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Vol. 73/No. 12      March 30, 2009

 
Defender of travel to
Cuba fights gov't probe
 
BY BEN JOYCE  
NEW YORK—Some 50 people came out to support Rev. Lucius Walker, a longtime advocate of the right to travel to Cuba, at a March 12 court hearing. Walker is being harassed by New York City School District officials for his alleged role in a trip by high school students to Cuba.

Walker is the executive director of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO) and Pastors for Peace, an IFCO ministry. Since 1992 Pastors for Peace has organized “Friendshipment Caravans” to take humanitarian supplies to Cuba and to oppose Washington’s ban on travel to the island.

Richard Condon, special commissioner of investigation for the school district, is heading an investigation into trips to Cuba made by students at Manhattan's Beacon High School between 1999 and 2007. Condon says IFCO helped organize some of the trips. He wants Walker held in contempt of court for not complying with a subpoena issued by the New York State Supreme Court. Walker has refused to provide information about many of the individuals the school district claims were involved in the trips.

A Beacon student who participated in one of the trips was there to support Walker. He said the travel ban hurts everyone. "We're not communists," he told the Militant. "We just wanted to see what Cuba is like for ourselves." He declined to give his name on advice of his counsel.

The March 12 hearing took up specific documents that the prosecution claims belong to IFCO and are necessary for the investigation. While Walker has the constitutional right under the Fifth Amendment to refuse to submit personal documents, IFCO is not protected in the same way. The prosecution is trying to prove that the documents in question belong to IFCO, not Walker.

According to a statement by Walker, if Condon were to receive the information he is requesting, he would be required to turn it over to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, part of the U.S. Treasury Department that enforces Washington's travel ban.

Walker’s supporters explain that the school district has no jurisdiction in the case because the trip was not organized or sponsored by the school and took place during spring break.
 
 
Related articles:
Cuban 5 High Court appeal gains international support
Cuban women's leader speaks at N.Y. campus
Cuban government replaces 10 high officials
Cuba’s revolutionary leadership
U.S. Treasury Dep’t fines company over business with Cuba  
 
 
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