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Letters to the Editor
Land of the free?
Friday, February 10, 2012
Dear Editor,
The practice by the US authoritiesof denying visiting rights to two of the wives of the Cuban 5, since the incarceration of their husbands in 1998, has been condemned by Amnesty International as unnecessarily punitive and contrary to the standards for the humane treatment of prisoners and the stated obligation to protect family life.
This gross human rights violation flies in the face of the "holier than thou" and crusader-like stance which successive US administrations assume in chastising countries across the world who they claim are in violation of their citizens' human rights.
Olga Salunueva, wife of René González, and Adriana Pérez, wife of Gerardo Hernández, are the subject of an international campaign to free the five from US federal prisons for defending their country against terrorism waged from the USA. The other three men are Fernando González , Ramón Labañino and Antonio Guerrero.
The position of Amnesty International is very clear, as the organisation noted that "the blanket and apparently permanent bar on the men receiving visits from their wives without due consideration of any conditions that might make such visits possible is untenable".
In one instance - in 2002 - Adriana Pérez was granted a visa, but it served no purpose: not only was she detained when she arrived at the airport in Houston, Texas, but was interrogated for 11 hours, had her visa revoked and was sent back to Cuba as she was considered a "security threat".
The refrain in the USA's anthem The Star Spangled Banner which trumpets "the land of the free and the home of the brave", therefore rings hollow in the face of these actions and we all should join with Amnesty International in condemning this Spanish-machete approach to human rights.
Trevor G Brown
trevorgbrown@hotmail.com
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