Siobhán Mitchell reports.
Trade unions and political activists united to condemn the decision of the UK Government to refuse a visa for former political prisoner René González to attend an International Commission of Inquiry into the case of the Cuban Five held in London on 7th and 8th March.
In an open letter, the general secretaries of three major British unions — Billy Hayes of the Communication Workers, Len McCluskey of Unite and Christine Blower of the National Union of Teachers — pointed out that the decision could “only be interpreted as a political one.” The letter was also signed by six Members of Parliament.
In the event, González gave testimony at the Inquiry by Skype link from Cuba. Three prominent international judges – former Chief Justice of India Yogash Sabharwal, Philip Texier former judge of the Cour de Cassation in France and Zak Mohammed Yacoob, Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa – explored in detail the case of the Cuban Five.
The Inquiry heard from many of the key witnesses to the background of the case, the trial of the five men and their ensuing years of imprisonment.
The Five are René González (who served 13 years in prison), Fernando Gonzalez who was also recently released after serving 15 years, Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino and Antonio Guerrero. The latter three are still held in US prisons.
The men were arrested and jailed in 1998 after they monitored Florida-based violent expatriate Cuban organisations that planned terrorist action against Cuba, including the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner over Barbados, which killed 73 people, and a series of hotel bombings in the 1990s, aimed at destroying the island’s economy and tourism industry.
The five Cuban intelligence officers handed over their material to the F.B.I. who then arrested them and charged them with conspiracy to spy.
Lawyers attending the Inquiry denounced irregularities in the US legal process and the conclusions of the Five’s trial process in Miami, the isolation that the defendants were subjected to, the violations of family visits and the barriers put in their way to obtaining full counsel for their defence.
No doubt that the decision is based on political motives.
Among the many witnesses giving testimony was Italian businessman Giustino Di Celmo who described how his son, Fabio, was killed in September, 1997 at the Hotel Copacabana in Havana, by a bomb planted by Miami-based terrorists.
At the conclusion of the inquiry the Judges issued an extensive document, denouncing irregularities in the trial process. The judges clarified that there was still more work to be done on the Commission findings. Once complete the findings will be sent to US President Barrack Obama.
Among those attending the Inquiry was a delegation from the SIPTU Cuban Solidarity Forum.
Commenting on the decision to refuse a visa to René González, Forum chairman, Jack McGinley, said: “The UK government acted as if René constituted a threat to British society. Given the context of the already highly politicised case of the Cuban Five, we are in no doubt that the decision is based on political motives and an unwillingness of the UK Government to assist with a transparent inquiry into this case.”
Illustration: Mariana de Moura Kinsella
