Montreal Photographer Arrested in Cuba

A Cuban immigration agent at Veradero Airport holds photographer David Himbert’s passport while completing a document to confiscate Himbert’s hard drive and memory cards, 04 November 2018.

Montreal-based photojournalist, and NPAC member, David Himbert was arrested last week by Cuban police while he was working on a photo documentary in Havana. He was later released after Cuban authorities confiscated two memory cards and an external hard drive containing most of his images.

Himbert has travelled to Cuba several times since 2011. He is documenting the end of the Castro regime and how Cuba is transitioning toward a market economy.

“I never had any problems in Cuba before this arrest,” said Himbert. “I have been followed and sometimes my papers were checked but I have never been prevented from working.”

Himbert describes what happened during his recent Cuban trip.

“On Sunday November 4, I wanted to photograph Berta Soler, the leader of the Ladies in White, a movement opposing the Cuban regime.

“I made contact with a local Cuban independent journalist close to dissident circles. He warned me that Soler was under house arrest and I couldn’t meet her. I decided to telephone her to arrange a picture of her through the window of her home. But she said this was forbidden, too.

“I decided to go to her home in Lawton, a suburb in Havana, to at least photograph the exterior of the house. But when my translator and I arrived by taxi, we were immediately arrested by plainclothes police, even before we could approach the house.”

Himbert was arrested around 9:30 AM. Police interrogated him for about three hours and deleted many images from his cameras.

“During the interrogation, I realized that the police had listened into the phone calls between the independent journalist and Berta Soler.”

Himbert was then transferred by bus, under surveillance and without his passport, to Varadero Airport. He had already planned to return to Canada that night.

At the airport, he remained under detention which included a four-hour interrogation. Cuban immigration agents searched his belongings and confiscated two memory cards and an external hard drive holding most of his images.

The official reason why his images were confiscated was because they could contain “content of interest.” Himbert also shoots stock photos and while he was in Havana, he shot various stock images including pictures of the US and Russian embassies.

After almost 12 hours of detention, with only some water but no food, his passport was returned and Himbert left Cuba that night.

On his return to Montreal, Himbert checked his website’s analytics. Cuban officials had indeed viewed his website several times that day starting around 10 AM, just shortly after his arrest. Himbert said it should have been obvious that he was who he claimed to be.

“I had a call with Reporters Without Borders. They are currently documenting the case and they should issue a press release to denounce this serious attack on the freedom of the press,” said Himbert.

“I think that as an association of press photographers, we must formally denounce these methods worthy of the cold war!”