Quarterly appeal for Cuban library prisoners, and progress report
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Steve Marquardt
Mar 19, 2009, 11:52:05 AM3/19/09
to Cuba451Letters
Please send the following message, or your own variation thereof, on
the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the crackdown in independent
library owners in Cuba. This appeal is based upon an appeal posted
this month by the Committee to Protect Journalists, at
http://cpj.org/2009/03/eu-envoy-urged-to-seek-release-of-jailed-cubans.php.
I learned of this CPJ appeal only yesterday, March 18, but because
there will be subsequent communications between the EU and the Cuban
government, don’t let the date of the visit deter you from writing,
and be sure to send a copy to Cuba’s new Foreign Minister (airmail 94
cents), so that Cuba hears from you directly.
If there is a “committee to protect LIBRARIANS,” it’s not within ALA
or IFLA -- it's YOU, the people in my Cuba451Letters group receiving
this message – so I hope that you will act on this appeal. Progress
is being made on these cases. Over the past six years, there have been
34 library owners in prison, but thanks to international pressure and
releases for health reasons, now only half that number are behind
bars. Thanks for your efforts!
Steve Marquardt, Ph.D.
South Dakota State University Dean of Libraries Emeritus
Amnesty International Legislative Coordinator for Minnesota
9383 123rd Avenue SE
Lake Lillian, Minnesota 56253-4700
(320) 664-4231
http://groups.google.com/group/Cuba451Letters
SAMPLE LETTER:
March 19, 2009
Mr. Louis Michel
European Union Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid
Berlaymont 10 /165
1049 Brussels, Belgium
Via e-mail: Louis....@ec.europa.eu
Dear Mr. Michel,
Your planned trip to Havana this week coincides with the sixth
anniversary of Cuba's massive crackdown on independent library owners
and dissidents. As a librarian, I call on you to urge Raúl Castro's
government to release the following 17 independent library owners
jailed in Cuban prisons and extend the internationally guaranteed
right of free expression to all Cubans:
Ariel Sigler Amaya (General Pedro Betancourt Library, Matanzas)
Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodríguez (20th of May Library, Sancti Spiritus)
Fabio Prieto Llorente (Mir Francisco Mulets Library, Neuva Gerona,
Isla de la Juventud)
Fidel Suárez Cruz (St. Paul Library, Pinar del Río)
Guido Sigler Amaya, (General Pedro Betancourt Library, Matanzas)
Iván Hernández Carrill (Juan Gualberto Gómez Library, Branch II,
Matanzas)
José Luis García Paneque (Carlos J. Finlay Library, Las Tunas)
José Miguel Martínez Hernández (General Juan Bruno Zayas Library,
Havana Province)
José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández (Sebastián Arcos Library, Havana
Province)
Leonel Grave de Peralta Almenares (Bartolomé Masó Library, Santiago de
Cuba)
Lester Gonzalez Pentón (Jorge Mas Canosa Independent Library, Santa
Clara)
Librado Ricardo Linares García (Enrique José Varona Library,
Camajuaní, Villa Clara province)
Luis Milán Fernández (11th of September Library, Santiago de Cuba)
Nelson Alberto Aguiar Ramirez (Eddy Chibás Independent Library,
Havana)
Ricardo Severino Gonzales Alfonso (Jorge Mañach Library, Havana)
Victor Rolando Arroyo Carmona (Reyes Magos Library, Pinar del Río)
Pedro González Acosta (Martin Luther King Independent Library, San
Juan y Martínez)
I also ask you to assess the Cuban government's compliance with human
rights conditions that the European Union imposed in 2008 after
lifting diplomatic sanctions.
According to reports in the international and Cuban press, you are
visiting Havana on March 18 and 19 to attend a conference on renewed
cooperation projects between Cuba and the European Union. During your
trip, you are expected to meet with Cuban officials, including newly
appointed Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez.
On March 18, 19, and 20, 2003, Cuban authorities orchestrated the
arrest of 75 dissidents, including 25 independent library owners. The
accused were tried in summary, closed-door hearings and sentenced to
up to 26 years in prison. Amnesty International declared them
prisoners of conscience, and the EU responded by imposing sanctions on
Cuba, including a ban on high-ranking official visits by Cuban
authorities to EU countries.
