The Institute has an activist mission and has made public statements on urgent discussions, civic campaigns, and rights violations in Cuba.

INSTAR statement against the Russia-Ukrainian war

February 27, 2022

From the Hannah Arendt Artivism Institute (#INSTAR) we follow with deep concern the invasion of the Russian government of #VladimirPutin to #Ukraine. The events of the last few days have demonstrated the imposition of the military power of #Russia and the constant threats that put the world order and global institutions for democracy in crisis. Military deployment is an exercise of force that is detrimental to the self-determination and sovereignty of peoples and their history. Ukraine has the right to resolve its internal affairs without political interference from another government.

INSTAR rejects the Russian government's arms advance and insists on a peaceful solution between actors, to preserve the lives of citizens, property and resources of the Slavic nation. In the same way, we reject any collaboration, support, sending of troops or intervention by the Cuban government that is not to contribute to peace between nations.

INSTAR Statement on the 15N March
November 13, 2021

Cuban civil society has convened a peaceful march on November 15th, calling for the respect of political plurality and the release of more than 600 prisoners of conscience, currently imprisoned in Cuba following the demonstrations on July 11th.
The Cuban Constitution nominally recognizes freedom of expression, association, and demonstration. Still, their exercise is antithetical to the totalitarian condition of the system, which for more than six decades has undermined the democratic and civic mechanisms of citizen self-determination. The Cuban government has deployed a coercive strategy, intensified in recent days, of public campaigns of discrediting, persecution, surveillance, interrogations, detentions, forced disappearances, and threats against organizers and possible participants in the march. This not only evidences its illegitimate character but also foolishly and irresponsibly proscribes peaceful and civilized ways of resolving social conflicts.

The ideological doctrines of any party are not a condition 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑎 𝑛𝑜𝑛 for sovereignty, justice, and social stability. Only recognizing heterogeneity and the open and inclusive dialogue of all community members will guarantee social welfare.

At INSTAR we declare our support for the November 15th demonstrators and our commitment to any initiative that advocates for the country’s democratization, and we denounce any attempt by the Cuban dictatorship to subvert the peaceful nature of the events and repress the exercise of the will of the citizens.

#NoMasOdioPolítico
#LibertadParaLosPresosDeConciencia
#CubaLibreYPlural
#15N
#15NCuba
#LaVidaEsDignidad
#PatriaYVida
#MarchaCívica
#HayQueTenerFeQueTodoLlega

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Documenta’s Statement
August 10, 2021

Documenta fifteen’s statement on INSTAR, a member of #lumbung, and Hamlet Lavastida, on the current situation in Cuba, following the #11J protests on July 11th.

Thanks to the entire team at documenta and ruangrupa for this statement. STATEMENT BY LUMBUNG MEMBER INSTAR REGARDING THE CURRENT SITUATION IN CUBA The Instituto de Artivismo Hannah Arendt (Hannah Arendt Institute of Artivism, INSTAR), Cuban collective and lumbung member of documenta fifteen, is currently being affected by repressions by the regime surrounding the recent public protests in Cuba.

INSTAR’s and its founder Tania Bruguera’s risky work addresses critical cultural, social, and political issues in Cuba. The collective is committed to democracy, social justice, and the rule of law through its artistic work. The goal is “to develop a common language for freedom of expression and social responsibility. The foundation of an independent civil society is to be laid through social cooperation,” INSTAR says.

REGARDING THE CURRENT EVENTS, INSTAR STATES:

“On Sunday, July 11, 2021, Cuba dawned shaken by an unprecedented social outburst, which was not led by representatives of the conventional models of opposition to the dictatorial regime but by civil citizens of the island. The word ‘freedom’ was commonly demanded in the popular protest that arose spontaneously in several parts of the country, and so was a turn towards horizontal and collective leadership. Both are unimaginable for the regime, which currently tries to shift the responsibility of the protest to leaders and organizations that have traditionally took the pulse on their anti-democratic actions.

