More than 100 personalities from 27 countries send letter to Secretary of States Condoleezza Rice, US Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff urging temporary visas to two Cuban Women denied the rights to visit their husbands.

On top of the harsh sentences being served by Five Cuban men imprisoned in the United States, another punishment has been added to them and that is the denial of visits from their wives.

Olga Salanueva and Adriana Pérez have not been allowed to visit Rene Gonzalez and Gerardo Hernandez for 8 and 9 years. On last September 12th, on the 9th anniversary of the arrests of their husbands, the U.S. government once again denied visas for the purpose of visits to Olga and Adriana. On 8 separate occasions they have applied for a visa and each time they have been denied for a different reason without real justification.

To deny these two prisoners their right to be visited by their wives has become with the passing of the time another form of cruel and unusual punishment. The more than 100 members of the International Commission of the Right of Family Visits are asking the Bush administration to immediately grant visas for Adriana Perez and Olga Salanueva.

The International Commission for the Right to Family Visits, headed by Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Rigoberta Menchú and Danielle Miterrand, have been joined by members of the religious community, actors, writers, members of parliaments from around the world, and known personalities from the United States including former Catholic Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, former General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, Angela Davis, Danny Glover, Alice Walker, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, former Congressman Esteban Torres, former Chief of the US Interests Section in Cuba, Wayne Smith , Mayor of Richmond, CA, Gayle McLaughlin and Michael Parenti.

A copy of the letter has also been sent to members of the US Congress and Senate and to the United Nations Human Right Council.

International Commission for the Right of Family Visits P.O. Box 22455, Oakland, Ca, 94609, United States, Phone 510-219-0092

February 14, 2008

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

US Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey
US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff 

c/c United Nation Human Right Commission
       Rapporteur Against Torture
       Amnesty International
       Ombudsman
       Members of US Congress
       Members of US Senate

Dear Representatives:

 We, the undersigned of this letter, respectfully request the US Department of State, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to immediately grant Humanitarian VISAS to two Cuban citizens Olga Salanueva and Adriana Pérez, wives of federal prisoners René González and Gerardo Hernández respectively, whom, without any legal reasons, have been prevented from visiting their imprisoned husbands for 8 and 9 years.

We are aware that these two women have applied for visas on 8 different occasions.  In each occasion, the State Department has denied their request based on different arguments each time, without showing any legal basis that justified the arbitrariness of such a measure.

Amnesty International has denounced this situation on several occasions since 2003 reminding you that:

Article 10 (1) of The United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that the United States has ratified: “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person” “4. Treating all persons deprived of their liberty with humanity and with respect for their dignity is a fundamental and universally applicable….This rule must be applied without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status."

On January 17, 2007 Amnesty International once again denounced the rights violations of these prisoners to receive visits from their wives as “an unnecessary punishment”

We also want to remind you that on May 27, 2005 the United Nations Group on Arbitrary Detention made public an opinion declaring the detention of these persons as “illegal and arbitrary” and asked the US government to put an end to that situation, arguing the legal violations that they suffered and the lack of legal guarantees to a fair and impartial trial. Among other things they declared: this is contrary to the Art 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights” 

In addition, on August 9th of the same year three judges of the Atlanta Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals revoked their sentences and asked for a new trial. Currently, this case internationally known as “the Cuban Five” is in the process of appeals. 

To deny two prisoners their right to be visited by their wives has become, with the passing of time, another form of cruel and unusual punishment.

We ask that you please put an end to this situation and grant immediate HUMANITARIAN VISAS to OLGA SALANUEVA Y ADRIANA PÉREZ.