The EU Presidency has also called for the release of these prisoners
of conscience on 26 March 2003 and 5 June 2003 (see
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/cfsp/75232.pdf
and http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/cfsp/76075.pdf),
as has the EU Council on 14 June 2004 and 17 June 2007 (see
http://ue.eu.int/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/gena/80951.pdf and
http://www.europa-eu-un.org/articles/en/article_7117_en.htm.)
During the June 2008 meeting of the Council of the European Union in
Brussels, the EU agreed to suspend the 2003 sanctions provided that
Cuba improve its human rights record. The Cuban government should have
unconditionally released all political prisoners, facilitated access
of international humanitarian organizations to Cuban prisons, ratified
and implemented the international covenants on human rights signed by
Cuba, and granted freedom of expression and information, including
through the Internet.
Over the past six years, Cuba has freed a small number of librarians
and dissidents in exchange for international political concessions.
However, 16 independent library owners another two jailed since 2003,
remain in prison, making Cuba the world's leading jailer of
librarians. Jailed librarians live in inhumane conditions, their
health is deteriorating, and local authorities continue to harass
their families.
To date, no international humanitarian organizations have visited any
of the imprisoned Cuban librarians. Nor has the Cuban government
ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
which provides "the right to freedom of expression," or the
International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, both
signed in February 2008 by then-Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque.
In a country where the government has complete control of the media,
independent librarians continue to be threatened and harassed by
Cuba's secret police.
In 2008, the EU announced that its relations with Cuba would be
renewed annually after an assessment of the progress and commitment
made by the Cuban government on issues that included human rights. I
urge you to take this opportunity to address these issues with Cuban
leaders, ensure that the EU conditions for the improvement of human
rights will be met, and call on the government to immediately and
unconditionally release all librarians unjustly imprisoned for
exercising their basic human right to freedom to read as stated in
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Sincerely,
Copy to:
Sr. Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla
Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores
Calzada No. 360, Vedado
La Habana, Cuba
the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the crackdown in independent
library owners in Cuba. This appeal is based upon an appeal posted
this month by the Committee to Protect Journalists, at
http://cpj.org/2009/03/eu-envoy-urged-to-seek-release-of-jailed-cubans.php.
I learned of this CPJ appeal only yesterday, March 18, but because
there will be subsequent communications between the EU and the Cuban
government, don’t let the date of the visit deter you from writing,
and be sure to send a copy to Cuba’s new Foreign Minister (airmail 94
cents), so that Cuba hears from you directly.
If there is a “committee to protect LIBRARIANS,” it’s not within ALA
or IFLA -- it's YOU, the people in my Cuba451Letters group receiving
this message – so I hope that you will act on this appeal. Progress
is being made on these cases. Over the past six years, there have been
34 library owners in prison, but thanks to international pressure and
releases for health reasons, now only half that number are behind
bars. Thanks for your efforts!
Steve Marquardt, Ph.D.
