England to Host Intl. Commission of Inquiry on Cuban Five Case

The Commission will hear testimony from around 20 key witnesses including U.S. defense attorney Martin Garbus, representatives from international human rights organization Amnesty International

A major international commission of inquiry into the case of the Cuban Five will be held in London March 7th and 8th, where participants will hear first-hand testimonies from family members, Cuban victims of terrorism, legal experts, international jurors, human rights campaigners, academics and politicians.

The Commission will hear testimony from around 20 key witnesses including U.S. defense attorney Martin Garbus, representatives from international human rights organization Amnesty International, and from relatives of Gerardo Hernández, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino and René González, known internationally as the Cuban Five.

The Five were arrested in 1998 and prosecuted by a biased Florida court for alleged espionage charges. They were given unprecedented harsh sentences of up to life in prison and put in separate facilities, where they often were the subject of abuse.

René González, the first and only member of the Cuban Five to have been released after completing his 15-year sentence in the United States has announced that he will travel to London to give evidence to the International Commission

The Commission will be presided over by distinguished international jurors including the former Chief Justice of India Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal, the former Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Zakeria Mohammed Yacoob, and Philippe Texier, former Chair of the Supreme Court of France.

There will also be testimonies from specialists on the range of measures taken to defend Cuba against the threat of terrorist attacks, as well as testimony from Cuban and international victims of U.S. based terrorism.