Citing "definitive and irrefutable evidence" contained in secret court
documents smuggled out of Cuba, renowned former dissidents in Eastern Europe have
appealed to IFLA to focus on Cuba at the association's annual conference in
Argentina. Following raids on libraries during a 2003 crackdown, approximately 19
of Cuba's independent librarians were sentenced to prison terms of up to 26
years. All of them have been named as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty
International. "They may die in prison," declared the signers of the letter, "unless
the international community takes action in their defense."
Among the signers of the August 10 letter to Dr. Paul Sturges, chair of
IFLA's intellectual freedom committee, are Vaclav Havel, Elena Bonner and the
former Prime Ministers of Estonia and Bulgaria.
In urging IFLA to renew its investigation of the Castro regime's repression
of the island's independent library movement, the Eastern Europeans pointed to
"shocking details" contained in secret Cuban court documents recently
published on the Internet. The Cuban documents, which accuse the defendants of
operating unofficial libraries, reveal that thousands of books were seized during the
2003 raids on the island's independent library network. Many of the books
were condemned as "subversive" by court-appointed "literary experts" before being
ordered to be destroyed by fire. Among the burned library books identified in
the court documents are works by George Orwell, Vaclav Havel, Burmese
activist Aung San Suu Kyi and banned Cuban authors.
The independent librarians receive aid from abroad, including France and the
United States. Cuban officials, in addition to denying the existence of
censorship in their country, insist that the jailed librarians have been justly
convicted for being "paid agents of the United States government." This argument
was rejected by the signers of the letter to IFLA, who stated "It can never be
a crime to oppose censorship or to open a library" and declared: "As we know
from the historical experience of Eastern Europe, it is not a crime for human
rights activists to receive moral and material support from other nations."
The Eastern Europeans stated that the upcoming IFLA conference in Argentina
“offers an opportunity for the worldwide library community to focus attention
on, and make a definitive statement against, the Cuban government's intensified
campaign of repression being waged against the independent librarians.”
“As the worldwide voice of librarians and a leading defender of the right to
freedom of expression, especially in relation to libraries, FAIFE/IFLA has a
duty to speak out clearly on Cuba,” said the statement.
To read more details on this breaking story, including the full text of the
letter to IFLA, please refer to the Recent News section of our website:
(www.friendsofcubanlibraries.org).
Sincerely,
The Friends of Cuban Libraries
(www.friendsofcubanlibraries.org)
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