By María Salazar-Ferro/Coordinator, Impunity Campaign and Journalist
Assistance Program
On Wednesday morning, exiled Cuban journalist Albert Santiago Du Bouchet
Hernández took his own life, according to reports in the Cuban exiled
media. He was the last of more than 20 Cuban journalists to be released
from prison and sent to Spain following July 2010 talks between the
government of Cuban President Raúl Castro and the Catholic Church. Du
Bouchet Hernández, who reported opposition political news, endured
inhumanity at home and, ultimately, suffered hardship in exile.
Du Bouchet Hernández was the director of the Havana-based independent
news agency Havana Press. He was jailed twice, in 2005 and 2009, on
"disrespect" charges. According to CPJ research, he drew the ire of
Cuban authorities after reporting on an unprecedented gathering of
hundreds of Cuban opposition activists in 2005. Like most political
prisoners, Du Bouchet Hernández was jailed in inhumane conditions that
included rotting food and overflowing wastewater.
I spoke to him many times between prison stints. He was determined, and
continued working after his initial release. But it was clear from our
conversations that he was also deeply affected by the continuous
repression he faced from Cuban authorities.
Du Bouchet Hernández was released the second time in April 2011. He
initially settled in Madrid with his former wife and son, but then moved
to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where he died. News of his death was
first reported by the exiled reporter Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta on
Facebook. Herrera Acosta said he did not know precisely what motivated
his friend but knew that he had been in pain.
Like most journalists released from Cuban prisons to Spain, Du Bouchet
Hernández had a very difficult time adjusting. Economic woes and
bureaucratic problems made the transition extremely difficult for many,
as my colleague Borja Bergareche reported for CPJ in 2011. At the time,
many said Spain would only be a temporary stop. Since then, at least
seven journalists, including Herrera Acosta, have moved to the United
States by CPJ's count.
María Salazar-Ferro is CPJ's Impunity Campaign and Journalist Assistance
Program coordinator. A native of Bogotá, she studied at Universidad de
los Andes, in Bogotá, and graduated from the University of Virginia.
http://www.cpj.org/blog/2012/04/remembering-cubas-du-bouchet-hernandez-1.php
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