FIGHTING TERRORISM AND WAR

Request for extradition of terrorists of Cuban descent detained in the Republic of Panama

 On 20 November 2000, Dr. Juan Escalona Reguera, Attorney General of the Republic, requested the President of the People's Supreme Court to process, through the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the extradition from the Republic of Panama of the infamous terrorists LUIS CLEMENTE FAUSTINO POSADA CARRILES, GUILLERMO NOVO SAMPOLL, GASPAR EUGENIO JIMÉNEZ ESCOBEDO and PEDRO CRISPIN REMON RODRÍGUEZ, given that they had been arrested in that country and there were grounds for trying them in criminal court for terrorism and related offences.

The extradition request was submitted because these individuals had participated in the following acts:

LUIS CLEMENTE FAUSTINO POSADA CARRILES, from Cienfuegos, Cuba, son of Luis and Dolores, born on 15 February 1928, white complexion, also known as Ignacio Medina, Ramón Medina, Juan Ramón Medina, Ramón Medina Rodríguez, José Ramón Medina, Rivas López, Julio César Dumas, Franco Rodríguez, "Benzaquen", "Bambi", "Comisario Basilio", "Lupo", "El Solo", "El hombre del tio" and "el Bebé", among many other aliases. He took part, among many other acts, in the following:

1. 6 October 1976 - Sabotaged a Cubana Airlines flight from Barbados, placing an explosive device inside the aircraft and causing it to explode in mid-air.

2. 24 November 1994 - Trained Guatemalan citizen Percy Francisco Alvarado Godoy and supplied him with explosive devices with which to carry out terrorist acts in Cuba.
3. 12 April 1997 - Arranged for an explosive device to detonate in the bathroom of the Aché Discotheque in the Meliá Cohíba Hotel, in Havana.

4. 30 April 1997 - Arranged for an explosive device to be placed on the 15th floor of the Meliá Cohíba Hotel.

5. 24 May 1997 - Arranged for an explosive device to be placed at the entrance to the office of CUBANACAN in Mexico.

6. 12 July 1997 - Arranged for two explosive devices to detonate in the Capri and National hotels in Havana.

7. November 2000 - Organized and participated in an assassination attempt against President Fidel Castro Ruz in Panama, while he was participating in the Ibero-American Summit. This attempt was to be carried out in the auditorium of the Central University of Panama and would have killed a large number of university students and professors.

GASPAR EUGENIO JIMÉNEZ ESCOBEDO, from Camagüey, Cuba, son of Hipólito and Ángela, born on 6 October 1935, of white complexion. He participated, among others, in the following acts:

1. July 1975 - Participated in a plot to assassinate the President of the Republic of Cuba, Fidel Castro Ruz, during his visit to Jamaica.

2. 23 July 1976 - Attempted to kidnap the Cuban Consul in Mérida, Mexico; in the course of that action, he killed a Cuban official, Artagñan Díaz Díaz.

3. 1991 - Organized a plot to shoot down the aircraft carrying the Cuban President to the First Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, held in Mexico.

4. 1992 - Plotted to assassinate the Cuban President at the Second Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, held in Spain, by using an RPG-7 rocket.

5. 1993 - Organized a plan to physically eliminate the Cuban President in Honduras.

6. 1994 - Organized a attempt against the life of President Fidel Castro Ruz in Colombia.
7. 1995 - Took part in arranging for an explosive charge to be placed in the Sol Palmeras de Varadero Hotel and to take 51 pounds of C-4 plastic explosives into Cuba.

8. 1997 - Organized a plot against the Cuban President at the Seventh Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government on Isla Margarita, Venezuela.

9. 4 August 1997 - Helped arrange for an explosive device to be placed in the lobby of the Meliá Cohíba Hotel in Havana.

10. 4 September 1997 - Arranged for explosive devices to be placed in the Copacabana, Tritón and Chateau-Miramar hotels and La Bodeguita del Medio restaurant in Havana.

11. Arranged for plastic explosives and other paraphernalia for explosive devices to be taken into Cuba.

12. 10 June 1998 - Arranged for 1,519 grams of plastic explosives and related paraphernalia to be taken into Cuba.

13. November 2000 - Helped organize and prepare an attempted assassination against the Cuban President, Fidel Castro Ruz, in Panama, during the Tenth Ibero-American Summit.

GUILLERMO NOVO SAMPOLL, from Havana, Cuba, son of Ignacio and Aurora Blanca, born on 13 September 1944, of white complexion. He participated, among others, in the following acts:

1. 1995 - Arranged for an explosive charge to be placed in the Sol Palmeras de Varadero Hotel and for 51 pounds of C-4 to be taken into Cuba.

2. 1997 - Organized a plot against President Fidel Castro Ruz in New York, United States.

3. July and August 1998 - Organized a plot against President Fidel Castro Ruz in the Dominican Republic.

4. November 2000 - Helped organize and prepare an attempt against Cuban President Fidel Castro in the Republic of Panama, during the Tenth Ibero-American Summit.
PEDRO CRISPIN REMÓN RODRÍGUEZ, from Granma, Cuba, son of César and Evangelina, born on 13 September 1944, of white complexion. He participated in the following acts:

1. November 1979 - Killed Cuban émigré Eulalio José Negrín.

2. 7 December 1979 - Placed a bomb at the Cuban Mission to the United Nations.

3. 11 December 1979 - Carried out a dynamite attack against the Permanent Mission of the Soviet Union to the United Nations.

4. 11 September 1980 - Killed Cuban diplomat Félix García Rodríguez in New York, United States.

5. November 2000 - Helped organize and prepare an attempt against Cuban President Fidel Castro Ruz in the Republic of Panama, during the Tenth Ibero-American Summit.

This extradition request was based on the 1928 Bustamante Code, which was adopted without reservations as a rule of international law by the Republics of Cuba and Panama, and on the Judicial Code of the Republic of Panama. The competent authorities were provided with documentary evidence of the offences committed by the aforementioned individuals, which appears in the dossiers for the preparatory and investigation stages in connection with each and every one of these acts.

Cuba also submitted a certificate with regard to the legal norms of the Penal Code that are applicable to the charges against these individuals, as well as the relevant provisions in the Code of Penal Procedures, which lays down the procedural rules and guarantees of defendants.
In compliance with the provisions on extradition contained in article 2508, section 8 of the Judicial Code of the Republic of Panama, and in article 378 of the Bustamante Code, the Government of the Republic of Cuba undertook not to apply the death penalty for any of the offences for which extradition was being requested.

In Opinion 397 of 11 January 2001, the Governing Council of the Supreme People's Court of the Republic of Cuba decided that in view of the commitments undertaken and the rules set forth in the Bustamante Code and the Judicial Code of the Republic of Panama, in the event that the Government of the Republic of Panama might grant the extradition of LUIS CLEMENTE FAUSTINO POSADA CARRILES, GASPAR EUGENIO JIMÉNEZ ESCOBEDO, GUILLERMO NOVO SAMPOLL and PEDRO CRISTIN REMON RODRÍGUEZ for the offences on which the request was based, the courts of the Republic of Cuba would not be able to impose the death penalty or sentence them for any offences other than those for which they were extradited.

Despite the fact that the Cuban extradition request was well grounded and that the Republic of Cuba has complied with all the requirements of the Bustamante Code and the Judicial Code of Panama, the request was denied by the Government of the Republic of Panama.