Release American political prisoner in Cuba, and all other prisoners
Re Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega’s announcement that five political prisoners were being released by the Cuban regime and 47 others will be released within the next few months:
It is always good when political captives are released. It is encouraging that after all these years, Cardinal Ortega bears witness to the suffering of the Cuban people.
It is discouraging, however, that Raúl Castro’s government is not releasing immediately, as requested by Amnesty International, the 47 prisoners mentioned by the cardinal. All of them are Amnesty International prisoners of conscience, and none of them engage or advocated in any acts of violence.
Besides the 52 prisoners mentioned, there are about 200 other Cubans in prison for “crimes” that are not criminal offenses in the civilized world. From “dangerousness,” meaning the person has not committed any crime, but is believed by the regime to be inclined to do so, to “propaganda enemiga,” which includes the possession of books such as George Orwell’s Animal Farm or speaking in support of sanctions against Havana by the European Union or the United States.
In 1957, the hated dictator Fulgencio Batista released all political prisoners, including Fidel and Raúl Castro, and allowed them to remain in Cuba and reinsert themselves into Cuba’s civil society. The government of Raúl Castro is not releasing all political prisoners, and for many of those who, hopefully, will be released, it will be on the condition of going into exile.
The Center for a Free Cuba calls on the international community to continue pressuring the Cuban regime to release all political prisoners, including Alan Gross, an American in prison in Cuba since December for giving a laptop and a cellphone to Cubans. The international community should also insist that the Cuban government allow the International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to visit the island.
FRANK CALZON, executive director, Center for a Free Cuba, Arlington, Va.
frank.calzon@cubacenter.org
July 12th, 2010 at 7:04 am
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