Amnesty International calls on members to write protest letters on the Miami Five
Campaign News | Friday, 2 February 2007
Denial by US to grant visas for wives is unnecessarily punitive, says Human Rights watchdog
Amnesty International has asked its members to write letters of protest to the US authorities calling for them to grant visas to the wives of the Miami Five.
Details of the situation of the wives and how to write to the US is given below:
Unnecessarily punitive.
The continuing denial of visas to two wives of the ‘Cuban Five’.
AI CONCERN: Denial of visas allowing visits from the prisoners’ wives
Summary:
The US government has refused to provide the Cuban wives of two Cuban nationals serving long federal prison sentences in the USA temporary visas which would allow them to visit their husbands in prison. The men, René Gonzáles and Gerardo Hernández, were both convicted in 2001 of acting as unregistered agents of the Cuban government.
Amnesty International is not in a position to judge the evidence on which the government has made this decision however the organisation believes that denying the men visits from their wives (and in one case, also his child) is unnecessarily punitive and contrary to standards for humane treatment of prisoners and states’ obligations to protect family life.
Timing: January 2007 - June 2007
Purpose of action:
To urge the US government to stringently review its decision to deny temporary visas to the wives of the two men, and, in the absence of reasonable and conclusive evidence for continuing for them to be withheld, to grant them temporary visitation visas so that they may visit their husbands in the US.
Background Information:
Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzáles and René Gonzáles, are Cuban nationals (known as the ‘Cuban Five’) convicted in a federal court in Miami in 2001 of acting as unregistered agents for the Cuban government and related charges.
Case Details:
Since 2002 the US government has refused to grant temporary visas for visitation purposes to Adriana Perez (wife of Gerardo Hernández), and Olga Salanueva (wife of René Gonzáles) and by default their eight-year-old daughter Ivette Gonzáles who is a US-born citizen and has not seen her father since she was four-months old.
Adriana Perez has not been permitted to visit her husband since his arrest in 1998. Her most recent application for a temporary visa in October 2005 was denied on the (unsupported) ground that she may seek to remain in the US at the end of her authorised stay.
Olga Salanueva has not seen her husband since the eve of his trial in 2000. Mrs Salanueva continued to live legally in the US for nearly two years during the trial proceedings against her husband and was deported only after her husband refused to enter a plea arrangement in return for his family being allowed to remain in the US. She was granted a visa to visit him in 2002, which was later revoked. Her most recent application for a visa was denied on the grounds that she is ineligible to enter the USA for having previously been deported.
Between 2002 and 2005, the government has denied the wives’ applications for temporary visas for different reasons relating to terrorism, espionage and issues of national security. Neither woman has faced charges in connection with such claims, nor have their husbands been charged with, or convicted of terrorism.
Both women have made representations to AI in which they deny being a security risk to the US. Currently the two husbands are being held in ‘general population’ within their prisons. This suggests that the authorities do not consider the men to represent a security risk to the United States.
The wives claim that the denial of temporary visas for visitation purposes has imposed undue further punishment upon their incarcerated husbands and created unnecessary family hardship. This is particularly evident in the case of Ivette Gonzáles who, now eight-years-old has not seen her father for over seven years.
Both men are serving lengthy federal sentences: René Gonzáles has been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment and Gerardo Hernández sentenced to life imprisonment. The length of their sentences combined with what appears to be an indefinite ban on visitation rights for the two wives and daughter is considered by AI to be unnecessarily punitive and inhumane and contrary to states’ obligation to protect family life. This deprivation is particularly harsh given the questions that have been raised about the fairness of the men’s convictions.
Background Information on challenges to the convictions of the Cuban Five:
In May 2005, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) issued an opinion finding that the USA had failed to guarantee the Cuban Five a fair trial. The WGAD opinion was based on information provided by the prisoners’ families, and included concerns about the trial venue, use of classified evidence and the fact that the defendants were kept in solitary confinement for months before trial, making access to evidence and communication with their attorneys reportedly more difficult.
In August 2005, the convictions of all the Cuban Five were overturned by an appeals court and a retrial was ordered, on the ground that pervasive hostility toward pro-Castro Cubans in Miami (where the trial was held) was prejudicial to the accused. This decision was reversed on 9 August 2006 by the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on a finding that no such prejudice had been shown in the selection of the trial jury.
AI has not reached a conclusion on the fairness of the proceedings, many of which have still to be raised on direct appeal. However, it continues to seek further information on this issue.
International Standards:
Governments have an obligation under international standards to ensure that no-one is subjected to arbitrary punishment, discrimination or conditions which amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 10 (1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which the USA has ratified, states: “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person”.
The Human Rights Committee’s General Comment 21 on Article 10 states:
“3. Article 10, paragraph 1, imposes on States parties a positive obligation towards persons who are particularly vulnerable because of their status as persons deprived of liberty, and complements for them the ban on torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment contained in article 7 of the Covenant. Thus, not only may persons deprived of their liberty not be subjected to treatment that is contrary to article 7 ? but neither may they be subjected to any hardship or constraint other than that resulting from the deprivation of liberty; respect for the dignity of such persons must be guaranteed under the same conditions as for that of free persons. Persons deprived of their liberty enjoy all the rights set forth in the Covenant, subject to the restrictions that are unavoidable in an enclosed environment.”
