Censorship in Cuba has been reported on extensively, and resulted in European Union sanctions[1] as well as statements of protest from groups, governments, and noted individuals.
Cuba had 21 journalists in prison in 2008, placing it second only to the People's Republic of China, according to The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international NGO.[2] The Committee to Protect Journalists ranks Cuba as the world's fourth worst place for bloggers, stating that "only government officials and people with links to the Communist Party have Web access" and "only pro-government bloggers can post their material on domestic sites that can be easily accessed". Cuba was ranked near the bottom of the Press Freedom Index in 2008.[3] Inter American Press Association reports that "repression against independent journalists, mistreatment of jailed reporters and very strict government surveillance limiting the people’s access to alternative sources of information are continuing".[4] Cuba was named one of the ten most censored countries in the world by the Committee to Protect Journalists.[5]
Books, newspapers, radio channels, television channels, movies and music are heavily censored. Clandestine printing is also highly restricted.[6] The special permits that are required to use the Internet are only available to selected Cubans and use of the Internet is limited for the vast majority of Cubans.[7] Mobile phones are quite rare, with most citizens not having been allowed to use them until quite recently.[8] Foreign journalists who can work in the country are selected by the government.[5]
Media is operated under the supervision of the Communist Party's Department of Revolutionary Orientation, which "develops and coordinates propaganda strategies".[5]
Contents |
Life in Cuba |
|---|
| Art Cinema Cuisine Culture Demographics Education Health Holidays Human Rights Literature Music Politics Religion Tourism |
Laws related to censorship include:[6]
The Interior Ministry has principal responsibility for monitoring the Cuban population for signs of dissent.[9] The ministry employs two central offices for this purpose: the General Directorate of Counter-Intelligence, which supervises the the Department of State Security, also known as the Political Police, and the General Directorate of Internal Order.
The Singular Systems of Vigilance and Protection (Sistema Unico de Vigilancia y Protección, SUVP) reach across several state institutions, including the Communist Party, the police, the CDRs, the state-controlled labor union, student groups, and members of mass organizations. The government calls on SUVPs to carry out surveillance and to intimidate opposition activists. Rapid Action Brigades (Brigadas de Acción Rapida, also referred to as Rapid Response Brigades, or Brigadas de Respuesta Rápida) are groups of government organized groups of civilian that observe and control dissidents.
Migration and housing officials threaten activists with forced exile, the loss of their homes, or by imposing fines. Political fielty is monitored at workplaces and in schools: academic and labor files (expedientes escolares y laborales) that record actions or statements that may bear on a person's loyalty are maintained for each citizen and an individual's record must be deemed acceptable before they can advance to a new school or position.
Cubans cannot watch or listen to independent, private, or foreign broadcasts.[10] In 1963, using Soviet-supplied equipment, Cuba became the first nation in the Western Hemisphere to jam radio broadcasts, the apparent targets being the anti-Castro stations in the U.S.[11] In 2006 Cuba jamed Radio Republica, a clandestine broadcast to Cuba on 7205 kHz. The output of the Television Network teleSUR in Cuba is subject to various restrictions.
Cubans cannot read books, magazines or newspapers unless they have been approved/published by the government.[10] Cubans can not receive publications from abroad or from visitors.[10]
In August 2006, the Cuban government announced a warning to owners of illegal television satellite dishes, citing as a concern that the United States could use the dishes to transmit programming with "destabilizing, subversive content."[12]
The regime has ordered copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights burned or otherwise destroyed.[13][14][15] In one instance, an entire shipment of books - which included children's literature and medical textbooks - was destroyed because State Security found that it contained 8,000 copies of the declaration.[15] In October 1994, five "counterrevolutionaries" were convicted of rebellion and sentenced to ten years each. The judges characterized the group's actions as nonviolent, but found they had prepared and distributed calls for changes in the country's social, political, and economic systems, citing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The court characterized the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and denunciations of Cuban human rights violations as counterrevolutionary propaganda.[6]
Before the Communist regime, Havana boasted 135 cinemas — more than New York City or Paris. Today less than 20 remain open, although the city’s population has doubled.[16][17] The Communist regime established a control of Cuba's film industry, and it was made compulsory for all movies to be censored by the Instituto Cubano de Arte y Industria Cinematográfico before broadcast or release.[18]
After the Communist regime took power, Che Guevara wanted to ban Jazz and Rock music from being played or made available for purchase, which he saw as "imperialist music".[19] Miniskirts and artists such as Beatles were banned as examples of "decadent capitalist culture".[20]
In 2002, “Following the Hip Hop Festival held in Havana in August, the Casa de Cultura in Alamar received an order from the Ministry of Culture to review the lyrics of rap songs before the start of any concert.”[21] Cuban rappers responded by altering their music/lyric styles. “Underground’s beat slowed down its tempo and rappers started changing up their lyrics. The strident notes coming from the barrios and caseríos that scared the State so much when they first came out started softening themselves to take advantage of the promotional opportunities offered by those same people who initiated the hunting spree.”[22] For more information here is an interview with Dr. Mario Masvidal who is a former Cuban radio personality where he gives his thoughts on music censorship in Cuba.
