UN Human Rights Chief Calls on Cuba to Release Protesters, Journalists | Voice of America

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday called on Cuba to release protesters and journalists arrested during protests against the government over the shortage of basic goods such as food and medicine.

“Anyone arrested for exercising their rights must be released immediately,” said Michelle Bachelet in a statement.

Bachelet expressed concern about the alleged use of force against demonstrators and the detention of large numbers of people, including several journalists.

A journalist arrested Monday while covering the protests for Spanish daily ABC was released from police custody on Friday but placed under house arrest, the newspaper said.

“I did nothing wrong”

“They wanted me to sign a paper saying that I admitted the public disturbance, but I refused. I didn’t do anything wrong, ”said ABC journalist Camille Acosta, adding that she used her time in prison to interview other inmates.

“You cannot imagine how many people have been arrested and beaten, even minors,” she said.

Bachelet called for an investigation into the death of a 36-year-old protester in clashes between protesters and police in Havana on Monday. She also called for an end to sanctions against the Caribbean country, “given its negative impact on human rights, including the right to health”.

FILE – President Joe Biden speaks during a press conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel in the East Room of the White House in Washington on July 15, 2021.

Bachelet’s appeal to Cuba came a day after President Joe Biden announced that Washington would consider whether it could help restore the Internet to Cuba, which has suffered from blackouts since the weekend’s protests.

“You cut off access to the Internet. We are considering whether we have the technological means to restore this access, ”Biden told reporters at a press conference next to Chancellor Angela Merkel.

At a regular media briefing in the White House on Friday, press secretary Jen Psaki was asked whether the Biden government had asked American tech companies for help re-establishing Internet access in Cuba.

“So, it would really be directed, these efforts would really be directed by the State Department and other appropriate agencies within the federal government. As the President stated yesterday, returning internet access to Cuba would certainly be something we would like to be a part of, ”she said.

Several U.S. lawmakers in the past few days have urged the president to address connectivity issues on the island.

FILE – Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Takes notes during a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington July 14, 2021.

Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn told VOA Thursday that the Biden government needs to provide tangible support to the Cuban people.

“You were very reluctant to step forward. And it seems that they are not trying to take sides in a fight, ”Blackburn said.

“Time is of the essence here,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said, according to Reuters. “Every day the regime has to obscure the truth, they can get the upper hand,” he said of the Cuban government.

Statement of the watchdog

Global internet watchdog NetBlocks last week confirmed restrictions on multiple social media and messaging platforms across Cuba.

“The targeted restrictions are likely to restrict the flow of information from Cuba following widespread protests on Sunday, when thousands gathered against the policies of the socialist government and rising prices,” the organization said in a statement.

On Thursday, House Minority Chairman Kevin McCarthy announced a 16-member Cuban advisory group to develop policies in support of Cuban protesters and hold the Cuban government accountable for human rights abuses.

“I know this team, many of which are Cuban Americans and have witnessed the brutality of communism in one way or another, will work diligently for the cause of freedom,” McCarthy said in a statement.

The European heads of state and government have also expressed their support for the Cuban people. On Monday the European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell called on the Cuban government to “listen to these protests of discontent”.

Global support for Cuba demonstrations

Politicians and activists praise the “historic” protests on Sunday and call on the Cuban government to respect the human rights of their people

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and other officials have blamed the unrest on social media posts by Cuban Americans and the US government’s decade-long embargo on Cuba. Sanctions and restrictions imposed by former US President Donald Trump as well as a decline in tourism in connection with the pandemic have put additional pressure on the Cuban economy in recent years.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro expressed his government’s support for Diaz-Canel on Monday, saying: “If the US really wants to help Cuba, it should lift the sanctions and blockade against its people immediately.”

The protests were the largest anti-government demonstrations in Cuba in decades.

VOA’s Katherine Gypson, Jessica Jerreat and Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report, which includes some information from Reuters.