On national television, the current president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, sealed his authoritarian position with the phrase ‘The order to fight is given. Revolutionaries, to the streets,’ inviting Cubans to take part in a civil war against peaceful protesters. Police repression and social anger unleashed a wave of destruction and arrests, crimes, and political persecution. The lists of people missing or arrested by the regime include hundreds and are updated daily. To this day, the government does not recognize the arrests and has only named one fatal victim of its actions. Among the collectives, to which the regime intends to shift the responsibility for the protests, is INSTAR, which, although it did not emerge as a political organization, has at times filled that void in a context where only one party (the Communist Party) is legal and where separation of powers does not exist.

Most of INSTAR’s members were prevented from taking to the streets to be part of the protests and have been under house arrest since, which is not an extraordinary fact because INSTAR members have been under house arrest in the last year.

INSTAR is one of the most visible targets of political persecution by the regime. Its members are constantly interrogated and/or detained by the political police, and their freedom of movement and communication is blocked (through continuous cuts of telephone connections and internet access), their families and friends are persecuted and threatened, their lives are subjected to scrutiny by the official media, and their privacy repeatedly violated. Now the same is done to the population at large. INSTAR, one of the collectives invited as lumbung members to documenta fifteen, has developed an open, collaborative, inclusive, and transparent civic practice under the adverse conditions described above. From there, it has not ceased to promote dialogue and the desire to build a democratic future for Cuba.

In light of the current situation of the people of Cuba and INSTAR, we, the INSTAR collective, condemn the government’s repression of social protest, as well as the escalation of violence against members of the Hannah Arendt Institute of Artivism and other activists and artists including Hamlet Lavastida, who is working closely with the collective. We also condemn the harassment against artist Tania Bruguera, founder of the institute, and join her demands for freedom for political prisoners and an end to the harassment and stigmatization of journalists, artists, and civil society.”

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Statement on Hamlet Lavastida’s Open Case
July 6, 2021

State Security, how does the artist Hamlet Lavastida incite rebellion and crime? This is the chronology of publications by Hamlet Lavastida, with which we dismantle the false accusations that have kept him in political prison since June 26th.
As will be seen, most of the artist’s posts are articles from magazines and newspapers that he shares. We have taken screenshots and put in video format (separated by months) all the posts written by Hamlet Lavastida. We have transcribed the chronology of those posts that consist of short texts below.

#FREEHAMLET
#LibertadParaHamlet
#EstoNoEsUnPerformance


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Statement of Lecturas en tiempo (Readings in Time)
June 4, 2021

Last Friday, June 4th, at approximately 5:25 pm, my mobile data service was suspended.
Without a doubt, the interruption had the sole purpose of attacking the realization of this online space transmitted every Friday, at 6:00 pm, #Cuba time, under the sponsorship of the Hannah Arendt Institute of Artivism (INSTAR).

On this occasion, our guest was the young writer and poet Noel Alonso Ginoris. This is not the first time that the Cuban authorities have attacked this artistic-literary space. Previously, three editions of #LET were sabotaged, featuring Rafael Vilches, Tony Armenteros, and Katherine Bisquet Rodríguez. Curiously, this new sabotage to LET occurred one day after the #INSTAR headquarters was besieged by a mass of citizens, with the sole purpose of committing an act of violent repudiation against Tania Bruguera, who in turn is the victim of a defamation campaign by the government’s #HacemosCuba, led by the defamer and State Security agent Humberto D. López Suárez. I reiterate that the invitation to Noel Alonso Ginoris is resumed next Friday, June 11th, with the usual LET schedule.

Know that no act of repudiation, attacks on reputation, or harassment will make me back down or be intimidated: neither in my work as a reporter for #DiarioDeCuba [DDC], nor in my literary column in #PuenteALaVista, nor as a host for LET, nor in my condition as a political dissident.

So, the closing of this statement goes straight to you, Mr. Miguel Díaz-Canel: I have absolutely no fear of defending my position regardless of the consequences: whether it involves my deprivation of liberty or of my life. I urge you to take me seriously because I am telling you this looking you straight in the eyes. You may proceed to confirm this if and when you wish.

