The five men--Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, René González, and Fernando González--had not been permitted to see their lawyers, families, and supporters since they were thrown into the "hole" February 28. Hernández, who is jailed at the maximum security federal prison at Lompoc, California, has been in "the Box" within the Special Housing Unit--a hole within the "hole"--since that time. Defense attorney Leonard Weinglass was finally allowed to visit Hernández March 16 after repeated requests to the government.

Since they were framed up and convicted in June 2001, the five Cuban revolutionaries are being held in five different prisons thousands of miles from each other, where they are serving sentences ranging from 15 years to a double-life term.

These latest measures against the five come as their legal team prepares for an April 7 appeals hearing on their case. Their arbitrary placement in isolation is a violation of their right to due process of law, their right to legal counsel, and protection against cruel and unusual punishment, their defense team says.

The government claims that the five were removed from the general prison population, and their visitation rights cut off, because they are a potential threat to "national security." According to Weinglass, who is Antonio Guerrero’s attorney and part of the overall legal defense for the five, the solitary confinement is part of a "special administrative" order from U.S. attorney general John Ashcroft to the Bureau of Prisons. The order claims that the contact the five have maintained--by mail or in person--with other people could result in the unauthorized disclosure of information that "could pose a threat to the national security of the United States." The order lasts for a year and can be extended at any time by the attorney general.

The five were framed up by the FBI and convicted on conspiracy charges, including conspiracy to commit espionage for the Cuban government and murder. They have maintained all along that they were in the United States to collect information on the activities of counterrevolutionary groups that have a history of launching violent attacks on Cuba from U.S. soil.

Since their imprisonment following the convictions, the five have refused to be broken --maintaining their public pride for defending their country’s sovereignty. They have also kept in contact with revolutionists and other vanguard workers in the United States, becoming part of the class struggle in this country and setting an example for other inmates.

Since February 28, the five have been under strict isolation from other prisoners and the outside world, and are being denied access to any reading or printed material. In the case of Hernández the prison authorities have confiscated his legal mail and correspondence sent by his attorney, as well as his personal items. He has also been restricted to a cell where he can barely take three steps and is forced to wear only underpants and a shirt.

Even though the right of the five to see their attorneys was restored, the conversations will be monitored by prison authorities, in violation of the lawyer-client privilege of confidentiality.

On March 12, defense attorneys filed a motion with the Southern Florida District Court to request an immediate end to their solitary confinement and to transfer the five to a facility within that district or to free them on bail during the appeals process.

Messages demanding the five be let out of the hole can be sent to Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, 320 First St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20534; tel: (202) 307-3198; fax: (202) 514-6620; e-mail: webmaster@bop.gov.
 
 
Related articles:
Washington’s provocations heighten tensions with Cuba
Students protest denial of visas to Cubans  
 
 
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