We need a jury of millions
MICHAL BONCZA - Morning Star (main content based on meeting at CSC meeting in Manchester 22 Sept. 2008)
POLITICAL prisoner Gerardo Hernández issued a message to the world from his California prison cell earlier this month.
"Somebody has recently said that the final say belongs to the Supreme Court. However, I would say 'the penultimate.' The final say belongs to you, our brothers and sisters in Cuba, United States and the rest of the world."
"Reason is on our side, but for justice to be done we need a jury of millions around the world and we need you."
Hernández is one of the Miami Five, the political prisoners held captive by Washington for infiltrating anti-Cuban terrorist groups based on US soil.
The jury that he writes of is rapidly being assembled as the blatant disregard for elementary principles of law, judicial double standards and the cynical violation of UN conventions becomes ever more difficult to camouflage and is subjected to ever-widening scrutiny and condemnation.
Olga Salanueva and Adriana Pérez have played a major role in sustaining the momentum of this global campaign for justice.
Their husbands may be imprisoned, but they remain impressive and tireless advocates in the cause of the Miami Five. They radiate rare fortitude, steeled in adversity and by an unalienable conviction that their husbands' plight is a political rather than legal case.
Ridiculously, both Salanueva and Pérez have been denied visas to enter the US to see their husbands on the grounds that they pose a nebulous but imminent danger to state security. This would be comical were it not so deeply tragic.
Curiously, they say, the mother of jailed Moroccan terrorist Zacharias Mousawi, who is alleged to have been Osama bin Laden's second in command and is implicated in the September 11 2001 bombings, has been granted a multiple entry visa to the US as part of her visitation rights.
Prior to their arrest, the Miami Five had infiltrated Florida-based anti-Cuban organisations and compiled a massive dossier of these groups' often illegal activities and terrorist intentions and plans.
The operation was fully justified by a well-documented series of bombings and sabotage activity in Cuba, which endangered Cuban lives as well as threatened the economy.
Their dossier was passed to the US government in good faith. Instead, the FBI investigated the source of the information and the five were summarily arrested. A farcical trial followed in the hostile and charged atmosphere of a Miami courthouse, resulting in an unsafe conviction and vicious, disproportionate sentences.
A year after the trial, an attorney who originally opposed moving the case away from Miami spilled the beans.
Salanueva and Pérez point out that, in 2005, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions castigated the US for the trial, "which did not take place in a climate of objectivity and impartiality required."
It said that the sentences meted out had been "incompatible with Article 14 of the International Convention on Human and Political Rights," to which the US is a signatory.
Predictably, the State Department sulked and, as in all cases when international organisations rule against it, called the criticism variously as "ridiculous and perplexing," "outrageous" and "politically motivated." Also predictably, they did nothing.
Both Salanueva and Pérez were present at last week's TUC conference to witness the unanimous passing of a historic of a motion of support for the Miami Five, which they cautiously hope will now lead directly to pressure being put on the Labour government to intercede on their behalf with the US government.
They have also been heartened by the adoption of similar motions at the US largest union SEIU and the United Steel Workers conventions, as well as Amnesty International's castigation of practices "contrary to standards for human treatment of prisoners and the state's obligation to protect family life."
Contacted by the Morning Star, a spokeswoman for the Human Rights Watch office in London told us that she could not recall this case ever being on the group's agenda, however.
Salanueva and Pérez smile wryly when asked whether they'd talk to Sarah Palin, the US Republican portrayed as a defender of family values, should she be elected US vice-president, but they affirm that they'll speak to anyone to advance their just cause.
The women's determination and clarity of purpose is plain to see, as is their calm and the warmth that both radiate. Intrigued, I ask how they cope as wives. What do they specifically miss about their husbands?
Pérez is the more forthcoming. She says that it is impossible to define a single element.
"You miss everything when your other half isn't there," she replies. "You miss the daily contact of being together, the little things most couples take for granted, the walks, listening to music, going out, talking about the children, sharing a book."
Salanueva nods in support. A sense of sadness and loss permeates the room. Both women have tears in their eyes and their pain is palpable. For the briefest of moments, the intensity of their suffering becomes omnipresent and overwhelming.
Admirably, the families have stayed together and they are in regular contact with each other. The children, who in most cases hardly remember their fathers, have nevertheless wholeheartedly engaged in campaigning for their release.
The five cannot communicate among themselves and they are only permitted sporadic mail or telephone contact with their closest family members. The deliberate inhumanity and severity of these conditions lie at the heart of the vengeful attitude present in this case.
US jails are notorious for their violence and this is a major concern for both Salanueva and Pérez.
They explain that the five have won a lot of sympathy and acceptance from fellow prisoners, particularly black and Latino inmates who respect their involvement in the war in defence of Angola and their willingness to help others with form-filling and official correspondence. But that is by no means universal.
