2020, Roberto de Jesús Quiñones Haces, a trained lawyer, poet, and journalist with CubaNet, is currently serving a one-year sentence since September 11, 2019 on charges of “resistance” and “disobedience.” Quiñones allegedly committed these crimes during an unjustified five-day detention starting April 22, 2019. He was detained and beaten for five days after covering the prosecution of Pastors Rigal and Expósito for homeschooling their children in Guantánamo. Radio Martí has a recording of Quiñones speaking about his beating here.
In June 2019, GLA agreed to work on his behalf. Fined for his alleged crimes, Quiñones refused to pay. He was cited for failure to pay in August 2019--incidentally, just a day after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed his concern for the journalist in a phone interview. Quiñones appealed his initial sentence, but his appeal was rejected and he was imprisoned on September 11. On April 1, 2020, One Free Press and the Committee to Protect Journalists featured Quiñones as one of 10 journalists worldwide suffering from persecution of the press.
On April 27, 2020, Quiñones's son issued video statements in Spanish and in English calling for his father's release; and on April 29, GLA applied for precautionary measures with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an organ of the Organization of American States. Throughout the summer of 2020, GLA, the U.S. government, and international human rights organizations called for Quiñones's release. He was finally released on completion of his sentence, on September 4, 2020. After several updates from GLA, the IACHR granted Quiñones precautionary measures on March 9, 2021.
In June 2019, GLA agreed to work on his behalf. Fined for his alleged crimes, Quiñones refused to pay. He was cited for failure to pay in August 2019--incidentally, just a day after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed his concern for the journalist in a phone interview. Quiñones appealed his initial sentence, but his appeal was rejected and he was imprisoned on September 11. On April 1, 2020, One Free Press and the Committee to Protect Journalists featured Quiñones as one of 10 journalists worldwide suffering from persecution of the press.
On April 27, 2020, Quiñones's son issued video statements in Spanish and in English calling for his father's release; and on April 29, GLA applied for precautionary measures with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an organ of the Organization of American States. Throughout the summer of 2020, GLA, the U.S. government, and international human rights organizations called for Quiñones's release. He was finally released on completion of his sentence, on September 4, 2020. After several updates from GLA, the IACHR granted Quiñones precautionary measures on March 9, 2021.
A Poem by Roberto Quiñones
“La prisión” (2001) |
“Prison” (2001) |
La prisión es el viejo Enrique gastando el tiempo tras colillas de cigarros. Es Pompi el haitiano invocando a sus ancestros mientras sus ojos parcelados por barrotes se estiran hasta el cielo. La prisión es el odio en la mirada el rancho podrido que te sirven la añoranza por los hijos la cábala nocturna cercenada con golpes en las rejas y reflectores que tajan la noche y las desesperanzas. A nadie importan los ojos extraviados de los presos sus manos huérfanos de abrazos sus sueños o sus lágrimas mientras una esquirla de sal les viene a horadar el alba. Ellos solo tienen una vida gris como la humanidad de sus jueces. Si amanecen muertos serán un velorio desconocido como nuestro sufrimiento. |
Prison is old Enrique wasting time after butts of his cigars. It’s Pompi, the Haitian, calling on his ancestors while his eyes, broken up by bars, stretch to the sky. Prison is the hatred in a look the old slop that they serve you missing your children the night Kabbalahs pierced by blows on the bars floodlights that slice through the night and despairs. No one cares about the wayward eyes of prisoners their hands orphaned from human touch their dreams or tears while a grain of salt drills through the dawn. They only have a gray life, like the humanity of their judges. If they’re dead in the morning, they’ll be an unknown wake like our suffering. |
