by Rick Lowe
The front page story of The Tribune this morning, Tuesday, September 12, 2005 raises more questions than answers.
A group of Bahamians calling themselves "Bahamian friends of the Cuban Five" are said to be raising consciousness of the case of the five men that have been imprisoned in the United States.
The news report of the Bahamian groups comments suggest that the Cuban nationals were in the U.S. "hunting down terrorists"…"in response to terrorist attacks that had been threatening and causing destruction within Cuba since the start of the Cuban revolution".
News reports from the U.S. suggest that the Cuban Five were convicted on charges of espionage.
It would be interesting to know if the five Cuban nationals had permission to be working in the United States or if they were in America as Diplomats or "refugees" from the Castro regime?
Mr. Felix Bethel, lecturer at the College of The Bahamas is quoted as saying that "We are friends of the Cuban five to the extent that we are for freedom and dignity and justice."
This raises the question of the motive of the Bahamian Friends of the Cuban Five. Surely if one is concerned with freedom and dignity and justice, this cannot be mutually exclusive of political prisoners held in prison in Cuba?
Mr. Bethel adds that "both Amnesty International, "the vast majority" of the members of the UN, and a significant number of British MPs favour the release of the men…"
While I could not find any reference to the Cuban Five at Amnesty Internationals (AI) web site there are numerous entries regarding Cuban political prisoners.
However, one does not see this level of concern for our Cuban neighbours that are held under dubious circumstances in their own country by the Bahamian group of concerned citizens.
Another curious point is that the Bahamian Friends of the Cuban Five chose to form their committee within the confines of the Cuban Embassy which leads one to question the sincerity of the comment that they are for "freedom and dignity and justice".
This also raises the question of the independence of the group or the possibility of a conflict of interest.
Finally, the United States is not perfect and they should be taken to task for legitimate abuses of human rights, but it is disingenuous to support the Cuban governments contention on five of their subjects without similar pressure being placed at their feet for the lack of freedom and dignity and justice they provide their own people.
By the way, the same holds true for The Bahamas alleged human rights transgressions.
