CSW calls on the Cuban authorities to lift travel ban against independent journalist

CSW has called on the Cuban authorities to lift an international travel ban on Cuban independent journalist, Yoel Suárez, which has hindered his freedom of movement for the past six months.

Mr Suárez, 30, has worked with non-state media outlets in Cuba since 2014 and has written extensively about human rights and freedom of religion or belief issues. As a result of his work, he and his family have been subjected to regular harassment at the hands of the Cuban authorities.

On 5 February 2020 Mr Suárez was summoned to Siboney Police Station in Havana where he was interrogated for three hours by a state security (political police) agent who informed him that he had been declared ‘regulado’, i.e. subjected to an indefinite travel ban, “by order of the Leadership [of the Cuban Department of State Security].”

Mr Suárez told CSW: “For half a year now, I have been ‘regulado’ by the State, prohibited from leaving Cuba because of my work as a journalist. I cover a wide spectrum of topics related to the restrictions that occur in the country, especially on issues of religious freedom and conscience; two areas where the limitations and repression of the Communist Party are latent. During several interrogations and arrests that I suffered in the first half of this year, officers from Cuban State Security stressed that my work as a reporter is the main reason for the restrictions on my freedom of movement. Although part of my travel ban has coincided with the COVID 19 pandemic, the ban has also caused the temporary suspension of my application for a scholarship in Europe, and prevented trips for professional and personal reasons that have affected my family. I am not an exception, but part of a list of almost 250 citizens who – for political reasons – have had their freedom of movement restricted.”

CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said: “Yoel Suárez has now been subjected to an indefinite travel ban for six months, simply because of his work writing about human rights issues in Cuba. We call on the Cuban authorities to lift this ban immediately and without condition, and to cease the practice of restricting the movements of those who work on human rights and religious freedom issues. We also call on the authorities to cease all harassment of Mr Suárez and his family, and urge the international community to raise this case with Cuba at every opportunity.”