The Cuban internet is among the most tightly controlled in the world. A special permit is required to use the Internet and all e-mails are intricately monitored.[7] Cuba has been listed as an "Internet Enemy" by Reporters Without Borders since the list was created in 2006.[23] The level of Internet filtering in Cuba is not categorized by the OpenNet Initiative due to lack of data.[24]
Two kinds of online connections are offered in Cuban Internet cafes: a 'national' one that is restricted to a simple e-mail service operated by the government, and an 'international' one that gives access to the entire Internet. The population is restricted to the first one, which costs €1.20 an hour. Most can't even afford the €4 an hour needed to browse the Internet, as this is approximately a third of the average monthly wage. To use a computer, Cubans have to give their name and address - and if they write dissent keywords, a popup appears stating that the document has been blocked 'for state security reasons', and the word processor or browser is automatically closed. Foreign visitors who allow Cubans to use their computers are harassed and persecuted.[7]
Cuban ambassador Miguel Ramirez has argued that Cuba has the right to "regulate access to [the] Internet and avoid hackers, stealing passwords, [and] access to pornographic, satanic cults, terrorist or other negative sites".[25]
Because of limited bandwidth, authorities give preference to use from locations where Internet access is used on a collective basis, such as in work places, schools, and research centers, where many people have access to the same computers or network.[26] Authorities claim that 1,600,000 or about twelve percent of the population have access to Internet, and there were 630,000 computers available on the island in 2008, a 23% increase over 2007. But it is also seen as essential for Cuba’s economic development.[27]
Reporters Without Borders suspects that Cuba obtained some of its internet surveillance technology from China, which has supplied other countries such as Zimbabwe and Belarus. However, it should be noted that Cuba does not enforce the same level of internet keyword censorship as China.[28]
Guillermo Fariñas, a Cuban doctor of psychology, independent journalist, and political dissident, held a seven-month hunger strike to protest Internet censorship in Cuba. He ended it in the autumn of 2006, with severe health problems, although be was still conscious. He has stated that he is ready to die in the struggle against censorship.[29]
In recent times, censorship of the Internet has slowly relaxed. For example in 2007, it became possible for members of the public to legally buy a computer.[30] Digital media is starting to play a more important role, bringing news of events in Cuba to the rest of the world. In spite of restrictions, Cubans connect to the Internet at embassies, Internet cafés, through friends at universities, hotels, and work. Cellphone availability is increasing.[31]
Alan Phillip Gross, under employment with a contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development, was arrested in Cuba on 3 December 2009 and was convicted on 12 March 2011 for covertly distributing laptops and cellular phones on the island in furtherance of subversive activities.[32][33][34]
In order to get around the government's control of the Internet, citizens have developed numerous techniques. Some get online through embassies and coffee shops or purchase accounts through the black market. The black market consists of professional or former government officials who have been cleared to have Internet access.[23] These individuals sell or rent their usernames and passwords to citizens who want to have access.[35]
Bloggers and other dissidents that have trouble getting online may use USB keys to get their work published. The blogger will type their piece on a computer, save it on a USB key, and then hand it to another person who has an easier time getting online at a hotel or other more open venue.[23] USB keys along with data discs are also used to distribute material (articles, prohibited photos, satirical cartoons, video clips) that has been downloaded from the Internet or stolen from government offices. Others get their work out by writing it by hand and then calling a person abroad to have them transcribe and publish it on their behalf.[36]
Bloggers such as Yoani Sánchez send text message tweets from a mobile phone.[37] Another mechanism to get tweets out is to insert a foreign SIM card into a cell phone and access the Internet through the phone.[23] Some citizens are able "to break through the infrastructural blockages by building their own antennas, using illegal dial-up connections, and developing blogs on foreign platforms."[36]
According to the United Nations, Cuba has the world's second smallest percentage of mobile phone ownership. Only Papua New Guinea has fewer mobile phones per person.[8]
Prior to March 2008 mobile phones were banned. However, they could be used by those who needed them as part of their work. In March 2008 Raul Castro lifted the ban on mobile phones along with other consumerist goods. The state run telecommunications company, ETECSA, says the revenues will be used to fund telecommunications development in Cuba.[38] In February 2009, ETECSA said that its subscriber base had surged by 60% to reach nearly half a million customers. Nearly 8,000 new connections were purchased in the first ten days after the restrictions were lifted. The government also halved the cost of the sign-up fee - although it still represents about three months wages for the average worker. The local newspaper, Juventud Rebelde reported that around 480,000 cellular lines are now in use, compared with 300,000 before the change.[39]
Sanctions, imposed by the European Union in 2003 as a response to a crackdown against dissidents (Black Spring), were not renewed in 2006, in spite of a finding by the EU council that "the state of human rights had deteriorated" since sanctions were initially imposed. Twenty reporters imprisoned in 2003 are still in jail, including Guillermo Fariñas.[40]
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions and its Committee of Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression expressed their deep concern about the continuing violations of the basic human right to freedom of access to information and freedom of expression in Cuba.[41] no The U.S. Office for Cuban Affairs issued a statement praising the Global Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom Organizations for their efforts to bring attention to the “unjust jailing of journalists” in Cuba.[42]
The Inter American Press Association, a nonprofit organization devoted to defending freedom of speech and freedom of the press in the Americas, has stated how disgraceful it is that "Not only are these individuals being denied their right to free speech, but their very lives are being endangered by denying them adequate health care." For example, imprisoned journalist Omar Ruiz Hernández had tuberculosis and a chronic parasitic infection, and weighed only 45 kilograms (about 100 pounds).[43]
|
||||||||
|
|||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||