Please do so,
#AhoraEsPeorSegundaTemporada

Jorge Enrique Rodríguez

Statement in Solidarity with the Artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara
May 25, 2021

INSTAR director and activist Tania Bruguera leads signatures of Cuban artists demanding that Cuba’s National Museum of Fine Arts withdraw their artwork, in solidarity with artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, held hostage in a Havana hospital.
Today, a group of artists asked Jorge Fernández, director of the Museum of Fine Arts, to withdraw the physical and virtual exhibition of their works from the Museum, as long as Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara remains kidnapped in the hospital and other artists are under surveillance, persecuted, and arbitrarily detained. Whoever wants to join the letter, please send your name and technical data of your artwork in the Museum’s collection to: 27n.comunicaciones@gmail.com.

Open letter to Jorge Fernández Torres, Director of the National Museum of Fine Arts of Cuba.
Havana, May 24, 2021


Dear Jorge Fernández,

We are writing to you motivated by genuine concern and solidarity with the young Cuban artist and colleague Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. He has been held since May 2nd at the Calixto García Surgical Clinical University Hospital, kidnapped and held incommunicado by State Security. Otero Alcántara was taken from his home against his will, while he was carrying out a peaceful hunger and thirst strike with which he was making demands that so far have not been met:

Return of his works illegally seized by state agents on April 16th,
Compensation for the works damaged or destroyed,
Removal of the police surveillance to which he has been subjected since November 2020,
And the guarantee of free artistic exercise.

Otero is being held illegally; the response to his habeas corpus this May 5th states that: “Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is neither detained nor prosecuted.” This is not an isolated fact. In the last few weeks, the levels of repression towards other artists and civil society in general have increased, and they have been subjected to police harassment, arbitrary arrests and criminal proceedings, desecration of their reputations in the public media, illegal confinement in their own homes, interruption of communication through cell phones, etc.

As is well known, on November 27th, more than 300 artists, filmmakers, writers, journalists, and intellectuals gathered in front of the Ministry of Culture to demand freedom of expression, an end to repression and civil rights in general, through dialogue and understanding with the cultural authorities. However, the proposal for discussion was rejected, and State repression of artists and civil society has increased considerably since that date.

The situation of isolation in which Luis Manuel has been in for more than three weeks, hospitalized against his will, without access to a telephone or visits from some family members, friends, and colleagues, worries and alarms us. We also express a legitimate concern about the treatment he may be being subjected to in this institution since his physical condition has deteriorated markedly, as seen in several videos leaked on social networks and national television, in clear violation of his right to privacy and confidentiality of his medical records.

Therefore, we, the undersigned artists, address you in your capacity as director of the National Museum of Fine Arts, a public institution subordinated to the Ministry of Culture and the Council of State, to demand the following:

By the right recognized in Article 4, Paragraph c) of Law no. 14/1977 Copyright Law to “Perform or authorize the publication, reproduction or communication of his work to the public by any lawful means, under his name, under a pseudonym or anonymously,” we demand that these works of our authorship, which are currently exhibited in the permanent and temporary exhibition halls of the National Museum of Fine Arts, be covered in such a way as to prevent their “communication” to the public, and that those works that are not exhibited but belong to the collection be removed from the Museum’s web page, until the following demands are met:


1. Immediate release of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and safe transfer to his permanent residence at 955 Damas St., San Isidro, Habana Vieja.

2. Guarantee access to his relatives, friends, and colleagues to his residence to check his physical and mental health.

3. Removal of the police siege he has been under since November 2020.

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27N DECLARATION
January 2021

THE 27N DEMANDS THE IMMEDIATE RESIGNATION OF THE MINISTER OF CULTURE ALPIDIO ALONSO GRAU

Given the seriousness of the events that occurred last January 27th at the gates of the Ministry of Culture, as artists, writers, journalists, and civil society members of the 27N movement, we demand the immediate resignation of the Minister of Culture Alpidio Alonso Grau. As citizens of the Republic of Cuba, we believe in the peaceful vindication of our rights, and we absolutely condemn any manifestation of violence, particularly of governmental violence promoted by institutions and exercised by public officials.

In the name of the values and principles that the nation has always defended and of the rights enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic, we do not accept that the use of institutional violence continues to be normalized in our country.

