CASE OF THE CUBAN FIVE
U.S. Supreme Court decision under continuing condemnation

THE United States Supreme Court decision not to review the case of the Cuban Five, imprisoned in that country for close to 11 years for combating terrorism, continues to be criticized by many different groups and individuals in Cuba and the rest of the world who believe that true justice would be the immediate release of these anti-terrorist fighters.

Jacinto Suárez, Nicaragua’s deputy to the Central American Parliament (Parlacen), stated that the Court’s decision is highly politicized, because "everybody knows about the flaws in the trial of the Cuban fighters," PL reported. "In legal terms, there is no evidence palpably proving that the Five were — to state it in U.S. terms — spying on Washington’s national security interests."

Suárez, who is also international relations secretary of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), emphasized that the court decision is in the context of hostility toward Cuba.

"Our obligation is to keep fighting on that front until the court makes the right decision, juridically speaking, which is to free the Five. The fact that it has refused to review the case does not mean that we should lower our banner; we are going to keep on fighting for their freedom.

"It must be understood that Barack Obama has a responsibility. If he desists and withdraws the charges, they walk free," Suárez emphasized.

Likewise, Miguel de Castilla, Nicaraguan minister of education, emphasized that this action by the highest court of justice in the United States, reveals the hypocrisy of an entire system which attacks other nations and creates bases for terrorism.

Assessing the double standards of Washington’s policy, De Castilla said that the United States is financing terrorist processes against various countries in the world while proclaiming itself a standard bearer in the world against such acts.

For his part, Fernando Jaime, general secretary of the Angola-Cuba Friendship Association, reiterated its commitment to keeping the struggle alive, and noted that the petition for the case’s review was based on the opinions of hundreds of prominent individuals around the world and within the United States itself, including 10 Nobel laureates.

Meanwhile, Fidel Chiriboga, president of the National Coordinating Committee of Friendship with Cuba in Ecuador, said that "these five men need international support to end the silence of the U.S. media and the White House, and to inform the U.S. people of the barbarity committed by that nation’s judicial system."

In the same way, the Madrid Committee to Free the Five issued a statement saying that the Supreme Court decision is a clear example of the injustice prevailing in that country. "Imprisoned without evidence, they (the Five) were submitted to a rigged trial, plagued with irregularities and human rights violations.

"The same judicial system that has denied the possibility of reviewing the case is harboring and protecting notorious terrorists like Posada Carriles, a self-confessed terrorist, wanted by Venezuela, where he was serving prison time until he escaped with the invaluable help of the yankee secret services, the connivance of the U.S. government and the corruption of a Venezuelan official. Now he is at liberty in the United States in the company of other terrorists, like Orlando Bosch, Basulto and Frómeta, to name just a few.

"The independence of U.S. justice, so much defended and publicized by its successive governments, can be seen in this case as the most absolute fallacy.

"We, the peoples of the Spanish state, demand the release of the five Cubans, an end to this colossal injustice, and immediate freedom for the Cuban patriots. We will be tireless. We do not believe in defeat when we are defending the truth," the statement reads.

Similarly, in a systematic and ongoing way, solidarity associations and groups in France sympathizing with the Cuban Revolution are reiterating actions of publicly speaking out on behalf of the Five. Most recently, they did at Place de la Concorde, with huge banners and placards.

Prensa Latina reported that tourists walking across the Concorde on their way to the Champs-Elysées observed the Cuban flags, read the placards and some took literature on the case.

For his part, José Rafael Vargas, president of the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications, strongly criticized the Supreme Court decision and said that "this is the time to redouble solidarity, not to falter."

In Europe, friends in Hungary took the initiative of translating the statement from the President’s Office of the Cuban National Assembly of People’s Power, which was widely distributed in that media, among members of parliament, intellectuals, friends in solidarity and political parties.

In Greece, some of its media have reported the U.S. Supreme Court decision. The online legal network Lawnet in the Greek version, the newspaper Rizospastis, the TV station 902 and the radio station 902 FM Aristerá (Left) all covered it.

In Belgium, representatives of political parties, national and regional MPs, Euro deputies, and members of Cuba solidarity organizations sent a letter to Barack Obama asking him to release the Five as confirmation of the desire for change expressed in his presidential election campaign. The letter, also signed by representatives of trade union organizations, artists, religious entities and other nongovernmental organizations of that nation, reaffirmed their certainty that it is in President Obama’s power to free the Five.

In Copenhagen, the national leadership of the Danish Communist Party (KP) issued a statement expressing that the "refusal once again shows the arbitrariness that permeates the U.S. justice system. In addition, it shows the hypocrisy that characterizes Obama’s comments on an improvement in relations with Cuba and the so-called ‘war on terrorism.’" And the statement calls to step up solidarity with the Five and renewing pressure on the United States to overturn the unjust sentences handed down to the Five.

A statement from the Vancouver Committee to Free the Five issued a call to all peace-loving people in Vancouver, Canada and throughout the world to unite in the struggle for their liberation. They "have never trusted in the honesty that is absent from the U.S. justice system. They have trusted in the support of millions of people all over the world who are fighting for their freedom." And it calls for a meeting on July 6, 2009 to intensify the campaign and make the case a priority issue for peace-loving people in their city and all over Canada.

The arbitrary decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to not reopen the legal proceedings against our five heroes was received with indignation in India. The International Anti-imperialist and People's Solidarity Coordinating Committee said in a statement that it is a shame that such a decision was made without taking note of the opinions of eminent jurists, statespersons, Nobel laureates and academics, among others, in addition to the criticism expressed by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions, which described the detention of the Five as arbitrary and illegal.

The Indian committee’s statement also noted that it was counterproductive for this to happen when terrorists are at liberty on the streets of Miami and preparing terrorist attacks against the people of Cuba.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand Free the Five Committee published their opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court decision to not review the case of the Five in the Scoop Independent News newspaper.

The text lists the convincing reasons that led Gerardo Hernández, René González, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González and Antonio Guerrero to infiltrate counterrevolutionary organizations operating in Miami that are responsible for numerous acts of terrorism against the Cuban people.