CZECH REPUBLIC: CUBA ROUND-UP

UNCLAS PRAGUE 000358

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

EUR/NCE FOR ERIC FICHTE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KDEM CU EZ
SUBJECT: CZECH REPUBLIC: CUBA ROUND-UP

REF: A. 06 PRAGUE 0066

B. 06 PRAGUE 0085

C. PRAGUE 350

D. PRAGUE 351


1. (U) The following is a summary of Czech MFA and NGO
activities focused on promoting human rights and democracy in
Cuba.

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ICDC Conference on Cuba in Berlin April 24-26
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2. (SBU) Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg will
speak at the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba
(ICDC) Conference in Berlin on April 26. (ICDC is a Czech NGO
founded by former Czech President Vaclav Havel.) The goal of
the conference is to inspire the Germany presidency to focus
on Cuba, and more generally, to build support within the EU
for a mid-term policy on Cuba. The conference has attracted
official speakers from Germany, other EU member states, and
the United States. Former President Havel, other former world
leaders (such as former President of Poland Aleksandr
Kwasniewski, former President of Chili Ricardo Lagos, former
President of Albania Rexhep Meidani, and former Prime
Minister of Estonia Mart Laar),and Cuban democracy advocates
will also speak.

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MFA Transition Cooperation Unit Funds New Cuba Projects
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3. (SBU) MFA Director of the Transformation Cooperation Unit
(TRANS) Gabriela Dlouha said funding for Czech NGOs working
to promote democracy and human rights in Cuba will slightly
increase in 2007, and continue to increase annually though

2009.


4. (SBU) In addition to providing traditional support for the
democratic opposition (ref A),TRANS is also seeking ways to
reach out to ordinary Cubans. For example, this year TRANS
will fund a film project in Cuba similar to a successful film
project TRANS funded in Burma in 2005 (ref B). In the case of
the Burma project, the GOB officially authorized a Czech
filmmaker to conduct a documentary-making seminar in Burma
with a small group of young Burmese. The participants
produced documentaries on apolitical topics, and in the
process learned about the art and philosophy of documentary
films. The participants were permitted to keep their cameras
and equipment at the conclusion of the project. At the time,
Dlouha said she hoped that small, untraditional projects like
this would serve as a catalyst to encourage self-expression,
journalism, and possibly change, in oppressed countries.


5. (SBU) If supplemental funds become available, TRANS plans
to fund additional projects in Cuba focused on humanitarian
assistance.

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PIN & Czech Politicians Protest Cuban Human Rights Abuses
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6. (U) Czech NGO People in Need (PIN) hosted its fourth
annual protest against the Castro regime. Each year, PIN
places a symbolic jail cell in Wenceslas Square on the
anniversary of Castro's crackdown on Cuban dissidents in
March 2003. Czech Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr (Sasha)
Vondra and other prominent figures wore striped prison
clothes and called for the release of all political prisoners
in Cuba. Later, PIN staged a march in support of the Women in
White, the wives and mothers of jailed political prisoners.

For photographs, see www.clovekvtisni.cz/index2en.php?parent
=404&sid=404&id=522&idGallery=53.

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MFA Director of Americas Department Moving On
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7. (SBU) MFA Director of the Department of Americas Jakub
Skalnik will become the DCM at the Czech mission in the Hague
in summer 2007. He does not know yet who will replace him. An
MFA official told Poloff unofficially on March 29 that the
top candidate for the position is the former Czech Ambassador
to Mexico Vladimir Eisenbruk.
GRABER