated Miami-based anti-Castro groups.
According to information received by International PEN, writer/economist Marta Beatriz Roque, writer/journalist Raśl Rivero and 25 independent journalists were handed down sentences of between 14 and 27 years. The writers and journalists were arrested as part of a crackdown on alleged dissidents that began on 18 March and in which around 80 people were detained. As far as can be established, the majority were tried under Article 91 of the Penal Code and Law 88. Article 91 deals with charges of acting against "the independence of the territorial integrity of the state", the maximum penalty for which is death. Law 88 is a catch-all piece of legislation that has been used in the past as a means for sending writers and journalists to prison. It allows for prison sentences of up to twenty years for those found guilty of committing "acts that in line with imperialist interests are aimed at subverting the internal order of the Nation and destroying its political, economic, and social system."
The one-day court hearings were held behind closed doors and it is reported that there was insufficient time for the accused to put together a cogent defence. The accusations focused on the alleged conspiratorial dealings between the defendants and James Cason, the chief of the US Interests Section in Havana. In recent months Cason has considerably stepped up his contacts with Cubans who have voiced opposition to Fidel Castro.
An official statement on the Cuban government website (http://www.cubagov.cu/) explicitly condemns the alleged actions of James Cason and, by definition, those with whom he has allegedly conspired. The fact that the statement goes on to mention the so-called Five Heroes Cuban nationals who infiltrated Miami-based anti-Castro organisations suggests that the arrests may also have been made as a reprisal, and possibly as a bargaining chip to obtain their release. The Five Heroes have been detained in the US for the last four years. It is also worth noting that the crackdown coincided with the opening salvos in the conflict in Iraq.
The Cuban people have been deeply indignant on learning of the shameful and repeated provocations of the Chief of the US Interests Section in Cuba, evidently conceived and carried out as part of the hostile and aggressive policies of the current (US) Administration towards our country, with the close cooperation and support of the terrorist mafia in Miami and the extreme right in the United States.
Universal indignation has increased due to the cowardly and cruel vengeful measures taken against our five compatriots who, in an abitrary and underhand fashion, have been handed down long sentences, or life sentences in some cases, and are detained far from their homeland and families."
To read our petition to President Fidel Castro, click here