Geneva retakes Cuban five case

Switzerland: Cuba debated again the case of five anti-terrorist fighters from the island unfairly imprisoned in the United States for 11 years at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC).

Cuban ambassador to Geneva Juan Antonio Fernandez tackled the issue on the occasion of the interactive discussion with special UN rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers, and on freedom of opinion and expression.

About the independence of judges and lawyers, the diplomat especially praised the fact that the rapporteurs discuss the necessary parameters to guarantee effectively the independence of judges. It is important for Cuba that the organization would have joined analysis of the impact in the impartial performance of courts, factors like manipulative press that encourage hatred, a biased community, and a corrupt venue, Fernandez pointed out.

"Such aspects, along with a vindictive attitude by the US government, among them, is present in the case of the five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters unfairly imprisoned in the United States," the official stressed.

Their detention was termed arbitrary by the UN Council of Human Rights Working Group, and on which the special rapporteur has sent a letter of allegation to that country administration, he recalled.

Fernandez referred to the complicated judicial injustice accompanying the case of the Five, as Ramon Laba¤ino, Rene Gonzalez, Gerardo Hernandez, Fernando Gonzalez and Antonio Guerrero are universally known.

Geneva, Prensa Latina