Sincerely,

Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Prize, Argentina, Rigoberta Menchu, Nobel Peace Prize, Guatemala, Danielle Mitterrand, Francia-Libertades Foundation, France, Ignasio Ramonet, Journalist and Writer, France, Herta Daubler-Gmelin, Member of the Parliament, Germany, Judge Juan Guzman Tapia, Chile, Samir Amin, President of the World Alternative Forum, Egypt, Father Ernesto Cardenal, Catholic Priest, Nicaragua, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, former Bishop of Detroit, United States, Rev. Dr. Joan Bronw Campbell, former General Secretary of the of the National Council of Churches, United States, Gayle McLaughlin, Mayor of Richmond, CA, United States, Manuel Bonmati, International Policies Secretary of the UGT, Spain, Rosa Regas, Writer, 2001 Planet Prize, Spain, Fr. Michael Lapsley, Healing of Memories Institute, South Africa, Loyola Guzman, Member of the National Assembly, Bolivia, Jorge Sanjines, Movie Actor, Bolivia, Pablo Gonzalez Casanova, Sociologist, Writer, Mexico, Maria León, President of the National Federation of Women, Venezuela, Father François Houtart, Priest and sociologist, Director of the Centre Tricontinental, Belgium, Eloi Glorieux, Member of the Flemish Parliament,  Alfredo Vera Arrata, Former Ministry of Education, Writer and Journalist, Ecuador, Egypt, Sami Na?r, Sociologist, Philosopher, France, Marco Rizzo, Member of the European Parliament, member of the RREE Comm. of the PE, Italy, Miguel D´escoto Brockmann, Foreign Affairs Former Minister, Catholic Priest, Nicaragua, Eva-Britt Svensson, Member of the European Parliament, Swedish Joseba Echevarria, Coordinador of the International Commission of the General Union of Workers (UGT) Spain, Ignasi Guardans, Member of the European Parliament, Spain, Antonio Peredo Leigue, Senator, Bolivia, Marelis Perez Marcano, National Assembly, Venezuela, Deputy, Elmar Rojas,  Ex Minister of Culture, Guatemala, Angela Davis, Professor, United States, Noam Chomsky, Historian and Writer, United States, Marco Martos Carrera, President of the Peruvian Academy of Language, Peru, Joseba Echevarría,   Secretary of the International Commission of the General Workers Union (UGT), Spain, Alfonso Sastre, Dramaturge, Spain, Alice Walker, Writer, United States, Noam Chomsky, Linguist and Writer, United States, Michael Parenti, Ph.D., author and scholar, United States, Diputado Emil Guevara Muñoz, Latin American Parliament Deputy and Coordinator of the National Movement of Friendship and Mutual Solidarity Venezuela-Cuba, Venezuela, Diputado Amilcar Figueroa, Latin American Parliament Alternate President, Venezuela, Beinusz Szmukler, President of the Associations of Buenos Aires Lawyers (AABA), Argentina, Father Benjamin Forcano, Theologian and Priest Estella Carlotto, President of Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, Argentina, Hebe de Bonafini, President of Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, Argentina, Nora Cortiñas, President of Mothers of Plaza de Mayo-Línea Fundadora, Argentina, Stella Calloni, Journalist and Writer, Argentina, Fray Antonio Puigjané, Franciscan Priest of the Cappuccinos Order, Argentina, Graciela Rosenblum, Argentinean League for the Person’s Rights,  Argentina, Kurt De Loor, Member of the Flemish Parliament, Belgium, Atilio Borón, Sociologist, Member of the International Directory of the Council of Social Sciences at the UNESCO, Argentina, Rafael Chávez, Consul of Bolivia in Cuba, Bolivia, Rosario Valenzuela Sotomayor, Writer, Bolivia,  Bart Staes, Member of the European Parliament, Antonio Peredo Leigue, Senador Nacional, Bolivia, Emir Sader, Executive Secretary CLACSO (Latin American Social Sciences Council, Brazil, Marilia Guimarães, Writer, Member of the Brazilian Chapter on Defense of Humanity, Brazil, William Sloan, President of the Association of American Jurists (Canada branch), Canada, Arnold August, Author, Canada, James Cockcroft,  Author, Canada, David Suzuky, President The David Suzuki Foundation, 1976 Order of Canada Officer, Canada, Hugo Gutierrez, Human Rights lawyer, (Pinochet case), Arcis Law School professor, Chile, Pablo Guyasamin Monteverde, President  Guayasamín Foundation, Ecuador, Marco Antonio Toscano Arroyo, University Professor of Administrative Science, Ecuador, Dax Toscano Segovia, University Professor and Journalist, Ecuador, Juan Carranza, Jurist, El Salvador, Leonel González, Professor, FMLN Deputy, El Salvador, Roland Weil, Jurist, France, Ramon Chao, Journalist, Writer, France, Hernando Calvo Ospina, Journalist, Writer, France, Salim Lamrani, Professor, Writer and Journalist, France, Günter Belchaus - Jurist, former Assessor of the German Democratic Republic Ministry of Justice, Germany, Father Geoffrey Bottoms, Catholic Priest, Great Britain, István Meszáros, Philosofer and writer, Hungry, Domenico Losurdo, Philosopher, Italy, Matteo Carbonelli, General Secretary of the “Legal Union per la Tutela dei Diritti dell’Uomo”, Professor of International Rights, Italy, Bianca Pitzorno, Writer, Italy, Gilberto López y Rivas, Professor-Researcher of the National Institute of History and Anthropology, Article writer of La Jornada, Mexico, Hilda Venegas Negrete, Vice-president of the National Network of Leftist Lawyers of Mexico, President of the AC Women for Democracy, Mexico, Cuaúhtemoc Amezcua Dromundo, ex member of Congress, Professor of Political Science a the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Author, Mexico, Luis Hernández Navarro, Opinion Co-editor of "La Jornada" newspaper, México, Father Raul Lugo Rodriguez, Catholic Priest, Mexico, Father Uriel Molina, Catholic Priest, Nicaragua, Martín Almada, Jurist – Alternative Novel Prize, 2002, Paraguay, Hidelbrando Pérez Grande, Poet and Writer Casa de las Américas Prize, Peru, Gustavo Espinoza, Former Congressman of Peru, former General Secretary of the Central of Peruvians Workers, Peru, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Latin American patriots, Independentist leader and Poet (imprisoned for 25 years) , Puerto Rico, Pablo Marcano Garcia, Puerto Rico painter, Gervasio Morales Rodríguez, Director of the Porto Rican Weekly “Claridad” , Puerto Rico, Javier Sádaba, Philosopher, Spain, Belen Gopegui, Writer, Spain, Sixto Sánchez Lorenzo, Professor of International Private Law at the University of Granada, Spain, Manuel Talens,  Writer, Spain, Carlos Martinez, Editor of “Rebelion”, Spain, Santiago Alba Rico, Writer, Spain, Juan Madrid, Novelist, Historian, Movie Director, Spain, Juan Kalvellido, Cartoonist and Drawer, Spain, Danny Glover, Actor, United States, Esteban Torres, Former US Congressman, United States, Wayne Smith, Former Chief of the US Interests Section in Havana, Cuba, United States, Dip Victor Chirinos, President of the Venezuelan Parliament Members Group to the Latin American Parliament and Vice-president of the Latin American Parliament, Venezuela, Alicia Herrera, Journalist and Writer, Venezuela, Lic. Stella Lugo de Montilla, First Lady of the Falcon State and President of the Council of First Bolivarian Ladies of the State, Venezuela, Paul Bekaert, Member of the Board of the Human Rights League and President of the Bruges Lawyers Association, Belgium, Demir Rafael Chavez Gonzalez, Diplomat, Khaled Salama, Member of Parliament and the National Council of Palestine, Honorable President of the Federation of Arab Entities of Latin America (FEARAB-America), Palestine, Glenys Kinnock, Member of the European Parliament, England, István Meszáros, Philosopher and Writer, Hungary, Pedro Goldfarb, Professor Hebrew University, Member of the Kibutz itzjak, Israel,  Andres Sopeña Monsalve, Writer, Professor of International Private Law of the Granada University, Spain.