The case of the Cuban Five, five Cubans who have spent the past 10 years in US jails for the undercover gathering of intelligence on terrorism against their country, provides further evidence of the hypocrisy of US rhetoric about fighting terrorism and supporting human rights.
Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez Llort and Rene Gonzalez Sehwerert were in the US to monitor Florida-based CIA-backed terrorist groups responsible for more than 3000 deaths in Cuba and warn Cuban authorities of planned attacks.
The five have been subjected to solitary confinement, restriction of relatives' visiting rights and a farcical and highly politicised judicial process.
Maria Eugenia Guerrero, the sister of Antonio, is currently touring Australia to publicise this injustice. She spoke to Green Left Weekly about the case.
"On September 12, 1998, the FBI took five Cubans prisoner. At the time of their imprisonment they were found to possess no weapons, no strategic information on the US, no military information or classified documents, only information on terrorist groups in Florida", she explained.
Guerrero pointed out that for 50 years these groups had carried out attacks like "placing bombs in economically strategic places, such as hotels and other tourist infrastructure, using germ warfare and conducting spy flights in our airspace".
This aggression increased in the 1990s, following the fall of the Soviet bloc. "Cuba sent a lot of information to the US and requests to stop the attacks, but the US government took no action against the terrorist groups.
"Cuba could only protect itself by volunteers travelling to the US to monitor the groups."
Solitary confinement
Arrested, the five were held in solitary confinement. Guerrero pointed out that this was "against the US's own laws, where it says prisoners can only be put in solitary confinement when accused of criminal behaviour inside jail".
"Prison rules set the maximum time [someone can be held] in solitary confinement as 60 days — they were held there for 17 months."
They were indicted on a number of charges, the most serious being conspiracy to commit espionage. It is almost unprecedented in espionage cases for there to be no allegations concerning classified information. "Because they couldn't accuse them directly of espionage they used the word conspiracy", Guerrero said.
"After eight months they came up with the new charge of conspiracy to commit murder against Hernandez, who was identified as leader of the group." This related to an incident in 1996, when two spy planes from the terrorist group Brothers to the Rescue were shot down over Cuban airspace.
The group had violated Cuban airspace 25 times in the preceding 20 months.
"Cuba had notified the US that if Brothers to the Rescue continued to violate Cuban airspace, the flights would be brought down. The president of Brothers to the Rescue made a public announcement on TV that they would make a flight on February 24 ... Cuba reiterated that it would defend itself.
"The flights proceeded, entered Cuban airspace and the Cuban Air Force warned them to leave ... When the requests for them to leave were ignored, the Cuban Air Force downed the planes, causing the death of four people.
"Geraldo had nothing to do with that."
Bias
With Miami media hailing the dead terrorists as martyrs and demanding revenge against the five, it became even less possible to secure an impartial jury in that city.
"The worst violation was that the trial took place in Miami. An investigator commisioned by the US government to report on where the trial should take place [found that] more than 85% of the population [of Miami] were biased against anything coming out of Cuba and that it would be impossible to hold a fair trial there."
All 12 jurors expressed a negative bias toward socialist Cuba. Three potential jurors neutral on the question were disqualified by the prosecution.
However, Judge Joan Lenard ruled that a fair trial could take place in the jurisdiction.
Guerrero explained that "officers from the FBI and the US Air Force went to Cuba to investigate the case of the planes that we downed". Based on their evidence, the "prosecutors decided to withdraw the conspiracy to murder charges, but Lenard didn't allow their withdrawal".
"The charges went to trial, the officers gave testimony that showed that Geraldo had no involvement with the planes, but the jury still gave a guilty verdict."
Hernandez and the other four were likewise found guilty on the conspiracy to commit espionage charges. In December 2001, Lenard imposed two life sentences on Hernandez, one life sentence each on Labanino and Guerrero and sentenced Gonzalez Llort and Gonzalez Sehwerert to terms of 19 years and 15 years respectively.
Amnesty International has condemned another human rights abuse associated with the case — the restriction of access to the prisoners by their families.
Not only have prison authorities often denied visits, such as during the numerous periods when the five have been held in solitary confinement, but immigration authorities have been highly restrictive in granting visas. "In all cases it takes over a year", Guerrero explained, "but Adriana, Geraldo's wife, has never been granted a visa and has spent the last 11 years without being able to see her husband".
Persecution of family members has been used to pressure the defendants. "Olga Salanueva, Rene's wife, was living in the US with their two daughters when Rene was arrested. When the trial was about to start the leader of Brothers to the Rescue tried to negotiate with Rene, offering large amounts of money and guarantees to live in the US if he made statements against the other four.
"But Rene wasn't up for that so they took Olga into detention on immigration matters, despite her having been legally in the US for many years.
"They took Olga, wearing prison gear, to Rene's prison to try to convince him to take the offer of treason. When he saw her in the orange uniform he joked that it suited her and she replied that she would defend the same cause for the people of Cuba.
"They also tried applying pressure using their US-born daughter. Olga was deported and their lawyers had to go to court for her to be allowed to take their daughter home with her. Olga has never seen Rene again."
Appeals
In 2005, an appeal court in Atlanta overturned the verdicts on the basis of the questionable neutrality of the jury, lack of evidence and the severity of the sentences. However, this appeal was itself overturned following appeals by the prosecution.
In June, the latest ruling confirmed the sentences on Henandez and Gonzalez Llort while the others are to face a resentencing hearing — before the same judge who imposed the original sentences!
"Now we're left with the hope that the case will be heard in the Supreme Court. According to the defence lawyers it will be very difficult to get the case heard; they only hear 0.1% [of cases filed].
"We all know that it's a political case, manipulated by the US government to damage Cuba's reputation. The only hope we have is worldwide solidarity.
"Since the last trial we have seen an increase in worldwide solidarity. Proof of that is I am here in a country so far from my own."
Solidarity "is very urgent at this time as we see legal ways already closing on us. Write to the US government demanding justice!
"Because, as Geraldo said in a letter, 'we need a jury of millions of people throughout the world to make our truth known'."
[For more information, visit http://freethefive.org.]