Public officials must act with civility, transparency, and respect for human dignity. A public servant cannot boast of violence to limit citizens’ rights with impunity. The Minister must personally assume responsibility for the violence exercised on January 27th at the Ministry of Culture. Otherwise, the state and the Cuban government led by Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez and Manuel Marrero Cruz would be complicit in the act of institutionalized violence and illegality. This would imply a lack of credibility and legitimacy for their government before the public and international opinion.

This declaration is based on Article 61 of the Constitution, which recognizes that citizens may address petitions to institutions and authorities, and invokes Article 8 of the Law for the Revocation of Mandates, according to which it is established that those elected to the organs of the People’s Power may be revoked if they incur in acts that make them detract from good public standing or manifest conduct incompatible with the honor of being a representative of the people in an organ of the People's Power.

Therefore: WE REQUEST THE COUNCIL OF STATE BEGIN A PROCESS FOR THE REVOCATION OF THE MANDATE OF ALPIDIO ALONSO GRAU, Minister of Culture and deputy of the National Assembly of People’s Power.

We want a country where people’s full dignity is respected and where all Cubans can live in peace.

Havana, January 30, 2021

To sign the petition for the Minister’s resignation, please go to the following link. If you log in from Cuba, make sure you have a VPN. If you cannot log in, leave your name and last name in the comments of this publication.

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Declaration of 27N on the positioning of MINCULT (Ministry of Culture)
December 4, 2020

Our headquarters, which was besieged by the police, has served until today as a space for dialogue for the 27N movement because our essence is civic education, non-violence, and transparency.

That is why we join this declaration of justice. Your signature also counts. Declaration of 27N before the positioning of MINCULT On November 27, 2020, more than 300 artists, intellectuals, and Cuban citizens went to the Ministry of Culture, in its capacity as guarantor and mediator, to demand the fulfillment of our freedoms and citizens’ rights. The trigger was the police violence exercised the day before against the San Isidro Movement. The increase in censorship and repression against artists, intellectuals, and activists has shaken us and forced us to speak out. Today we are not stopped by fear.

We demand the right to have rights. We are not enemies but Cubans who think differently and dream of a better Cuba for our children, with all for the good of all.
Our demands transcend creative freedom. They are about our right to exist and express ourselves freely.
We are committed to a dialogue of reconciliation that can settle our differences.

In the meeting held on November 27th with the Vice-Minister of Culture Fernando Rojas and other officials, it was agreed to have an upcoming meeting with the Minister of Culture Alpidio Alonso to continue discussing our claims and demands, with the willingness to open a channel of dialogue between the institution and the community of intellectuals and artists. The ministry itself has dismissed this opportunity by issuing a communication this morning entitled “Those who asked for a dialogue are breaking it,” available HERE

After reviewing the demands that we brought to the Ministry of Culture on November 27th, we believe that the first condition for our requests to be evaluated is the necessary recognition of the right to political freedom. Although creation is a vocation and responds to an intrinsic space, we know that more than artists and intellectuals, we are citizens with rights. Therefore, we affirm that artistic freedom cannot exist without political freedom. We demand:

The recognition of the right to political freedom that allows us to build a truly inclusive and democratic nation.

The immediate release of Denis Solis by any means provided for in the Cuban legal system.

The end of state repression against artists, creators, intellectuals, and citizens who think differently.

The removal of the media campaign to discredit artists, independent creators, and citizens based on political criteria.

Recognition and respect for independent positioning.


To achieve a respectful dialogue and guarantee that processes such as these—criminal, repressive, discriminatory, and defamatory—will not be repeated in the future, it is necessary to initiate a participatory and democratic process.
We call on all Cubans inside and outside Cuba to unity and peace. We call for understanding and communication. We call for support and solidarity. This cause is the cause of all Cubans. For an inclusive Cuba for all and the good of all.

*We make this statement public. We invite those who wish to subscribe to it by commenting on this Facebook page or signing the petition platform we have created
(follow the link HERE).

*To better count signatures, we request that this petition not be duplicated and that comments with names be made only on the 27N page.

Havana, December 4, 2020. 6:30 PM.

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Statement in Support of the San Isidro Movement’s Headquarters
November 19, 2020

INSTAR expresses its solidarity and support to the Cuban creators, intellectuals, artists, and citizens who are currently at the headquarters of the San Isidro Movement under siege and harassed by state security forces and the police.

