The Cuban Five: Ten years of incarceration in US prisons

As the year 2008 ends, the Five Cuban antiterrorist fighters complete 10 years of unjust incarceration in US prisons. They remain dignified and committed in spite of the many years that have passed and the constant violations of their rights as prisoners. They also have to cope with the fact that while they are deprived of their freedom for fighting terrorism, the real terrorists, such as Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch, are free to walk the streets of Miami.

The last 365 days have continued to be difficult for the Five as they are constantly being subjected to 'Lockdowns" that affect all prisoners although they haven't committed any indiscipline. During lockdowns all communications are broken with families and lawyers, food is reduced to light, cold meals and even showers are forbidden.

This form of punishment has been even more frequently applied in the maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado, where Antonio Guerrero is located. The most recent of these shocking lockdowns lasted from the middle of November through to almost the of end December, more than a month. The longest and most dangerous was last April caused by clashes between racist groups and African American prisoners which left two dead and several injured.
This happened in the middle of a prison visit by Antonio's sister, Maruchy and his mother, Mirta.

This is the hostile environment in which our five Cuban heroes have lived in for ten years now. These five men are intellectuals, men of principle and from the moment of their arrest, political prisoners.

To make matters worse, the five men have to suffer erratic and interrupted family visits while their relatives wait for visas to be issued by Washington. Year after year two f the wives, Olga and Adriana are turned down for visas and haven't seen their husbands for practically all of the time they have been incarcerated.

Around the time of Gerardo's birthday, last 4th June, a panel of three judges from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta published their decision on the latest appeal. In a ninety-nine page document they decimated all the arguments the defense had put to re-consider the lengthy sentences that Judge Joan Lenard had passed on the Five in a Miami Court in 2001.

They also ratified the guilt of the Five and sent for re-sentencing for Antonio, Ramon and Fernando in the same Miami court and before the same judge that sentenced them, meanwhile confirming Gerardo's sentence of two life sentences plus fifteen years and Rene's sentence of 15 years.
The Five's defense team appealed this decision to the full panel of judges of the same court, which on the 2nd September ratified the ruling reached by the three judge court. The dirty legal games being played out against the Five shames the judicial system and Constitution of the United States.

In legal terms, the next and only step that is open to reclaim freedom for the Five is to make an appeal for a hearing at the US Supreme Court. According to statistics there is a 1.2% chance of the appeal being heard.

This is why the president of the Cuban parliament, Ricardo Alarcon, emphasis the importance of solidarity and international public opinion so that the judges of the Supreme Court know that the world is watching.

International solidarity increased immensely in 2008, especially the number of public declarations in support of the Five from celebrities, parliamentarians, trade unionists, church people, international social movements and organisations such as Amnesty International who came out in favour of visits by their wives to Gerardo and Rene.

The first public concert in support of the Five was celebrated in New York with performances by outstanding musicians hosted by Puerto Rican singer Danny Rivera. The event combined in an entertaining and informative manner music, song and dance plus information on the case of the Five Cubans. This helped to bring the legal violations of the case to a new audience and was also televised by Cuba's daily talk show program, The Round Table.

The growth in solidarity actions around the world is the really good news of 2008. There were protests and demonstrations all over the United States; signatures were collected to be handed in to the US Attorney General; giant posters were put up on public roads at the entrance to several cities in California. In Cuba and abroad, there were information stalls at rock concerts, social forums, book fairs and any other event that could be useful in finding new people to join the campaign the free the Cuban Five.

Family members of the Five traveled across the five continents to bear testimony to what they and their loved ones are suffering as a result of a very flawed judicial process in the US.

In fact the case of the Five never sleeps. All around the world at any given moment, there is something happening to remind the world that this great injustice has taken place.
Let 2009 be the year that Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez come home to their country and their families.

On the 30th January 2009 the defense team will submit their petition to have their case heard at the US Supreme Court. The US government then has two or three months to reply. The Five's lawyers will have a short period of time to reply. And the Court could decide by May 2009, whether to hear the case or any part of it.

We await that decision.
Bring them home!