Please ask President Obama to free the Cuban Five now

A  special appeal from the Friends of the Cuban Five Committee in Toronto: Please  send a message to President Obama 
 
As you read this, our sisters and  brothers from across the United States, Canada and many other countries have  assembled in Washington, D.C.  They are there for 5 Days for the 5 ― to  demand justice and the immediate release of the long-imprisoned Cuban Five from  U.S. prisons.  They are carrying out  an impressive range of activities, including a mass rally outside the White  House. (See details at www.thecuban5.org/wordpress/obama-give-me-five-2/)
 
We urge supporters in Canada who also advocate freedom for  the Cuban Five to please take a few minutes right away to add our voices to  theirs.  Send a message to U.S. President Obama  urging him to use his constitutional authority to order the immediate,  unrestricted release of these Cuban prisoners without delay, so that they can be  reunited with their families in Cuba.  

Please do so by Wednesday, June 5 if at  all possible, as part of the international campaign to organize actions  supporting the Five and send messages to the White House on the 5th day of every  month.  Below is a sample text  you
can use (partially or in full), or compose your own as you wish.  

Contact information is  provided.

It will take the concerted  efforts of millions around the world to compel the U.S. administration to free  every one of the Five.  Your ongoing  help is appreciated and greatly needed! 
 

Dear President Obama,

I ask that you use the power  conferred on you by the U.S. Constitution to make it possible to immediately  reunite every one of the Cuban Five with their families in Cuba.
 
In 1998, the Cuban Five ―  peaceful Cuban men who harmed no one ― were wrongly arrested and later subjected  to a thoroughly unjust trial in which they were convicted on a number of  baseless charges.  Four of the five  remain in U.S. prisons to this day under  extraordinarily harsh sentences for defending and protecting the lives of not  just the people of Cuba but also American people and  the more than a million Canadians who travel to Cuba yearly.  The Five monitored terrorist groups in  southern Florida that have for decades waged repeated politically motivated  attacks and sabotage against the people of Cuba, causing nearly 3,500 Cuban  deaths and thousand of severe injuries.   The aim of the Five was to learn and report plans for future terrorist  incidents so that they could be prevented.
 
As you know, René González Sehweret, after having served his prison  sentence and then been punitively confined to Florida,
apart from his  family in Cuba, for a long period of supervised release, was released  from these conditions recently and permitted to permanently rejoin his family. I  am grateful that he is finally home after his lengthy incarceration.
 
However I remain extremely  concerned about the plight of the four others ― Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, Ramón  Labañino Salazar, Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez, and Fernando González Llort ― who  remain in prison after nearly 15 years. I also find it unconscionable that  Adriana Pérez, wife of Gerardo Hernández, has despite her many applications been  systematically refused a visa to enter the U.S. to visit her husband and thus  has not seen him in all this time, contrary to humanitarian standards.

René  González’s wife, Olga Salanueva, suffered much the same inhumane treatment.
 
President Obama, I appeal to you as a Nobel Peace Prize  recipient and the President to use your constitutional authority to remedy this  situation by at  long last sending the four imprisoned Cubans home to their loved ones  now. I believe that this is the worthy and  humanitarian gesture that would be most fitting in these sad  circumstances.
 
Sincerely,

(your name), (your city/town), Canada

        
E-mail President Obama at the White  House:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments
Up to 2,500 characters allowed.  The  above text, including your name, would comprise approximately 2,300  characters.

Address letters to:
President Barack  Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 
20500
       
Phone the White House to leave your comments: (202) 456-1111