South Dakota State University Dean of Libraries Emeritus
Amnesty International Legislative Coordinator for Minnesota
9383 123rd Avenue SE
Lake Lillian, Minnesota 56253-4700
(320) 664-4231
http://groups.google.com/group/Cuba451Letters
SAMPLE LETTER:
March 19, 2009
Mr. Louis Michel
European Union Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid
Berlaymont 10 /165
1049 Brussels, Belgium
Via e-mail: Louis....@ec.europa.eu
Dear Mr. Michel,
Your planned trip to Havana this week coincides with the sixth
anniversary of Cuba's massive crackdown on independent library owners
and dissidents. As a librarian, I call on you to urge Raúl Castro's
government to release the following 17 independent library owners
jailed in Cuban prisons and extend the internationally guaranteed
right of free expression to all Cubans:
Ariel Sigler Amaya (General Pedro Betancourt Library, Matanzas)
Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodríguez (20th of May Library, Sancti Spiritus)
Fabio Prieto Llorente (Mir Francisco Mulets Library, Neuva Gerona,
Isla de la Juventud)
Fidel Suárez Cruz (St. Paul Library, Pinar del Río)
Guido Sigler Amaya, (General Pedro Betancourt Library, Matanzas)
Iván Hernández Carrill (Juan Gualberto Gómez Library, Branch II,
Matanzas)
José Luis García Paneque (Carlos J. Finlay Library, Las Tunas)
José Miguel Martínez Hernández (General Juan Bruno Zayas Library,
Havana Province)
José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández (Sebastián Arcos Library, Havana
Province)
Leonel Grave de Peralta Almenares (Bartolomé Masó Library, Santiago de
Cuba)
Lester Gonzalez Pentón (Jorge Mas Canosa Independent Library, Santa
Clara)
Librado Ricardo Linares García (Enrique José Varona Library,
Camajuaní, Villa Clara province)
Luis Milán Fernández (11th of September Library, Santiago de Cuba)
Nelson Alberto Aguiar Ramirez (Eddy Chibás Independent Library,
Havana)
Ricardo Severino Gonzales Alfonso (Jorge Mañach Library, Havana)
Victor Rolando Arroyo Carmona (Reyes Magos Library, Pinar del Río)
Pedro González Acosta (Martin Luther King Independent Library, San
Juan y Martínez)
I also ask you to assess the Cuban government's compliance with human
rights conditions that the European Union imposed in 2008 after
lifting diplomatic sanctions.
According to reports in the international and Cuban press, you are
visiting Havana on March 18 and 19 to attend a conference on renewed
cooperation projects between Cuba and the European Union. During your
trip, you are expected to meet with Cuban officials, including newly
appointed Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez.
On March 18, 19, and 20, 2003, Cuban authorities orchestrated the
arrest of 75 dissidents, including 25 independent library owners. The
accused were tried in summary, closed-door hearings and sentenced to
up to 26 years in prison. Amnesty International declared them
prisoners of conscience, and the EU responded by imposing sanctions on
Cuba, including a ban on high-ranking official visits by Cuban
authorities to EU countries.
The EU Presidency has also called for the release of these prisoners
of conscience on 26 March 2003 and 5 June 2003 (see
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/cfsp/75232.pdf
and http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/cfsp/76075.pdf),
as has the EU Council on 14 June 2004 and 17 June 2007 (see
http://ue.eu.int/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/gena/80951.pdf and
http://www.europa-eu-un.org/articles/en/article_7117_en.htm.)
During the June 2008 meeting of the Council of the European Union in
Brussels, the EU agreed to suspend the 2003 sanctions provided that
Cuba improve its human rights record. The Cuban government should have
unconditionally released all political prisoners, facilitated access
of international humanitarian organizations to Cuban prisons, ratified
and implemented the international covenants on human rights signed by
Cuba, and granted freedom of expression and information, including
through the Internet.
Over the past six years, Cuba has freed a small number of librarians
and dissidents in exchange for international political concessions.
However, 16 independent library owners another two jailed since 2003,
remain in prison, making Cuba the world's leading jailer of
librarians. Jailed librarians live in inhumane conditions, their
health is deteriorating, and local authorities continue to harass
their families.
To date, no international humanitarian organizations have visited any
of the imprisoned Cuban librarians. Nor has the Cuban government
ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
which provides "the right to freedom of expression," or the
International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, both
signed in February 2008 by then-Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque.
In a country where the government has complete control of the media,
independent librarians continue to be threatened and harassed by
Cuba's secret police.
In 2008, the EU announced that its relations with Cuba would be
renewed annually after an assessment of the progress and commitment
made by the Cuban government on issues that included human rights. I
urge you to take this opportunity to address these issues with Cuban
leaders, ensure that the EU conditions for the improvement of human
rights will be met, and call on the government to immediately and
unconditionally release all librarians unjustly imprisoned for
exercising their basic human right to freedom to read as stated in
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Sincerely,
Copy to:
Sr. Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla
Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores
Calzada No. 360, Vedado
La Habana, Cuba
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