10 April 2003
Alert
Writer Martha Beatriz Roque among those sentenced to lengthy prison terms
Incident details
Hector Maseda Gutierrez, Martha Beatriz Roque, Ricardo González Alfonso sentenced(WiPC/IFEX) - The following is an 8 April 2003 International PEN letter to President Fidel Castro Ruz:
Dr Fidel Castro Ruz
Presidente de los Consejos de Estaco y de Ministros
La Habana
Cuba
Via Cuban Mission to the United Nations
Fax: +212 779 1697
8 April 2003
Excelencia,
The sentencing yesterday in Havana of the respected and courageous writer, Raúl Rivero Castañeda, to a twenty year prison term is a shocking blow to any hope of a lessening of restrictions against those in Cuba to dare to speak out against the government. At least twelve others were sentenced yesterday. Among them are Martha Beatriz Roque, a writer/economist, and
journalists Ricardo González Alfonso and Hector Maseda Gutierrez, all of whom also reportedly received 20 year sentences.
International PEN cannot express strongly enough its dismay and alarm at the trials, which are in blatant contradiction of international instruments that protect the right to freedom of expression and fair trial. International PEN calls on the Cuban authorities to recognise this as a serious breach of human rights, order the dropping of charges, release of all those who have been convicted, and to call a halt to the proceedings against those still on trial.
The defendants are among around 80 people arrested in a crackdown against dissidents that commenced on 18 March 2003. The trials, which started this week, are being held in closed session. The defendants are reported to have been accused of "conspiracy" and are accused of links with James Cason, Head of the US Interests Section in Havana, who had met with leading Cuban dissidents in the days prior to the crackdown. The swift legal processes provide an additional concern that the manner in which the trials are being carried out are far from fair, opening the Cuban authorities to further accusations of breaches of international human rights standards.
International PEN, the international association of writers representing members in 95 countries, is the leading voice of literature world wide. Its ultimate goal is the promotion of literature and writing as a means of bridging political, cultural, religious, ethnic and other divisions between peoples and nations. It sees the free criticism of government, such as has been expressed by many of the defendants on trial and detained in Cuba today, as imperative in the promotion of a healthy political and economic order.
Eugene Schoulgin
Chair, Writers in Prison Committee
Homero Aridjis
International President, International PEN
Terry Carlbom
International Secretary, International PEN
Recommended Action
Similar appeals can be sent to:
Dr Fidel Castro Ruz
Presidente de los Consejos de Estaco y de Ministros
La Habana, Cuba
C/o Cuban Mission to the United Nations
New York, NY
Fax: +212 779 1697
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
Source:
Writers in Prison Committee, PEN International
Brownlow House
50-51 High Holborn
London WC1V 6ER
United Kingdom
wipc (@) pen-international.org
Phone: +44 20 74050338
Fax: +44 20 74050339
@pen_int
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