The San Isidro Movement had called for a peaceful day of denunciation at its headquarters at Damas and San Isidro Streets, under the title #SusurroPoético, for the member citizen #DenisSolís’s unjust 8-month prison sentence for “contempt.”

This artistic and civic gesture, whose declared purpose was a collective poetry reading, has led to the confinement of those who joined to participate in the mobilization of military forces that besieged the space to prevent the entry and exit of people, as well as basic supplies to the MSI headquarters (home of the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara). Several people there have declared themselves on a forced hunger strike. Other members of civil society who have shown their support are now under surveillance, deprived of access to networks, and are also prevented from leaving their homes.

There is no justification for the illegality, arbitrariness, and inhumanity of these repressive strategies by the state to restrict freedom of expression. The government’s aggression against consciences and bodies that clamor for the legitimate exercise of their civic rights, no less than through art, cannot be allowed to continue. We hold the Cuban state responsible for these citizens’ and colleagues’ physical and psychological well-being.

#FreeDenis

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Statement on Police Violence in Cuba
October 10, 2020

This October 10th, the 152nd anniversary of “El Grito de Yara,” which marked the beginning of the struggle for Cuban independence, members of the Cuban civil society unite in a coalition to protest the police and political harassment of artists, activists, independent journalists, and the people of Cuba in general.

We demand compliance with Article 56 of the new Constitution of the Republic, where it is written that “The rights of assembly, demonstration, and association, for lawful and peaceful purposes, are recognized by the State.” We want our citizens’ rights.

We report that the agents of the political police create public disorder with constant harassment, arbitrary and illegal detentions, and repression of peaceful activists. We demand the release of Cuban rapper Maykel Osorbo 349, Silverio Portal Contreras, and all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Cuban jails.

Artists, journalists, and activists of the Cuban civil society say ENOUGH; we are against so much violence and arbitrariness. We will not allow the violation of human rights in Cuba to continue to be normalized. Today, we went out to the Concierto por la Libertad scheduled at the San Isidro Movement #MSI headquarters, where an intense siege has been reported for days. This joins the escalation of police violence that the Cuban state has deployed on the population, blaming the pandemic. Because “If they mess with one, they mess with all.”

#cubaesdetodos
#todosporlalibertad
#nomásrepresión
#semetenconunosemetencontodos
#nomásviolenciapolicial

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URGENT HUMANITARIAN STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF THE RELEASE OF SILVERIO PORTAL CONTRERAS
August 31, 2020

To the Supreme Court of Cuba:

Cuban political prisoner Silverio Portal Contreras is being held incommunicado in Prison 1580 in San Miguel del Padrón, Havana. After six months without seeing him, his wife, Lucinda González, has been informed that he will possibly be transferred to the Carlos J. Finlay Hospital, which shows the worsening of his already precarious state of health. Given this new scenario, we, the undersigned, demand Silverio's immediate release, which would allow him to return to his home and recover with proper medical assistance.

Portal Contreras led the project “No más muertes en Cuba por derrumbes” (No more deaths in Cuba due to collapses), whose objective was to protest before state institutions to demand protection of people living in dilapidated buildings in their communities. For his legitimate demands, he was sentenced to four years in prison for the alleged crimes of public disorder and contempt. The incident for which he was convicted occurred on June 20, 2016, but the Prosecutor's Office did not file the indictment until September 4, 2017. Two and a half years have passed since Silverio Portal Contreras’ incarceration, during which the epilepsy and hypertension he suffered since before arriving in prison have been aggravated by a cerebrovascular infarction, two transient ischemia, the loss of vision in one eye after a beating, and the progressive loss of vision in the other after being diagnosed with diabetes.

Several international organizations have spoken out in favor of his release. On July 22, 2020, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted a precautionary measure in favor of Portal Contreras. Previously, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention called for his immediate release and that of seven other Cuban political prisoners. Amnesty International also declared him a “Prisoner of Conscience,” and the European Union Parliament expressed concern about his case.

