Canadian MPs demand justice for Cuban Five

Reprinted from Granma International, July 11. For more information on the case of the five Cuban anti-terrorists jailed in the US for their role in infiltrating Miami-based anti-Cuban terrorist groups, or to find out how to get involved in the campaign to free them, visit http://freethefive.org.

"We cannot allow this extremely painful situation for these five Cubans and their families to drag on", states a letter by Canadian members of parliament to the US Attorney-General Michael Mukasey.

Fifty-six members of Canada's parliament have signed a petition demanding justice for the Cuban Five, the anti-terrorist fighters arbitrarily sentenced to long prison sentences in the US since September 12, 1998.

"Nothing justifies keeping them behind bars", the petition says.

The initiative for the petition calling for the release of Fernando Gonzalez, Ramon Labanino, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero and Gerardo Hernandez was introduced by Francine Lalonde, an MP for the Bloque Qubequense por La Pointe-de-l'lle, and Libby Davies, a legislator from East Vancouver.

The petition — which continues to circulate — was sent to Mukasey, Canadian foreign minister David Emerson, and US ambassador in Canada David Wilkins.

The action is part of the international campaign to demand freedom for the Cuban Five and to call for compliance with the findings of human rights organisations, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and 110 members of the British parliament — all of them have denounced the conditions of isolation imposed on the five and their irregular trial in Miami.

In Quebec, prominent individuals like Claudette Carbonneau, president of the Federation of National Unions, and Elsie Lefebvre, a former member of the Quebec National Assembly, have expressed their support for the cause.

From GLW issue 759