Global Press Group Calls Cuban Government Enemy of the Internet

03 February 2006
Global Press Group Calls Cuban Government Enemy of the Internet

Reporters Without Borders listed Cuba among 15 nations as Internet enemies

By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- A global press advocacy group is continuing its criticism
of Cuba's Communist regime with a statement rebuking the Cuban
government for its "repressive policy toward the Internet."

The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said February 2 that the
regime of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro uses the U.S. embargo on Cuba as a
"pretext for a repressive policy towards the Internet. The chief reason
for keeping [Cuban] citizens away from the Internet is to prevent them
from being well-informed." The U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, begun in
1962, is one element of the United States' policy to promote democracy
in the Caribbean nation.

Reporters Without Borders said Cuba is on the list of 15 Internet
enemies that the press group drew up for the World Summit on the
Information Society, held in Tunis, Tunisia, in November 2005. (See
related article.)

Reporters Without Borders added that Cuba is one of the world's "most
repressive countries" in relation to online free expression. Countries
on that Internet enemies list include Burma, China, Iran, North Korea
and Syria.

"Internet access is a privilege to which very few have a right and which
needs expressed authorization from the ruling [Cuban] Communist Party,"
said Reporters Without Borders. "Even if one manages to connect, often
illegally, one only gets access [in Cuba] to a highly censored Internet."

The criticism about Cuba's restrictions on Internet use follows
Reporters Without Borders' statement January 31 that it is "dismayed and
outraged" by the Cuban government's "continuing harassment of
independent journalists."

In a letter to the European Union, Reporters Without Borders said
independent journalists in Cuba are unable to work freely or defend
themselves against the Cuban government's "state repression." (See
related article.)

Reporters Without Borders made its latest comments about Cuba in
connection with voicing support for Guillermo Fariñas, the editor of the
Cubanacán Press independent news agency. Fariñas stopped consuming food
and water January 31 to protest Castro's preventing Cuban independent
journalists from using the Internet access "they need for their work."

Fariñas said he wanted all Cuban citizens "to have the right to an
Internet connection, but also for the independent press to be able to
report on the government's activities, and if I must be a martyr for
Internet access, so be it." He said the overwhelming majority of Cubans
have no Internet access.

Reporters Without Borders said Cubanacán Press concentrates on covering
human rights violations in Cuba and on reflecting viewpoints that are
excluded from the official media.

More information about Cuba's policy toward the Internet is available on
the Reporters Without Borders Web site.

Another press advocacy group, the New York-based Committee to Protect
Journalists, has also continually protested Castro's treatment of Cuban
journalists. In a December 2005 statement, that group said Cuba is the
world's second-leading jailer of journalists, behind only China.

The repression against Cuban independent journalists also is documented
in the U.S. State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
-- 2004. Released February 28, 2005, the report says the Castro regime
strictly censors news and information and limits the distribution of
foreign publications. The Cuba section of the report is available on
the Department Web site.

For information on U.S. policy, see Cuba.
http://usinfo.state.gov/wh/americas/cuba.html

http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=February&x=20060203154922AEneerG0.8695948&t=wh/wh-latest.html