De acuerdo con la evidencia presentada por la defensa, el panel de Atlanta, integrado por tres jueces, unánimamente concluyó que Hernández, así como Ramón Labañino, René González, Antonio Guerrero y Fernando González no tuvieron un juicio justo en la corte de Miami, la cual los encontró culpables de no haberse registrado como agentes de un gobierno extranjero, entre otros cargos, y que les sentenció a largas penas, desde 15 años en prisión hasta dos cadenas perpetuas.

En marzo del año pasado, los abogados defensores presentaron una apelación alegando que la misión de los cinco no era obtener secretos militares, sino monitorear las actividades terroristas en contra de Cuba que se planean desde la Florida. La defensa suministró además pruebas de que los cinco nunca buscaron ni obtuvieron información clasificada, ni causaron ningún daño a la propiedad o a personas particulares.

En respuesta a la decisión de la corte de Atlanta, más de 650 destacadas personalidades como la premio Nóbel Rigoberta Menchú, Desmond Tutu, Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover, Alice Walker, Ramsey Clark, Howard Zinn y Russell Banks se han sumado a la petición dirigida a Alberto González, fiscal general de los Estados Unidos demandando la liberación inmediata de los cinco prisioneros.

Por otra parte, la privación de libertad de los cinco cubanos ha sido calificada de arbitraria por un grupo de trabajo de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos de las Naciones Unidas. En lo que constituye otra victoria importante en la batalla por la liberación de los cinco, dicho grupo de trabajo ha pedido al gobierno de los Estados Unidos que adopte las medidas necesarias para corregir esta situación “en conformidad con los principios establecidos en la Carta Internacional sobre Derechos Civiles y Políticos”.

Si desea más información sobre el caso de los cinco cubanos, visite www.antiterroristas.cu o www.freethefive.org

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San Francisco, CA – El próximo 10 de marzo en el Onceno Circuito de la Corte de Apelaciones tendrá lugar en la ciudad de Miami la audiencia pública en el caso de los cinco cubanos acusados de conspiración para cometer espionaje. Los abogados defensores de Ramon Labanino, Gerardo Hernández, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero y René González contarán solamente con tres minutos por cada acusado, para responder a las 24 aspectos de la apelación que será escuchada por un panel de tres jueces.

Los Cinco no estarán presentes durante la apelación. Ellos cumplen severas sentencias desde 15 anos en prisión hasta dos cadenzas perpetuas en cárceles federales de los estados de California, Carolina del Sur, Illinois, Tejas y Wisconsin. La Sección de Intereses de los Estados Unidos ha negado la visa para viajar a los Estados Unidos a las esposas de Gerardo y René por considerarque su visita sería una “amenaza a la seguridad nacional”. El impedirles que visiten a sus esposos constituye una violación a los derechos humanos.

El Comité Nacional para la Liberación de Los Cinco ha hecho un llamado de solidaridad en favor de esta causa. Existen además comités de solidaridad en diversas ciudades de los Estados Unidos como Nueva York, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco y Milwaukee, así como en Alemania, Italia, Inglaterra, Espana, Australia, la India, Congo, Argentina, Mexico y Nicaragua, entre otros países.

En declaración fechada el 23 de diciembre del 2003, La Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular de la República de Cuba agradeció el apoyo de parlamentarios a nivel internacional, incluyendo la Cámara de Diputados de México y la Duma de la Federación Rusa. La Asamblea hizo además un llamado a los legisladores estadounidenses y a los hombres y mujeres de buena voluntad para que unan sus voces al creciente movimiento internacional de solidaridad que demanda la liberacion de Los Cinco. Durante las recientes celebraciones por el 45 aniversario de la revolución cubana, el Presidente Fidel Castro envió un saludo especial de felicitaciones a los cinco héroes a la vez que elogió su comportamiento ejemplar.

Para mayor información en espanol visite la pagina web www.antiterroristas.cu

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Based on evidence provided by the defense, the three judge panel in Atlanta unanimously determined that Hernandez, along with Ramon Labanino, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez did not have a fair trial at the hostile Miami court, which in 2001 found them guilty for not registering as agents of a foreign country – among other charges – and gave them long sentences, from 15 years to life.

Defense attorneys filed an appeal in March of 2004 indicating that the mission of the Five was not to obtain U.S. military secrets, but rather to monitor terrorist activities against Cuba being planned in Florida. The defense has also provided extensive evidence that the Five never sought or obtained classified information, nor inflicted any damage to any individuals or property.

In response to the court decision, over 650 prominent individuals, including Rigoberta Menchu; Desmond Tutu and four other Nobel Prize winners; and Americans Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover, Alice Walker, Ramsey Clark, Howard Zinn and Russell Banks wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales demanded that the Five be freed.

In another significant victory in the struggle to free the Five, a United Nations Human Rights Commission working group in May determined arbitrary the deprivation of liberty of the Five and requested that the U.S. government adopt the necessary steps to remedy the situation, “in conformity with the principles stated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

For further information on the case of the Cuban Five, visit www.antiterroristas.cu or www.freethefive.org

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On Mar. 9, the five Cubans – Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, René González, and Fernando González – unjustly imprisoned in various federal prisons across the United States on charges of terrorism and espionage, challenged the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva to break the wall of silence that surrounds their case.

