Cuban artists say authorities agree to talks after rare protests
HAVANA - Over two dozen Cuban protesters have met Deputy Minister Fernando Rojas, after hundreds of people demonstrated in Havana this week in a rare showing of public dissent against curbs to freedom of expression and the detention of artists and activists.
Artistic freedom and human rights groups had raised concerns about curbs to civil liberties in Cuba and the detention of Cuban rapper Denis Solis Gonzalez, which led to a rally outside the country’s culture ministry. The protesters said on Saturday that the government agreed to a series of meetings and to review Gonzalez’s case. “It’s a special flame that ignited here today,” activist and music promoter Michel Matos, who took part in the meeting with Rojas, told Reuters news agency. “We talked about freedom of expression, freedom of association, censorship and physical repression,” Matos said. “I don’t think there has been a dialogue like this in a ministerial space in 60 years.” Gonzalez was arrested on November 9 and sentenced to eight months in prison for
“contempt” after insulting a police officer, a charge that Amnesty International says is “inconsistent with international human rights standards”.
Freemuse, a non-governmental organisation that advocates for artistic expression around the world, said in a statement that the rapper, who remains in jail, was unable to contact his family before November 18. The group also condemned the arrest of Didier Almagro, a musician sentenced to three years in prison on November 13 on charges of contempt of court and public disorder for allegedly participating in a demonstration against power cuts on August 4. Sverre Pedersen, Freemuse campaigns and advocacy manager, said the arrests and sentences violate the artists’ “basic human right to freedom of expression” and breach the United Nations’ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Cuba is a signatory. “We demand that the Cuban authorities release these artists from prison and drop all charges brought against them,” Pedersen added. (Al Jazeera)