Sign of opening in announced imminent release of political prisoners?

Reporters Without Borders takes note of the announced release of political prisoners following Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos’ visit to Cuba. The announcement was made by Cuban cardinal Jaime Ortega, who has been acting as mediator. He said that it was agreed during a meeting between Moratinos and Cuban President Raúl Castro that 52 political prisoners will be freed during the coming months, five of them at once. “The announcement is a sign of positive progress but it should not obscure the tragic reality of the human rights situation in Cuba,” Reporters Without Borders said. “It was high time that the Cuban government, by releasing political prisoners, recognised the injustice of holding them. We hope that the negotiations begun by the Cuban Catholic Church will enable the Castro regime to fully honour its undertakings as regards human rights.” The five prisoners who are due to be freed in the next few days include two journalists, José Luis García Paneque and Pablo Pacheco Avila, who were arrested in 2003. They and the other three, Lester Luis González Pentón, Antonio Villareal and Luis Milán Fernández, will travel with their families to Spain as soon as they are released from prison. “We point out that ‘exile’ in Spain is not a satisfactory humane or political solution and that the release of prisoners of conscience should be accompanied by recognition of their right to live in their own country and to defend their opinions openly,” Reporters Without Borders. “We nonetheless fear that the Cuban regime is not ready to go that far.” Watch an interview with Alejandro González Raga, an independent journalist with the Camagüey news agency in the central of the country, who was released in February 2008 after five years in prison. The announcement of the releases came just days after reports that the health of online journalist and government opponent Guillermo Fariñas was declining rapidly as a result of his hunger strike to press demands for the release of Cuban prisoners of conscience. Fariñas, a trained psychologist and head of the illegal Cubana Press agency, yesterday said he was calling off the hunger strike after 135 days, his wife, Clara Perez, and Maria Dolores Masana, President of Reporters Without Borders' Madrid office, reported in an interview for a Spanish radio station, Rádio Nou. Fariñas had already been pursuing his hunger strike for more than three weeks when a prisoner of conscience, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, died on 23 February after refusing to eat for more than 80 days. Although his health worsened steadily and eventually became critical, Fariñas said he was “ready to die” in order to get the Cuban authorities to finally recognise the right to freedom of expression, information and opinion.” “I am aware that my death is imminent and I consider it an honour because I have tried to save the lives of 25 political prisoners,” he said from his bed in an intensive care unit in a hospital in the central city of Santa Clara. Reporters Without Borders had repeatedly urged Fariñas to call off his hunger strike, which was putting his life in grave danger, and we are pleased to learn that he has finally ended it. A total of 167 people are in prison in Cuba just for holding and expressing views that differ from those held by their leaders. Fifty-three of these 167 government opponents are regarded as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International and 25 of the 53 are journalists, bloggers or intellectuals who were arrested and convicted during the 2003 “Black Spring.” They include Reporters Without Borders correspondent Ricardo González Alfonso, who immediate release we continue to request. Reporters Without Borders urges the Belgian government, which holds the European Union’s rotating presidency, to continue the efforts began by the Spanish government, the previous holder, to develop the EU’s dialogue with Cuba. We also urge the community of Latin American countries to react and to remind the Cuban government of its human rights undertakings and responsibilities. “We hope that these releases, the largest number since Raúl Castro took over as president four years ago, will soon pave the way for an end to a situation that can no longer be tolerated,” Reporters Without Borders added. “Nothing justifies restricting access to news and information or the right to travel abroad. Nothing justifies threatening, arresting or jailing a government opponent who finds the courage to criticise these abuses.”