OCB announces partnership with Freedom House to combat human rights abuses in Cuba
On August 14th, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB) announced its partnership with Freedom House for its project “Cubano conoce tus derechos (Cuban, Know Your Rights)”. Radio and TV Martí broadcasters will read chapters of the UN Declaration of Human Rights on-air and offer a hotline for citizens to denounce human rights abuses in Cuba. Once these incidents have been checked for accuracy, the report(s) will be sent to Freedom House for dissemination to foreign governments, media outlets and civil society leaders.
“The [denounciation] process must be professional, and every tip vetted. We rely only on the truth and we cannot fail our audience,” said OCB Director Tomás P. Regalado
OCB will also work with a network of independent journalists inside the island to investigate and verify the denouncements.
The partnership was announced at a press conference held at OCB headquarters in Miami, FL. OCB Director Tomás P. Regalado, along with Carlos Ponce, Director of Freedom House from Washington and John Suarez, Program Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean offered remarks about the organziations’ collaborative efforts. Also in attendance were Omara Ruiz Urquiola, Ph.D. in Biology and one of the most well-known Cuban environmentalist, and former U.S. Ambassador Armando Valladares, a well-known political prisoner of the Castro Regime.
The press conference was covered by Spanish news agency EFE, Mexican news services NOTIMEX, Univision, Telemundo, and AmericaTeve, along with NBC local, Diario Las Americas and El Nuevo Herald-The Miami Herald.