Cuba denounces detention of Cuban Five before the UN Human Rights Council

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Cuba denounces detention of Cuban Five before the UN Human Rights Council

2011-03-09 04:01:29 GMT+7 (ICT)

HAVANA, CUBA (BNO NEWS) -- Cuba on Tuesday denounces the detention of five Cuban nationals, internationally known as the Cuban Five, before the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the state-run Cuban News Agency reported.

Cuban representative, Juan Antonio Quintanilla, criticized the incarceration of Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labañino, Rene Gonzalez and Fernando Gonzalez in the United States since 1998.

Quintanilla, speaking in a discussion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, added that the Cuban Five underwent a biased judicial process which was politically motivated and Cuba was denied access to most of the documents that incriminated them.

In 1998, the United States convicted the five Cuban men on committing espionage conspiracy against the United States, and other related charges. The five received sentences ranging between 75 years and life imprisonment in a Miami court in 2001.

Cuba claims that the Cuban Five were falsely accused of espionage and instead the men were involved in monitoring the actions of Miami-based terrorist groups in order to prevent terror attacks against Cuba.

In addition, the Cuban men's actions were never directed against the U.S. government, added Quintanilla. However, the U.S. State Department did not admit such claims and instead vetoed the prison visit applications of the wives and other family members of the Cuban Five.

"The only fair re-sentence would be the immediate release of these innocent antiterrorists," concluded Cuban representative Quintanilla.

Anti-Cuba terrorist organizations based in Miami, such as Comandos F4 and Brothers to the Rescue, have engaged in countless terrorist activities against the island nation for over 40 years. More than 3,000 Cubans have died as a result of these terror attacks, according to the Cuban government.

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