Portal Contreras has not committed any serious crimes. He has been punished for publicly defending the constitutional right to decent housing for those of us who live in Havana. He wanted to avoid new collapses, like the one that took the lives of three innocent girls. He should not die in prison. We demand that Silverio Portal Contreras be released immediately due to the accelerated deterioration of his health, which could be complicated by the danger posed by the COVID-19 epidemic on the island. This declaration, and the actions that we will be announcing progressively in support of our demand, join the campaign to make visible the political prisoners and the arbitrariness committed against them, which is being carried out in Cuba by an essential part of our civil society, as well as the international pronouncements on the Cuban prisoners of conscience, especially on Silverio’s case. We believe that these citizen demands should not continue to be ignored by the authorities.

Immediate freedom for Silverio Portal!

You can join us HERE

#LibertadParaSilverio
#VamosPorSilverio

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Statement on the Murder of Hansel Hernández
June 26, 2020

El abuso de poder y la arbitrariedad policial siguen siendo parte de la realidad cotidiana en Cuba. Una realidad en crisis, donde aumentan de forma dramática la precariedad, la desigualdad social, la discriminación y la brutalidad de las autoridades, en la medida en que el gobierno continúa operando con impunidad, silenciando a los ciudadanos. Desponjándolos de toda posibilidad de denuncia y defensa de sus derechos y libertades. Hoy presenciamos como un triste ejemplo el asesinato del joven ciudadano Hansel Hernández Galiano.

Es inconcebible que las autoridades no hagan una declaración pública sobre este lamentable suceso. Debemos exigir justicia para Hansel Hernández Galiano, para todas las víctimas de la arbitrariedad y la injusticia. Exigimos al estado cubano que comience a asumir su responsabilidad y a rendir cuentas con transparencia por los atropellos que diariamente se cometen.

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Statement on Decree 370
June 20, 2020

Joint Communiqué of International Organizations and Media in Support of the Petition to Declare Decree Law 370 Unconstitutional in Cuba.

The undersigned organizations and media outlets support the petition presented last June 8th in Cuba to the National Assembly, the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Attorney General’s Office, and the President of the Republic to declare Decree Law 378 of 2019 unconstitutional. The 64 people who signed that request did so on behalf of more than 500 residents in Cuba and 3,100 of Cuban origin and 83 other nations, who signed the “Declaration against Decree Law 370: Scourge Law,” published on the Avaaz platform.

Decree Law 370 was described as an effective means of consolidating cybersecurity, technological sovereignty, security, and national defense. However, it subjects the development of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) to state needs. It imposes restrictions on the exercise of fundamental rights involved in their use, such as political participation, freedom of expression, privacy, and the right of association, among which the following stand out:


It penalizes the dissemination of information in social networks contrary to “social interest,” “morals,” and “good customs,” categories that do not define illicit conduct and inhibit debate in the public and political sphere.

It authorizes the punishment and prosecution of computer security researchers who publish and warn about the existence of vulnerabilities in computer systems.

It grants discretionary powers to the Ministry of Communications (MINCOM) to grant licenses for computer programs and applications.

It prevents the manufacture, installation, and commercialization of ICT-related devices without authorization, affecting the development of community networks that guarantee access to the Internet and reduce the digital divide.

It prevents the hosting of websites located on foreign servers that are not replicas of national servers, declaring illegal personal blogs and independent media that are denied access to the “.cu” domain, allowing the government to control and access users’ personal information.


These restrictions contravene the provisions of Articles 8, 40, 41, 47, 54, and 228 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba. They are contrary to international treaties ratified by the state, which are part of the national legal system and expressly protect freedom of expression. These include the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Child’s Rights, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

By signing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Cuban state is obliged to protect freedom of expression. This commitment is reaffirmed in Article 47 of the Cuban Constitution, which recognizes the right of persons to the free development of their personality, and in Article 54, which imposes on the State the obligation to guarantee freedom of expression, essential for the enjoyment of other human rights, the illegitimate restriction of which violates the principles of indivisibility, interdependence, and progressiveness of human rights recognized in Article 41.

Since the publication of our press release on May 6th—when we warned about the violations of freedom of expression and press freedom caused by the application of Decree Law 370—the situation has worsened. Another nine people have been penalized with fines of CUP 3,000 (USD 120), equivalent to three times the current average monthly salary. And at least one was fined twice in less than 40 days. In all cases, they were sanctioned by MINCOM officials, under direct orders from State Security, because of their critical publications on social networks about the management of the Cuban government.