Both women were in Manchester for the Labour Party's conference earlier in the week for an unprecedented fringe meeting that was full to overflowing.
It is hoped that scheduled meetings with members of the Labour government and the party's hierarchy will lead to much needed high-level support from those quarters.
"If it was up to them, all would remain as is and, some day, when death frees me from two perpetual life sentences, my bones would have to be sent back to Cuba," wrote Hernández of the US authorities.
With the help of the people's jury of millions, however, it must be he hoped that these chilling words will never come to pass.
Letter by Gerardo Hernandez, one of the Five Cubans Held in US
Prisons
HAVANA, Cuba, Sept 21 (acn) Gerardo Hernandez, one of the five Cuban antiterrorist fighters held in US jails sent a letter to all who have supported their cause and to the Cuban people, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of their imprisonment last September 12. The letter was sent to our agency by the International Committee for the Freedom of Ramon Labañino, Rene Gonzalez, Fernando Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero and Gerardo Hernandez, known as the Cuban Five. ACN now reproduces the letter sent by Gerardo.
Dear Compañeras and Compañeros
We have arrived at
the tenth anniversary of the arrest of the Cuban Five in a crucial moment of
our legal process. (..This is the way it is called, but perhaps it would be
more appropriate to say (“illegal process”). The Eleven Circuit Court of
Appeals, based in Atlanta , just ended our appeals. That means that if it was
up to them everything would stay like it is and some day my bones would be
sent to Cuba when my death frees me from the two life sentences.
The
mentioned court has given clear signals of the type of “justice” the Five can
receive in this country. When the decision was 3- 0 in our favor, with 93
pages of solid arguments in which the three judge panel stated what happened
in our case was “the perfect storm”, the entire court, against all the
prognostics, not only accepted to revise it, but reinstated all of the
original charges without much explanation.
Suddenly, “the perfect
storm” became a little drizzle. But, this time, when the decision was 2-1
against the Five, with obvious legal errors, with a judge arguing in 16 pages
that the prosecutors presented absolutely no proof that could support the
charge of conspiracy to commit murder, with a judge that even voting against
us—recognized that it was a very “close case” and with several arguments from
the defense that were not even correctly analyzed, the Eleventh Circuit Court
refused to look back into it.
Like we say in Cuba : “Not even the
water is clearer”. We have had to say over and over again that this is a
political case, and those who do not see it like that is because they chose to
not see it.
Somebody recently mentioned that the last word is now on
the Supreme Court. I would say that they would have the second to last word.
The last word on the case belongs to you, our brothers and sisters from Cuba ,
the United States and from all over the world who through these years have
been our main source of encouragement. Our hopes are not deposited in any
court. Ten years are more than enough to have been cured of any naivety. Our
hope is with you who through great sacrifice and swimming against the current
have made it possible, that today, people in all continents, know about the
injustice against the Five.
There are those of you who are not resting
in your houses or taking time off but instead honor us with your presence in
different activities, commemorating the tenth anniversary of our imprisonment.
It is you who carry the responsibility of continuing to struggle to unmask the
double standards of a government that invades other countries supposedly to
fight terrorism, and at the same time shelters and protects known terrorists
and imprisoned those who were trying to prevent these types of criminal acts.
We trust you to unveil the hypocrisy of the corporate media, and some
international organizations that portray suffering political prisoners who are
in reality mercenaries and traitors of our country who lower themselves for a
handful of dollars or a visa. Meanwhile there is a deafening silence in the
case of two women that have been denied, for a decade, their elemental right
to visit their husbands in prison.
We know that the truth is in our
side, but to achieve true justice, we need a jury of millions of people from
around the world, and we need you, defenders of just causes, to let our story
be known.
The injustice committed against the Five has kept us for 10
years far away from our homeland, but this has not prevented us from sharing
with our people their joys and also their sufferings.
A few days ago
Hurricane Gustav caused great damage in Cuba, particularly in the Island of
Youth and Pinar del Rio, two territories from where, in all these years, we
have received a great deal of support and warmness.
We are sure that
those who live in these areas together with the local and national leadership,
with the solidarity of all dignified Cubans and many friends from around the
world, will know how to become stronger in these difficult moments and –as is
characteristic of revolutionaries—will convert the difficulties into victory.
Although we can not be there physically, today more than ever the Five are
with you in our hearts, with all of our brothers and sisters in the Island of
Youth and Pinar del Rio that have done so much in the struggle for our
liberation.
Compañeras and Compañeros: It has been 10 years since
September 12, 1998, and we want to thank you one more time for walking with us
on this long and accidental road. We know that to continue this march, we can
continue counting on you, and you can also count on us and our firm commitment
to resist with our heads held high for as long as it takes.
Hasta la
Victoria Siempre
Gerardo Hernandez
USP Victorville