April 2004

We, the families of the five Cubans who are incarcerated in US prisons, wish to put on record the countless obstacles that the United States government has imposed to prevent us from visiting them. These obstacles could be summarizing as follows:

-          Olga Salanueva and Adriana Pérez, the wives of René González and Gerardo Hernández respectively, are not allowed to set foot on US territory, thereby also preventing Ivette, René’s little daughter, from visiting her father.

-          Visas for the rest of the families are repeatedly held up for periods up to seven months.

-          The US authorities hinder the visits of teenage children with a relative.

-          Cuban diplomats are prevented from assisting family visits.

In the cases of Olga Salanueva and Adriana Pérez, the prohibition to enter the United States on the part of its government has been carried out based on arbitrary decisions without merit.

On March 29, 2002, Olga received a visa to enter the United States to visit René.

On April 23, 2002, the US revoked the visa declaring Olga inadmissible under Section 212(a)(3)(B) of the US Immigration and Nationalization Act. Consequently, she was alleged to be a terrorist.

In October 2002 the United States government again denied Olga a visa without giving any explanation. In April 2003 it was once again denied, this time under Section 212(f) in which the US President can suspend entry into the USA of any foreign national if he considers it contrary to the interests of national security.

In October 2003 and April 2004, the United States government once again denied a visa to Olga, this time modifying its argument.

Olga remained inadmissible as a supposed “terrorist” under Section 212 (a) (3) (A) which stipulates barring anyone “relating to espionage or sabotage...or any activity a purpose of which is the opposition to, or the control or overthrow of, the Government of the United States by force, violence, or other unlawful means”.

Olga lived as a legal permanent resident in the United States for two years and two months after René’s arrest which occurred in her house in her presence. During this time, she wasn’t linked to the indictments against René nor was she accused or prosecuted for any federal charge.

We feel that two years and two months were sufficient for the United States government to file charges against her and put her on trial.

Denying her a visa for presumed intelligence activity is also absurd, given that René was never charged with espionage.

Olga and René’s little daughter, Ivette Gonz?lez, is six years old and has been prevented from seeing her father since she was a baby. It is well known by child psychologists that when an infant has, as in her case, suffered the removal of a parent in a traumatic manner, emotional reactions such as anxiety and other negative psychological effects are common.

The need for Ivette to travel with her mother is not only endorsed by these scientific criteria but, in line with decisions by the United States Supreme Court itself in its ruling of Overton vs. Bazzetta on June 16, 2003, “it is reasonable to ensure that children who visit (a prisoner) are accompanied and supervised by those adults who protect and serve the best interests of the child”.

In the case of Adriana Pérez, on July 25, 2002 the government of the United States prevented her from entering the country after she had been granted a visa. Upon her arrival at Houston airport in Texas, Adriana was arbitrarily detained, isolated, deprived of her passport, photographed, fingerprinted and submitted to illegal interrogations by the FBI over a period of 11 hours before being deported back to Cuba without visiting Gerardo.

The FBI offered no explanation to Adriana to support its decision to prevent her from entering the United States.

In April 2003, the US government once again denied her a visa invoking Section 212(f) in which the US President can suspend entry into the USA of any foreign national if he considers it contrary to the interests of national security.

In October 2003 and April 2004, the US government again denied a visa for Adriana, this time under Section 212(a)(3)(A) of the 1996 Immigration and Naturalization Act. So the US government considers Adriana to be a presumed agent intent on “espionage or sabotage...or any activity a purpose of which is the opposition to, or the control or overthrow of, the Government of the United States by force, violence, or other unlawful means” as the decision implies?

The US authorities cannot allege that Adriana has ever acted against the USA nor harmed national security interests.

The US government has no proof, and could never obtain any proof, to indicate that Adriana’s presence on US soil would endanger its interests. Her name does not appear in any of the charges leveled at Gerardo, or any of his four compatriots.

If they had any evidence against her, the US authorities would have arrested her upon her arrival in Houston.

It is inconceivable to attempt to justify the denial of visas to Olga and Adriana when the numerous precepts and principles of international law as well as US legislation itself oblige the US government to facilitate the visits of spouses of those incarcerated in US prisons.

The visa requests of Adriana and Olga continue to be denied. Not only does this constitute a violation of their human rights – as well as those of Gerardo and René and their respective families – but it also ignores numerous instruments of international law that have very clearly indicated the right of prisoners to receive visits from their families and the obligation of governments to facilitate those visits.

As far as visas granted to the rest of the family members of the five Cubans, in the last three years we have only been able to travel to the USA on average twice a year. If not for the visa hindrance we would be able to visit more often in accordance with the norms of their respective prisons.

To illustrate this, three of the mothers were obliged by the USA to wait from August 2003 to March 2004 - seven long months – before being granted visas to visit their sons.

In the case of Ram?n’s daughters, Ail?, Laura and Lisbeth – especially the latter two due to their young ages of 11 and 7 – they have only had the opportunity of visiting their father on four occasions in the last six years. The same applies to Tonito, the son of Antonio, as a result of delays in the issuance of visas.

To this long list of difficulties it has recently been added another. In February 2004 the US government said that it would no longer allow our visas to be processed through official channels as humanitarian visas. This now considerably lengthens the procedure. We are now obliged to request a visa as any other person interested in visiting the United States which involves delays of up to four months just for the request to be processed.

Recognizing the humanitarian character of these visas and its moral and legal obligation to facilitate their issuance, the US government should authorize those visas previously denied and guarantee that all our visas be granted with more frequency.