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Nobel prize winner and 110 British demand the the Cuban Five' s liberation Taken from antiterroristas.cu Nobel prize winner, Harold Pinter, 110 MPs, Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London and 15 trade union General Secretaries are among 10 000 British names on an open letter sent by the UK Cuba Solidarity Campaign to the US Attorney General calling for the immediate release of the Cuban Five. These signatures join other 10 Nobel Prize Winners and more than 5 000 intellectuals, Amnesty International and the US National Council of the Churches of Christ, who also claimed about the Five. Rob Miller, Director of the CSC said: “The fact that 110 MPs have already signed this letter in such a short space of time is a testament to the strength of injustice felt throughout Britain about this case.” An Early Motion in support of the Cuban Fiveintroduced in the House of Commons in 2002 was signed by 112 MPs, including Robin Cook,the former UK Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons. Nobel prize winner, Harold Pinter, 110 MPs, and 15 trade union General Secretaries are among the thousands of British names on an open letter sent by the UK Cuba Solidarity Campaign to the US Attorney General today calling for the immediate release of the five Cuban prisoners known in this country as the Miami 5. The Open letter has been released by the British Cuba Solidarity Campaign(CSC) in advance of the new hearing on 13 February 2006 to gain publicity for cause of the Five in the UK and internationally. Many British MPs were moved to add their names to the letter after a meeting at the House of Commons with, Olga Salanueva, wife of Rene González in December 2005, which took place during a visit to the UK by her and her duaghter Ivette, organised by the British Cuba Solidarity Campaign. The delegation undertook a programme throughout the UK organised by CSC, most importantly with the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Cuba, Mrs Salanueva explained to MPs how she and her 7 year old daughter Ivette had been unable to visit Rene for 5 years because the US refuses to grant her a visa. Chair of the APPG Dr Ian Gibson said “The fact that these men were arrested and charged with spying because they infiltrated US based groups carrying out terrorist attacks on Cuba, exposes the double standards of the United States War on Terror.” The open letter which also condemns the treatment of the prisoners families has been signed by over 10,000 people in Britain. Just one week ago, Amnesty International also joined the international call for a retrial of the prisoners. In a letter to the US State Department the international human rights group raised “urgent concerns” and “serious questions” about the fairness of their convictions. On hearing how many MPs and supporters had signed the letter, Olga Salanueva, thanked the British Cuba Solidarity Campaign and public for their support. Speaking from Cuba she said: “During these seven years of suffering and sorrow, we the relatives of the Five, feel that we are not alone because we can count on honest people like you. The fact that Harold Pinter has also signed this letter along with more than 100 MPs really shows our families that the solidarity I felt when I was in the UK in December 2005 is a real force. I am sure that support such as this from friends across the world will help to bring our loved ones home.” Rob Miller, Director of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign said: “The Cuba Solidarity Campaign first wrote to MPs in late December about the case. The fact that more than 100 have already signed the open letter in such a short space of time is a testament to the strength of injustice felt throughout Britain about this case.”
Following is the full text of the open letter addressed to Mr. Alberto Gonzales by the UK Cuba Solidarity Campaign:
According to information supplied by International Press, on August 9, 2005, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta declared null and void the decision passed in Miami which had condemned Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, René González Sehwerert, Ramón Labañino Salazar, Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez and Fernando González Llort for infiltrating the extremist Cuban American groups in the south of Florida in order to obtain information about terrorist activities directed against Cuba. Their prison sentences had already been declared illegal by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions of the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations. For the past seven years, these five young men have been held in maximum security prisons; they have been held incommunicado in isolated cells for long periods of time and two of them have been denied the right to receive family visits. At this present time, considering the nullification of the sentence, nothing justifies their incarceration. This arbitrary situation, which is extremely painful for them and their families, cannot be allowed to continue. We, who have signed below, are demanding their immediate liberation.
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