February 5th for the Cuban 5: Montreal-based Writer, Journalist and Lecturer Arnold August Sends a Letter to Obama

Photo: Bill Hackwell

Arnold August, a Montreal-based writer, journalist and lecturer, is the author of Democracy in Cuba and the 1997-98 Elections. He has also contributed a chapter entitled "Socialism and Elections" to Azicri and Deal's edited collection Cuban Socialism in a New Century. 

His most recent book (2013) is entitled Cuba and Its Neighbours: Democracy in Motion (Fernwood Publishing and Zed Books). According to some reviews of this publication, "Arnold August cuts through the common propaganda about democracy in the U.S. and the supposed lack of democracy in Cuba." - Cliff DuRand, Professor Emeritus of Social Philosophy, Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland. "A must-read for anybody seriously interested in Cuba, and in the overall question of democracy and its practices." -  Claudia Kaiser-Lenoir, Professor Emerita of Latin American Studies, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts.

---

February 4, 2013

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC  20500

Dear President Obama,

I am writing today to request that you employ your constitutional presidential power to grant pardons to the Cuban Five and immediately send them back to their country and families. These prisoners are Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González and René González.

Article 2, Section II of the Constitution provides you with the "Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment." This article carries a humanitarian feature and exists in most countries of the world. One can say that it is virtually universal. Let us highlight a few positive examples that bring out the best of the American people. President Abraham Lincoln pardoned 264 of 303 members of the Dakota Indigenous people who defended themselves against settler expansion in the Sioux Uprising of 1862. More recently, in 1977, President Jimmy Carter in his first day of office granted unconditional pardons to hundreds of thousands of men who had evaded the draft during the U.S. war against Vietnam by fleeing the country or by failing to register for military duty.

There are also instances of leaders granting pardon in other countries. In 2010, Cuba released the prisoners tried and convicted of crimes against the security of the Cuban state. Many U.S. commentators suggested that this would result in "a thaw" in U.S.-Cuban relations. Despite this, there has been no gesture from you to date to pardon the five Cuban prisoners.

Furthermore, in December 2011, the Cuban government announced through Raúl Castro that the Council of State, over which he presides, "has agreed to pardon more than 2,900 prisoners. Not included in this pardon, with very few exceptions, are individuals convicted of crimes of espionage [and] terrorism." One may respond by claiming that Cuba did not pardon most individuals for "crimes of espionage" and thus why should the U.S. free the Cuban Five? Yet, the U.S. government has never actually accused them of espionage, nor has it affirmed that real acts of espionage were carried out, as no classified document was confiscated from the Five. For this reason, they were charged with conspiracy to commit espionage and conspiracy to commit murder, because actual espionage or murder could not be proven. In law, "conspiracy" facilitates a conviction compared to actual conspiracy; nonetheless, the sentences received were greatly disproportionate to any "conspiracy" conviction.

The Cuban government, compared to the U.S. government, even further "agreed to pardon" among the more than 2,900 prisoners "certain individuals convicted of crimes against the security of the state, who have completed a large portion of their prison terms with good behavior." The Cuban Five, in contrast, were never convicted of crimes endangering the security of the state, as no proof could be found to this effect. The five Cuban prisoners are also known for their good behaviour in prison. Therefore, President Obama, I urge you to join the tradition of some of your own predecessors, such as Lincoln and Carter. This humanitarian policy is preferable to your most recent statement on this issue. On January 30, 2013 in an interview on Telemundo, you stated that "in order for us to see an actual normalization of the relations between the United States and Cuba, that we have to do something about all those political prisoners who are still there." Clarification would be in order regarding "political prisoners" in Cuba; the facts suggest that the only "political prisoners" left in Cuba are those in Guantanamo prison.

In the U.S. Constitution's Article 2, Section II, the President is vested with the powers to grant pardon, with the exception of "Cases of Impeachment." Impeachment refers to people within the U.S. political system itself who have committed wrongdoings that merit accusations of impeachment. This is considered the worst offense and thus only those convicted of impeachment are exempt from any possible presidential pardon. Clearly, this "impeachment" exception does not apply to these five prisoners. Once again, I request that you pardon them.

Amendment 8 of the U.S. Constitution excludes the use of "cruel and unusual punishment." In the case of Gerardo Hernández, for example, he has been sentenced to two consecutive prison life terms plus fifteen years for crimes he maintains that he did not commit and that the government could not prove. While at the same time, during all this period for over fourteen years since his arrest, the State Department has denied an entry visa to his wife Adriana Pérez to visit him. Is this is not an example of "cruel and unusual punishment"? In a similar manner, Olga Salanueva, the wife of René González, another of the Cuban Five, has also been denied an entry visa to visit her husband in the U.S.

Therefore, I am asking you to enforce the relevant portions of the U.S. Constitution that can be characterized as being humanitarian. I implore you to sit down with the Cuban government and work out a humanitarian solution to this problem of prisoners so that the normalization of relations between the two countries can be established and flourish. A compassionate outlook is a hallmark of democracy. Cuba has already exhibited this twice in the case of prisoners. And let us not forget Alan Gross, held in a Cuban prison, who appears to have been abandoned by your government.

It is time to turn the situation around. The decisions by Lincoln and Carter to pardon may not have been popular with everyone in the U.S. at the time, but these stands have gone down in history as being positive examples.

Thank you in advance for considering my appeal.

Sincerely,

Arnold August
Montreal

ON FEBRUARY 1ST, THE NEW SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY WAS SWORN IN. LET US DEMAND RIGHT AWAY THAT HE GRANTS VISAS TO ADRIANA AND OLGA TO VISIT THEIR HUSBANDS IN THE U.S.   

---

DIFFERENT WAYS TO REACH THE STATE DEPARTMENT

By e-mail using the Department of State web form at this web site: Click Here

By Phone: 202-647-4000
If calling from outside the United States, dial first the International Area Code
+ 1 (US country code) followed by 202-647-4000

By postal mail:
U.S. Department of State
Attention: Secretary John Kerry
2201 C Street NW
Washington DC 20520

REMEMBER ON TUESDAY FEBRUARY 5TH TO CONTACT PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA TO JOIN THE WORLDWIDE DEMAND FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE CUBAN FIVE
 
CLICK HERE FOR DIFFERENT WAYS TO REACH THE WHITE HOUSE

• Belgium Member of Parliament Asks President Obama to Free the Cuban 5

International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5
For more information about the Cuban 5 visit: www.thecuban5.org
Support the projects of the International Committee by making a DONATION