10-04-06, 8:44 am
OPEN LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES
The people of the United States have the right to know the truth about the fight against terrorism.
The government of the United States can not talk about the war against terrorism while allowing the existence of terrorist groups of Cuban American origin based in Miami and at the same time keep imprisoned Five Cuban antiterrorist fighters; Gerardo Hernandez Nordelo, Rene Gonzalez Sehwerert, Ramon Labañino Salazar, Antonio Guerrero Rodriguez and Fernando Gonzalez Llort.
The Five risked their lives monitoring these groups from the South of Florida to alert Cuba and the international community about the criminal actions, that for more than four decades have conducted bacteriological warfare, attacks against economic targets, penetration of air space, kidnapping of vessels and ships, the bombing of a Cuban civilian plane in mid air where 73 innocent human beings were killed, the death and disability of 5000 people, millions of dollars of material loss and hundreds of terrorist attacks against that island nation.
The trial that took place in Miami that condemned the Cuban Five to severe prison sentences was full of irregularities and violations of the U.S. Constitution.
Three judges of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Atlanta unanimously revoked their sentences and ordered a new trail in another location outside of Miami.
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions of the United Nation Human Rights Commission declared their imprisonment illegal.
In an open letter to the U.S. Attorney General, more than 6000 intellectuals and personalities from around the world, including nine Nobel Prize recipients have added their names to the demand for the immediate release of the five Cubans imprisoned in the United States.
On August 9, 2006, exactly a year after the decision of a three-judge panel, by a majority vote, the Court of Atlanta rejected the decision reversing their sentences, denied a new trial and ordered the case to be sent back to the panel for their consideration of the remaining aspects.
This decision does not take into account the ambiance of violence and intimidation in Miami or the most recent developments in that city, published by their own local media such as the storage of an arms arsenals destined for terrorist actions against Cuba, public statements by terrorists admitting their crimes with total impunity, and also the prohibition in libraries against children books about Cuba.
The Five have suffered excommunication in punishment cells for long periods of time, two of them have been denied the right to receive visits from their family and remain in dangerous high security prisons.
September 12 marks eight years since their unjust incarceration. Nothing has justified their imprisonment. They never should have been in prison. All people of the world have the right to defend themselves against terrorism.
We do not accept for one more day the punishment of these innocent men.
THE WORLD DEMANDS THEIR IMMEDIATE FREEDOM!
--International Commitee for the Freedom of The Cuban Five
Add your name to this Open Letter: trebol@enet.cu / ajrapko@yahoo.com / First signatures:
ADOLFO PÉREZ ESQUIVEL – Premio Nobel de la Paz – Argentina / KHALED SALAMA – Miembro del Consejo Nacional Palestino / RAMÓN MIGUEL BENITO EBANKS – Obispo Presidente de la Iglesia Evangélica Luterana – Cuba / PBRO. DR. SERGIO S. ARCE MARTÍNEZ - Conferencia Cristiana por la Paz de A. Latina y el Caribe / PBRA. LIC. NACYRA L. GÓMEZ CRUZ - Conferencia Cristiana por la Paz de A. Latina y el Caribe / PADRE LUIS BARRIOS – Iglesia San Romero de las Américas, N.York – EE.UU. / HOWARD ZINN – Historiador y profesor universitario – EE.UU. / JAMES D. COCKCROFT - Escritor y académico - EE.UU / ROXANNE DUNBAR-ORTIZ – Académica y escritora – EE.UU. / BILL HACKWELL - Fotógrafo – EE.UU. / ALICIA JRAPKO - Argentina residente en EEUU / WALTER TILLOW – Louisville, EE.UU. / MANOLO ENRIQUE DE LOS SANTOS – Estudiante - Nueva York, E.UU / DELVIS FERNÁNDEZ LEVY – Cuban American Alliance Education Fund – EE.UU. / CAROL CROSS – California, EE.UU. / MAX LESNIK – Periodista, Director de Radio Miami – EE.UU / JOSÉ PERTIERRA – Abogado – EE.UU. / MARGARET GILPIN – Cineasta - New York, EE.UU.