“4. Treating all persons deprived of their liberty with humanity and with respect for their dignity is a fundamental and universally applicable rule? This rule must be applied without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”
The (UN) Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons Under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, provides that a detained or imprisoned person “shall have the right to be visited by and to communicate with, in particular members of his family”. The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners contains a similar provision.
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:
Please write letters to Director Stephen G. McFarland at the Office of Cuban Affairs, asking that:
Providing that there is no reasonable and conclusive evidence for continuing for them to be withheld, visas be promptly granted to the two women so that they may visit their husbands.
Emphasise the following points:
The importance of family visits to prisoners, not just in maintaining the men’s morale but in lessening the impact of their imprisonment on their family. This is particularly significant given the length of the men’s sentences.
The seemingly permanent denial of family visits is contrary both to standards for the humane treatment of prisoners and to states’ obligation to protect family life.
The denial of visits from their immediate families has caused substantial hardship to Hernández Nordelo and René Gonzáles; beyond the penalties imposed on them, and has had a detrimental impact on family members including Ivette Gonzáles who, now eight-years-old has not seen her father for over seven years.
This deprivation is additionally harsh due to the serious questions that are being raised about the fairness of the men’s convictions.
The US has been inconsistent in their reasons for denying visas to the wives and has failed to provide evidence for their decisions. This has affected the women in two ways; primarily, it has denied them the opportunity to rebut the grounds for denial, and secondly, it has made it harder for them to prepare subsequent applications.
Address:
Director Stephen G. McFarland
Office of Cuban Affairs
US Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
USA.
EVALUATION & FOLLOW-UP:
Please send copies of any letters received to the US team at the International Secretariat.
US TEAM, INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT, 1 Easton Street
London
WC1X 0DW, UK
Thanks for all your hard work!
www.amnesty.org
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Public Statement
AI Index: AMR 51/013/2007 (Public)
News Service No: 010
17 January 2007
Amnesty International is once again urging the US authorities to stringently review its decision to deny temporary visas to the wives of two Cuban nationals serving long federal prison sentences in the USA, and, in the absence of reasonable and conclusive evidence for continuing for them to be withheld, to grant them temporary visitation visas so that they may visit their husbands in the US.
The men, Gerardo Hernández and René Gonzáles were convicted in 2001 of acting as unregistered agents of the Cuban government. Adriana Perez has not been permitted to visit her husband Gerardo Hernández since his arrest in 1998, while Olga Salanueva, wife of René Gonzáles, and their eight-year-old daughter, have not seen him since the eve of his trial in 2000.
Since 2002 the US government has denied the wives’ applications for temporary visas for different reasons relating to terrorism, espionage and issues of national security. Yet, neither woman has faced charges in connection with such claims, nor have their husbands been charged with, or convicted of terrorism.
Adriana Perez and Olga Salanueva have made representations to Amnesty International in which they deny being a security risk to the US, while their husbands are currently held in ‘general population’ within prison which suggests that they are not considered to present a security risk to the country.
Amnesty International is not in a position to judge the evidence on which the government has made the decision to deny the women temporary visas for visitation purposes. However the organization has repeatedly raised the issue with the US authorities since 2002 because it believes that denying the men visits from their wives (and in one case, also his child) is unnecessarily punitive and contrary to standards for humane treatment of prisoners and states’ obligations to protect family life.
The organization believes that this deprivation is particularly harsh given the length of the men’s sentences (René Gonzáles has been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment and Gerardo Hernández to life imprisonment) and the questions that have been raised about the fairness of the men’s convictions.
Background Information on challenges to the convictions of the Cuban Five
In May 2005, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) issued an opinion finding that the USA had failed to guarantee the Cuban Five a fair trial. The WGAD opinion was based on information provided by the prisoners’ families, and included concerns about the trial venue, use of classified evidence and the fact that the defendants were kept in solitary confinement for months before trial, making access to evidence and communication with their attorneys reportedly more difficult.
In August 2005, the convictions of all the Cuban Five were overturned by an appeals court and a retrial was ordered, on the ground that pervasive hostility toward pro-Castro Cubans in Miami (where the trial was held) was prejudicial to the accused. This decision was reversed on 9 August 2006 by the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on a finding that no such prejudice had been shown in the selection of the trial jury.
AI has not reached a conclusion on the fairness of the proceedings, many of which have still to be raised on direct appeal. However, it continues to seek further information on this issue.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/document.do?id=ENGAMR510132007
MEPs sign up to support the Miami Five
Parliamentary motion attracts 61 signatures
61 MEPs have signed an official declaration which calls on the European Commission to pressure the US Government to grant visiting rights to the families of the Miami Five.
The motion notes the decisions of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions,
concerns raised in Amnesty International's letter of January 2006 and the international efforts made in the campaign on the Five.
The full motion (opened 11/12/2006) can be found at
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/expert/writtenDecl/wdFastOngoing.do?language=EN#
CSC is urging members to contact their MEPs asking them to sign the declaration. You can easily find and write to your MEP using the web site
http://www.writetothem.com/
You can also contact CSC for standard letters and background information.
