Amnesty labels Miami Five trial as unfair
Campaign News | Wednesday, 4 January 2012
In its 2011 Annual Report Amnesty International singled out the trial of the Miami Five under the heading of 'Unfair Trials' in the United States county report.
This was the only trial in the US to be singled out by by Amnesty International as unfair in this report.
The exact entry reads:
Unfair Trials
In June, a new appeal was filed in the case of Gerardo Hernández, one of five men convicted in 2001 of acting as intelligence agents for Cuba and related charges. The appeal was based, in part, on evidence that the US government had secretly paid journalists to write prejudicial articles in the media at the time of trial, thereby undermining the defendants' due process rights. In October, Amnesty International sent a report to the Attorney General outlining the organization' s concerns in the case.
On October 2010 Amnesty International had published a Report on the case of the Five concluding that:
"The organization believes that the concerns outlined above combine to raise serious doubts about the fairness of the proceedings leading to their conviction, in particular the prejudicial impact of publicity about the case on a jury in Miami. Amnesty International hopes that these concerns can still be given due consideration by the appropriate appeal channels. Should the legal appeals process not provide a timely remedy, and given the long prison terms imposed and length of time the prisoners have already served, Amnesty International is supporting calls for a review of the case by the US executive authorities through the clemency process or other appropriate means."
- Read the Amnesty International 2011 United States report here
- Read the October 2010 Amnesty International Report here
