Message from Cuban university students
to their counterparts in the United States
Cuban University Students Defend the Truth about the Cuban Five
Dec. 20, 2006
Reprinted from Juventud Rebelde
Havana, December 20, 2006
Students of the United States:
Do you know that five Cuban men have been unjustly imprisoned in the United States for eight years for defending the Cuban people from terrorism? The members of the Federation of University Students (FEU) of Cuba, represented in its Seventh Congress, express our dedication to continue fighting until Gerardo, Antonio, Ramon, Fernando and Rene come back to Cuba and their families.
These five brave men went through a biased and rigged trial in Miami, Florida, characterized by a lack of legal rights and the systematic violation of human rights, which ended in severe sentences; the worse of which was handed down against Gerardo Hernandez, sentenced to double life imprisonment plus 15 years.
They are victims of a cruel and unfair imprisonment, kept in silence by the US government. Ironically, it was human dignity that was put on trial. These five men were only fulfilling a fundamental duty of every patriot —to defend their people against terrorist aggression, which in this case was organized by extremist anti-Cuban groups in the United States. The Cuban Five monitored these organizations to prevent the death of more innocent people.
Moreover, the ruling made by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions has been ignored. In May 2005, this group announced that the detention of the Cuban Five was arbitrary, and urged the US government to take the necessary measures to correct that arbitrariness.
The struggle for the return of the Cuban Five to their families includes overcoming the communication barrier that has kept information about the basic elements of this case from the world, preventing people from understanding this outrageous injustice. The international efforts to obtain their freedom have not been enough. The case is still unknown and false justifications for their continued incarceration are presented.
We encourage you to mobilize yourselves with your thought and action so as to discover the truth about what happened and the serious irregularities that occurred during the trial. We need your unconditional support so that they can come back. This is why we are calling on you to defend a noble and just cause, and to stay informed and alert to the media’s manipulations against the Cuban Five.
The Cuban Five are willing to give their lives for our people. This spirit sums up the principles of all Cubans and is why Cuban university students will not rest until they are free and at home. They are life symbols; they represent the purest revolutionary feelings.
WE COUNT ON YOU!
University Student Federation of Cuba |
