Free the Miami Five Campaign Ireland made a 90-minute presentation to the cross-party Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Irish Parliament on the case of the Miami Five in Dublin this week. The three-member delegation had responded to an invitation to appraise the committee, one of the most important of the parliament, on the case.
In a packed chamber, the assembled 12 members of the committee listened attentively to a description of the human rights violations encountered by the Five during their incarceration in the US prison system and the effects of the denial of family visits was having on two of the men and their families.
Evidence was presented of the 45-year history of anti-Cuban terrorism emanating from Miami and the bombing campaigns against tourist sites which had resulted in the death of an Italian tourist.
The unprecedented delay of almost a year in the delivery of the judgement on the motion for a re-trial was highlighted as was the 33 month delay in he initial trial hearing. This was contrasted with the 15 minutes offered to the defence team to present their evidence at the appeal hearing in March 2004
The delegation presented a letter from Lenard Weinglass, attorney for one of the Five, summarising the failings in the legal process encountered in the trial to the committee chairman, Deputy Michael Woods TD.
Michael D. Higgins, one of the most senior members of the committee commented at length on the case. He pointed to the broader context of the case, saying “There is an inescapable context, and that inescapable context is that there is an illegal blockade of Cuba; there is an attempt to dislodge the Cuban economy and to, I believe, infiltrate Cuban society”
“The question of the dislodging of a neighbouring country; interference in its judicial system; its economy, its society is a matter for international politics and several international conventions”
Referring to a briefing paper provided to the committee by the Department of Foreign Affairs he was unequivocal: “One thing we can’t do is simply say that these people are just five Cubans who got caught in what the United States regard as illegal activity, it is going through the US legal system and it is a matter for them and not a matter for us. In every essence it is a matter for us, it is profoundly a matter for us,” he said.
Another member of the committee Tony Gregory TD questioned whether the briefing paper had been drawn up by the US State Department rather that the Department of Foreign Affairs. There appeared to be general agreement on the inadequacy of the briefing paper provided and the committee resolved to ask the Department to provide them with a more considered report on the case of the Miami Five.
The committee chairman referred several times to the Lenard Weinglass letter describing it as “very useful” to the committees work.
“From my own point of view, when I read the material in advance of the hearing I found it very disturbing, particularly in relation to the issue of the rule of international law which I believe must apply in all countries, for all people, at all times. You cannot just select it and have some of it now and some again. We are either committed, as civilised people, to the rule of international law or we’re not.”
In relation to the degrading and inhuman treatment the prisoners have been subjected to he commented: “We will communicate with the American ambassador and let them know of the concerns of the members of the committee.”
“I would be very concerned about the issue of degrading and inhuman treatment” he said, “there are no state boundaries to that, again it is something we either believe in or we don’t.
Addressing the Campaign Chair, Eleanor Lanigan, Dr Woods said: “Where you have issues which would appear unfair and degrading in the way in which they are applied, there is an onus on us as members of parliament to speak out, no matter where that comes from, and that is what you can be sure we will do. We will look for reassurance on the issue of the treatment of the prisoners which has been raised by you in your presentation.” He went on to say that “... the sentences certainly seem to be particularly excessive”.
Questions were asked by several members of the committee regarding the appeal process and the legal remedies available in the event of the re-trail being denied and these were answered by Mark McEvoy, a practicing barrister and member of the Northern Ireland Lawyers Committee which is affiliated to the Free the Miami Five Campaign. He said that the next step, in the event of a refusal to grant a retrial, would most likely be an appeal directly to the US Supreme Court.
The committee were very attentive to the presentation of the case and asked a number of questions displaying concern for the Five, the progress of the appeal and the issues of international law raised by the case. The number of TDs and Senators in attendance was exceptionally high and was commented on by one of the members as evidence of the seriousness with which the case is regarded by the committee.
Further meetings of the Committee are anticipated at which the case of the Miami Five will be discussed and the committee chairman expressed a desire to seek submissions on the case form international legal experts.
Simon McGuinness
Secretary,
Free the Miami Five, Ireland