NEWS RELEASES
AXWORTHY WELCOMES RELEASE OF CUBAN WRITER
May 12, 1997 No. 86
AXWORTHY WELCOMES RELEASE OF CUBAN WRITER
Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy today welcomed the release of a Cuban
writer and journalist, Cecelio Ismail Sambra Haber. Mr. Sambra and his family
arrived in Canada on May 11. He will be taking a position at Wilfrid Laurier
University as writer-in-residence. The family is sponsored by PEN Canada, a group
that works on behalf of writers.
"Mr. Sambra's release is a result both of PEN Canada's efforts and Canada's policy
of engagement and dialogue that allows us to discuss a wide range of issues with
Cuba. An example of this dialogue was a seminar held just last week in Havana,
where Canadian and Cuban officials and non-governmental organizations discussed
children's rights," said the Minister. "I wish to commend PEN Canada for its work
on behalf of writers."
Mr. Sambra was arrested in early 1993 for having distributed material critical of
the Cuban government and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Santiago de Cuba.
In 1996, he was made an honorary member of PEN Canada, a non-governmental
organization that assists writers who have been harassed or imprisoned for
expressing their views. PEN Canada sought Canadian government support in its
efforts to secure Mr. Sambra's release, and Mr. Axworthy and other government
officials have raised the case with the Cuban leadership numerous times, including
during the Minister's visit to Cuba in January 1997.
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For further information, media representatives may contact:
Catherine Lappe
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(613) 995-1851
Media Relations Office
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(613) 995-1874
This document is also available on the Department's Internet site:
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca
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