13 October 2009
Amnesty International has called on the government of Cuba to lift the
travel restrictions on Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez, preventing her from
travelling to New York to receive an international journalism award.
"The immigration office has just confirmed that they maintain the
prohibition on letting me leave the country", wrote Yoani Sánchez on her
Twitter page on Monday.
This is the fourth time that Yoani Sánchez has been refused permission
by the authorities to travel outside Cuba in the past two years.
Yoani Sánchez was awarded a special citation for journalistic excellence
by the board of the Maria Moors Cabot Prize, the oldest international
award in journalism, for her writing on the Generation Y website which
receives 1 million hits a month.
In Generation Y, Yoani Sánchez writes about daily life in Cuba. She was
due to accept the award on Wednesday at Columbia University, in New York
city.
"The Cuban authorities often routinely deny exit visas and bar from
leaving their country those who, like Yoani Sánchez, express critical
views of the government," said Kerrie Howard, director of Amnesty
International's Americas Programme.
"Restricting freedom of movement by denying an exit visa to Yoani
Sánchez constitutes an unnecessary punitive measure for the peaceful
exercise of her right to freedom of expression and association."
In May, the Cuban authorities denied Sanchez permission to fly to Madrid
to accept an award for digital journalism.
Sanchez is known as an outspoken advocate for freedom of expression and
unrestricted access to internet. Her blog, Generaion Y has been
intermittently blocked by the authorities and cannot currently be read
within Cuba.
Blogger denied freedom to travel outside Cuba | Amnesty International
(13 October 2009)
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/blogger-denied-freedom-travel-outside-cuba-20091013
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