YCL CONGRESS EDITION - South African Communist Party

US protestors challenge ex-president George ‘Dubya’ Bush on the Cuban 5. His successor, President Barack Obama, has not
acted to overturn their political imprisonment
It is also alleged that a “Bush-financed
journalist”, conservative media personality
Armstrong Williams, received $240
000 (R 1,7-million) in payments” Gloria
La Riva, the coordinator of the National
Committee for the Free the Five Campaign
in the US, has said that “during
the pre-trial period there were hundreds
of articles on the Cuban Five and not one
was favourable”.
Human rights violations
Cde Gerardo Hernandez has alleged that
following their arrest they were kept in
solitary confinement for a period of 17
months. Correspondence and photographs
of family members have been
taken into evidence and classified as secret
denying them access to these.
In 2003 the Cuban Five’s attempts
at an appeal was frustrated by further
months of solitary confinement and refusal
of access to their lawyers. The wives
of cdes René Gonzáles and Gerardo
Hernández have also not been allowed
visas to visit their husbands, a decision
condemned by Amnesty International.
In May 2005, the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights adopted a
report by its Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention that stated: “From the facts
and circumstances in which the trial took
place and from the nature of the charges
and the harsh sentences handed down
to the accused that the trial did not take
place in the climate of objectivity and
impartiality that is required in order to
conform to the standards of a fair trial as
defined in article 14 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to
which the United States of America is a
party.”
It has been 12 years since the arrest of
the Cuban Five and there has been growing
international pressure on the US to
release them. There are currently more
than more than 300 committees in more
than 100 countries campaigning for the
release or fair trials for the Five which
has created a wave of solidarity.
More than 10 noble laureates have
signed “amicus curia” submissions to US
courts supporting the release of the Five.
More than 110 British MPs have written
to the US Attorney General expressing
their support for the Five.
In South Africa, cdes Nelson Mandela,
Desmond Tutu, Jacob Zuma and Max Sisulu
have been among the leaders who
have vocalised their support. The SACP,
ANC and the Alliance are all campaigning
for their release.
From a moral, legal and political stand
point it is difficult to justify the US’ continued
imprisonment of the Five.
Firstly, the trial is a political trail driven
by the US’ anti-communist stance and
desire for regime change in Cuba. Given
the US’ long history of difficult diplomatic
relations and its capitalist interests it is
unlikely that any Cuban could get a fair
trial within the boundaries of the US.
Secondly, it is common cause that
countries spy on each other for reasons
of state security. No information released
by the Cuban Five was used to commit
a crime in the US and there was no direct
evidence of a threat to US national
security by the Five. They only sought to
protect their country.
Thirdly, it is incorrect to charge the
Five with murder because they provided
information that a Brother’s for Peace
plane would criminally invade Cuban
airspace. In essence, the Five have been
sentenced for murder for an act of selfdefence
and the desire to protect their
countries national security.
Fourthly, the Cuban government provided
the FBI with evidence, in good faith,
dealing with terrorism. The FBI elected
to use this to arrest the Five instead of
fighting terrorism – to date the only arrests
that have emanated from the report
is that of the Five. The US should have no
interest in intelligence activities that do
not threaten its national security. l
Cde Hoveka is a YCL activist
December 2010