Ludford supports "Miami five" family visits plea

11.55.26am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 28th Feb 2007

London's Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford, vice-chair of the European Parliament's human rights subcommittee, has expressed her concern about the refusal by American authorities to grant visas to the families of five Cuban citizens detained in the US.

The so-called "Miami five" were given sentences ranging from 15 years to two consecutive life terms in June 2001 after being convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage, conspiracy to murder and other related charges, but the soundness of the trial process and thus convictions is contested.

Baroness Ludford, who co-signed a letter on this issue to the American Ambassador to the EU at the end of last year and has now added her support to a European Parliament 'written declaration', commented:

"As recognised by a US appeals court in 2005, there are doubts about the legitimacy of these convictions regarding the fairness and impartiality of the trial, and these need to be dealt with in the criminal process."

"But irrespective of guilt or innocence, the refusal to issue visas for two of the prisoners' wives and other family members amounts to a stark lack of basic humanity. MEPs are thus calling on the US government to consider the humanitarian nature of these visits and grant the visas as quickly as possible."

Notes

The full text of the European Parliament's written declaration is available at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+WDECL+P6-DCL-2006-0089+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN&language=EN