UPDATE July 20, 2021.- Following up on the statement that ARTICLE 19 and CUBALEX published on July 16, which indicated that Henry Constantin, director of La Hora de Cuba, along with collaborators Iris Mariño and Niefe Rigau; Orelvys Cabrera, of Cubanet News; Pedro Luis Hernández, of the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and Press (ICLEP) and Mario Félix Ramírez, of Árbol Invertido, were detained at that time, today we provide an update on the situation of the detained journalists.
At the time of this update, journalists Henry Constantin, director of La Hora de Cuba, Iris Mariño and Niefe Rigau, collaborators of this media outlet, and Orelvys Cabrera, collaborator of Cubanet News, remain detained.
In the case of the director and contributors of La Hora de Cuba, ARTICLE 19 contacted Henry's family, who reported that a habeas corpus petition had been filed with the Camagüey Provincial People's Court following his arrest. On July 15, the Court dismissed the habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Henry Constantin, Iris Mariño, and Niefe Rigau and ordered that they remain in custody.
In his argument, he stated that “the citizens […] were arrested on July 11th as a result of the disturbances caused that day by a group of people, among whom were these citizens, carrying out public disorder in the streets, acting offensively and violently by making indecent demonstrations and committing aggressive acts through the use of sticks and stones with which they attacked the people who confronted them, and in preventive support it was necessary for the authorities to take them to the police stations to proceed with different investigations, and in the specific case of the aforementioned citizens, the three were charged in complaint 10946/2021 associated with the crime of public disorder in its aggravated form […] and are subject to the imposition of the precautionary measure,” which implies that they will be in prison while their legal situation is defined.
It is important to note that from the date of their arrest, July 11, until July 16, the three people were detained in the Second Police Unit of Camagüey, where they were kept incommunicado until the 16th when they were transferred to the UTI, a place known for the torture practices they carry out against detainees, according to Henry's family.
On the other hand, the situation of Orelvys Cabrera, a contributor to Cubanet News, is not very different. According to the account his family shared with ARTICLE 19, Orelvys was detained by agents of the State Security Department on July 11 while covering the mass demonstrations in Cárdenas, Matanzas Province. To date, his family has not been able to see him, as the authorities have used the pandemic as a pretext. They have not been informed of the charges against him, and he has no legal representation. The only information they have is that he is under investigation by the State Security Department.
In light of these events, ARTICLE 19 demands that the State of Cuba guarantee fair and impartial judicial processes for detained journalists and that any hint of abuse of authority committed by officials subordinate to the Executive and Judicial branches be investigated.
Mexico City/Havana, July 16, 2021. ARTICLE 19 and Cubalex have documented the arbitrary detention of at least 11 journalists in Cuba following the citizen protests that began on July 11. As of the publication of this alert, 5 have not been released.
Since then, we have been able to observe how the Cuban government criminalizes and attacks protesters through the excessive and disproportionate use of force – which has resulted in a undetermined number of people injured and arrested—and police operations at the homes of journalists and activists, restricting their right to assembly, expression and peaceful demonstration, dissemination and access to information.
On July 11, Henry Constantín, Iris Mariño, Niefe Rigau, and Mario Félix Ramírez were arrested in Camagüey; Maykel González in Havana; Niober García and Rolando Rodríguez in Guantánamo; and Orelvys Cabrera in Matanzas. The following day, Camila Acosta Rodríguez was arrested in Havana. And on July 15, Alberto Corzo was arrested in Matanzas, and Pedro Luis Hernández in Sancti Spíritus.
Henry Constantin, director of The Hour of Cuba, along with collaborators Iris Mariño and Niefe Rigau; Orelvys Cabrera, from Cubanet News; Pedro Luis Hernández, from Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press (ICLEP) and Mario Felix Ramirez, from Inverted Tree, They remain in detention.
Some of the people who have been attacked already had a history of systematic harassment, such as Camila Acosta, a collaborator of the Spanish media outlet ABC and Cubanet News, who remains under house arrest after having obtained her freedom.
An example of the constant harassment of the press is the case of Iliana Hernandez, who has been under house arrest since April of this year, unable to leave to carry out journalistic or personal activities; a situation that has recently been replicated with journalists such as María Matienzo, Héctor Luis Valdés Cocho, Katherine Bisquet, and Luz Escobar, among others. It was also possible to record the digital attack to the Diario de Cuba website on July 14, which made access to the portal difficult.
These attacks are compounded by the imprisonment on April 30 of journalists Mary Karla Ares of Cibercuba and Esteban Rodríguez López of ADN Cuba in the context of protests near the home of artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who was on a hunger and thirst strike at his home under house arrest. Likewise, journalist Lázaro Yuri Valle Roca, detained on June 15, remains in custody.
As on other occasions, members of the National Revolutionary Police, the Riot Brigades and the State Security Department have been identified as the perpetrators of the attacks.
Because of this situation, ARTICLE 19 and Cubalex echo the call for dialogue That the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, made today a call for the Cuban government to immediately release all detainees, address the demands of the protesters through open dialogue, and respect the rights of people to assemble peacefully and to freedom of opinion and expression, as well as the full restoration of access to the internet and social media platforms.