“It has been a year since, in this forum dedicated to the defense of human rights, we denounced the attack perpetrated against ourselves and our families, by a government who will not forgive the fact that we would protect our own people from the terrorism which such government and allies have subjected us for 46 years,” stated the letter read on behalf of the Cuban Five by Olga Salanueva, wife of René González.

Although no evidence of espionage was introduced at the trial held in Miami, the Cuban Five were given sentences ranging from 15 years to two life terms for defending their country from terrorist acts by right-wing groups of Cubans based in the United States. The 11th Circuit Court in Atlanta has not yet made a decision regarding the appeal presented by the defense in March of last year for a change of venue and a new trial. In the meantime, the Cuban Five and their families continue being, “victims and hostages of the injustices of the great empire,” according to Salanueva. For the past seven years, the U.S. government has denied visas to travel to the United States to Adriana Pérez O’Connor, wife of Gerado Hernández. Five-year old Ivette González – a U.S. citizen and the daughter of René González and Salanueva, was also denied a visa. The denial is based on ‘national security grounds.’

In contrast to the silence in mainstream U.S. media, the case of the Cuban Five continues receiving support from a total of 242 committees for their liberation in 80 countries. Prominent intellectuals and activists such as James Petras have proposed that the Five be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize because they, “risked their freedom for the principles of the United Nations Charter, the right of a country to self-determination, the right of the people to decide their own form of government, and the universal right to defend themselves against external aggressors who want to impose their government by force and terror.”

For more information about the case of the Cuban Five visit www.antiterroristas.cu and www.ain.cubaweb.cu

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On March 10, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Miami will hold a hearing on the case of the five Cuban nationals imprisoned in the U.S. on charges of conspiracy to commit espionage. In truth, the five were working to thwart efforts of anti-Cuba terrorists. The attorneys for Ramon Labanino, Gerardo Hernandez, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez will have only three minutes for each of the defendants to present the 24 aspects of the appeal, which will be heard by a panel of three judges.

The defendants will not be present at the hearing. They are currently serving their sentences, from 15 years to two life sentences, in federal prisons in California, South Carolina, Illinois, Texas and Wisconsin. The U.S. Interest Section in Havana has denied the spouses of Rene Gonzalez and Geardo Hernandez the right to visit their jailed husbands. Their visit is considered ‘a threat to U.S. national security.’

The National Committee to Free The Five is calling for action in solidarity with the prisoners. Committees to Free the Five have been organized in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Germany, England, Italy, Spain, Australia, India, Congo, Argentina, Mexico and Nicaragua.

In a statement dated Dec. 23, 2003 the Cuban National Assembly expressed its appreciation for the support from parliamentary representatives around the world, including the Duma of the Russian Federation and the Mexican Chamber of Deputies.

The National Assembly of the People’s Power of the Republic of Cuba is calling on U.S. legislators and men and women of good will to join with a growing international solidarity movement to demand freedom for the Cuban Five. During the recent celebrations for the 45th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, President Fidel Castro sent special congratulations and praised the exemplary behavior of the five Cuban heroes.

For updates on the case in English and Spanish, please go to: www.antiterroristas.cu

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While the U.S government claims to be fighting a 'war against terrorism,' it has a 40-year history of supporting terrorist acts against Cuba, including repeated attempts to assassinate the Cuban president, a series of hotel bombings and the bombing of a civilian airliner. The Miami Five, who actually were fighting against terrorism by gathering information on U.S.-sponsored terrorist groups in Miami, are held in U.S. prisons pending an appeal.

Patsy Behrend, a co-chair of the National Network on Cuba, said, “Our concerns are the fact that they were not given a fair trial, they were given unfair sentences and there were restrictions on their families' visits.”

None of the five Cubans had handled classified information or any information linked to U.S. national defense. The U.S. government conceded that the defendants had not transmitted secrets. However, Guerrero was convicted of espionage and was given the same sentence as Aldrich Ames and Robert Hansen, who had supplied numerous secret documents to the former Soviet Union.

The Five's defense lawyers asked to move the trial, since they could not receive a fair trial in Miami. The U.S. government denied their requests. Jurors complained that a crew from Television Marti, which is supportive of terrorist activities both in Cuba and against Cuban-American dissenters in Miami, was filming them and their license plates. The jurors told the judge that they felt pressured to convict. The court acknowledged the problem, but took no action to change the venue of the trial.

The U.S. government has tried to isolate the Miami Five. Since their arrest on Sept. 12, 1998 until Feb. 3, 2000, the Miami Five were kept in solitary confinement, in violation of U.S. prison regulations. The United States has denied visas to Adriana Pérez O'Connor and Olga Salanueva, the wives of Gerardo and René.

The Five have an appeal pending before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. But they were placed in widely dispersed prisons, hampering their appeal preparation and hindering family and diplomatic contact. The Five were also placed in solitary confinement for a period of time in an obvious attempt to further hamper their efforts to prepare for the appeal.

To learn more about the international campaign free the Miami Five, call the National Network on Cuba, 415-566-8560 or email nnoc20012002@yahoo.com. For more information on the Five, go to the website www.antiterroristas.cu.

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