In the February 2020 Country Report, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) considered that Decree Law 370 “could generate undue restrictions on the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and assembly through the Internet, affecting the free flow of information.” The IACHR has warned that Internet surveillance activities are contrary to the right to privacy and protection of personal data. It expressed concern that this type of online monitoring is being used to identify independent journalists and political dissidents, which would lead to the use of patterns of harassment against these individuals.

The Cuban state must guarantee the right of access to information through any media, mainly through the Internet. We insist that criminalizing and classifying as legal violations the exercise of freedom of expression and restricting access to and publication of content on the Internet, on public order or national security grounds, has a chilling effect on the collective dimension of the rights to freedom of expression and assembly.

We, the undersigned, support the petition to declare Decree Law 370 unconstitutional. We reaffirm in all its terms the communiqué published last May 6th. We urge actors of the international community, governments, civil society, and international organizations for the protection of human rights to demand from the Cuban government an immediate end to online surveillance against people who express their opinions in social networks or other media and an end to the persecution of journalists and human rights activists.

List of signers:

· Access Now
· ADN
· Alas Tensas - Revista Feminista Cubana (feminist Cuban magazine)
· Alianza Regional por la Libre Expresión e Información
· Árbol Invertido
· Article 19 Oficina para México y Centroamérica
· Asociación Pro Libertad de Prensa
· Centro para la Apertura y el Desarrollo de América Latina (CADAL)
· Centro PEN de Escritores Cubanos en el Exilio
· CiberCuba
· Ciudadania y Desarrollo
· CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen
· Participation Civil Rights Defenders
· Club de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba
· Convivencia Cuba Lex
· CubaNet Noticias
· Cultura Democrática
· DemoAmlat
· Demóngeles Art
· Derechos Digitales de América Latina
· DIARIO DE CUBA
· El Estornudo Freedom House
· Freemuse Fundación Cubana para los Derechos Humanos
· Fundación Internet Bolivia
· Havana Times
· Hiper Derecho
· Huaira
· Human Rights Foundation (HRF)
· Editorial Hypermedia
· Instituto Cubano por la Libertad de Expresión y Prensa (ICLEP)
· International Freedom of Expression Exchange and Alianza de América Latina (IFEX-ALC)
· Instituto de Artivismo Hannah Arendt
· La Hora de Cuba Mesa de Diálogo de la Juventud Cubana
· Movimiento Cubano por la Libertad de Expresión
· Movimiento San Isidro
· No Somos Desertores
· PEN Internacional
· People in Need
· People in Need Slovakia
· Play-Off Magazine
· Post Bellum SK / Príbehy 20. storočia
· “Programa Cuba de la Universidad Sergio Arboleda”
· Inventario
· Puente a la Vista
· Race Equality Foundation Red de Cultura Inclusiva
· Red Femenina de Cuba
· RedLad
· Rialta A. C.
· Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Transparencia Electoral
· Tremenda Nota
· Usuarios digitales
· YucaByte

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Statement on Arbitrary Detentions
June 17, 2020

In the early hours this morning, we received the news of the arbitrary detentions of curators Claudia Genlui Hidalgo and Anamely Ramos and artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara and Maykel Osorbo. As stated in their social networks, our colleagues were preparing to file an accusation for the police violence they were victims of last Friday in Havana.

Anamely Ramos was passing through Centro Habana for “personal reasons,” states Camila Lobón on social media, when a car with a private license plate P240062 intercepted the curator. At the time of this post, her whereabouts are unknown. We demand the immediate release of our colleagues.

#NoMásDetencionesArbitrarias
#N1370N1349

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Declaration for the Release of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara
March 6, 2020

Freedom of thought and expression is a non-negotiable human right. A country that does not guarantee the full exercise of that right jeopardizes its present and its future.

Art that defends rights through peaceful creation and expression elevates the exercise of justice to the fulfillment of a citizen’s commitment to social welfare. This is where Luis Manuel’s art is inscribed. We must support him. Freedom for Luis Manuel!

Sign for his freedom HERE

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