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A US-based media watchdog condemned the Cuban authorities on Friday for harassing independent journalists and failing to provide adequate medical treatment for those in prison.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, cited the example of journalist Jorge Olivera Castillo, who was released from jail in December 2004 on medical parole.
Olivera was ordered by a Havana municipal court on Tuesday to work at a state-controlled office that the court would select. He also told CPJ that he was barred from attending public gatherings and leaving Havana.
Olivera was sentenced in March 2003 to 18 years in prison in a massive crackdown on the independent media. While on medical parole he has contributed to the Miami-based news Web site CubaNet and other international publications.
"It is outrageous that Cuba, which jails more journalists than any other country in the world except China, should continue to harass journalists even after they have left prison," said CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper.
"Cuba now has 24 journalists behind bars solely for exercising their right to free expression. Some of them are not receiving the medical treatment that they need, Cooper said.
"We call on the authorities to release these 24 prisoners immediately and to stop harassing all journalists," she added.
Earlier this month, independent journalist Roberto Santana Rodriguez was summoned to a police station in Havana and questioned about his work.
An officer showed Santana a file containing articles he wrote in 2005. Santana told CPJ he was threatened with jail if he did not stop working as journalist.
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AFP 242249 GMT 02 06
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