INTERESTS OF AMICI

The Amici Curiae are ten Nobel Prize winners of diverse political ideologies who have spent much of their lives concerned with issues of justice. All are from countries where the existence of fair and impartial tribunals has been an issue of grave concern during their lifetimes. They and their countrymen have looked for leadership to the United States legal system, its Constitution, and its legal protections guaranteeing fair and impartial trials.

They are alarmed by the convictions in this case and believe, if left standing, they will set a negative example in countries where the rule of law is not firmly established and denigrate the esteem in which the United States justice system is held.

As members of the international community, Amici wish to underscore violations of international legal norms that mandate a fair and impartial trial, norms modeled on U.S. standards. International treaties ratified by the United States as well as customary international law reflect the U.S. constitutional requirement of a fair trial. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides that "everyone shall be entitled to a fair and

public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law." (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 14, Dec. 19, 1966, 999 U.N.T.S. 171.) Numerous other international treaties and declarations do likewise.

For a number of years Amici have been attentive to this case. For example, in 2003, Amicus Nadine Gordimer wrote to the The New York Times stating, "[t]he trial was held in Miami where the . . . charges ... could not be heard by anything other than a biased jury, since the area has a dominant presence of avowed enemies of Cuba." In 2005 Amici signed a letter to

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales protesting Petitioners’ continued incarceration after the

Eleventh Circuit had reversed their convictions because of the inability to obtain a fair and impartial trial in Miami, Florida.

In that letter, which was subsequently signed by thousands of prominent international personalities, the Amici addressed the 2005 opinion of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions of the U.N. Human Rights Commission that the incarceration of Petitioners was arbitrary and in violation of Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights.This was the first time that the Working Group found a U.S. judicial proceeding violated the prohibition on arbitrary detentions. The Working Group found that the "climate of bias and prejudice against the accused" was so extreme that the proceedings failed to meet the "objectivity and impartiality that is required in order to conform to the standards of a fair trial" and "confer[red] an arbitrary character on the deprivation of liberty." Dozens of organizations and individuals around the world— including, for example, national parliaments and parliamentary committees on human rights joined in the condemnation. No criminal trial in modern American history has received such international approbation.

Amici raise concerns about juror intimidation, selective enforcement of the law, and the biased community atmosphere in which the trial occurred.

Amici have been aware of acts of violence and harassment against the Cuban government and of efforts to silence individuals, especially those living in Miami who are labeled "friendly" or even open to dialog with Cuba. They are also aware that at times the U.S was unwilling to prevent or punish unlawful actions against Cuba or against persons who expressed an interest in the normalization of relations with Cuba, and failed to enforce laws prohibiting and regulating the possession of weapons and explosives by those supporting the overthrow of the Cuban government.