Ex Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson sends letter to Obama supporting the Five

November 5, 2014

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

Dear Mr. President,

Time to correct an injustice that is in their power to amend. This injustice speaks mostly about the American justice system, the record of US Human Rights and most importantly, the lives of five men whose dedication to the safety of their country against terrorist attacks should be admired and respected, not punished. . No doubt you have heard about these men: Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labaniño Salazar, Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez Schewerert. The world known as "The Cuban Five".

Two of these men are now out of jail, two could go free in the distant future and one of them will never see the dawn of a day of freedom. I tried to visit him - unsuccessfully - in the maximum security prison in Victorville, California, it is Gerardo Hernandez.

Although I could not see him, a trusted colleague who accompanied me, the late Saul Landau, could and informed me that Gerardo remains firm and determined than ever but still surprised at the lack of action by the supposed world's largest democracy.

The five Cubans suffered terrible injustice when they were arrested in 1998. After their arrests remained 17 months in solitary confinement. The trial was held in Maimi, Florida and in 2001 were sentenced to long prison terms. Minimally legal level, the Miami trial should have been moved to another venue.

The arguments for change of venue were not only persuasive but were amply confirmed when three judges of the Court of Appeals in Atlanta, voted for a change of venue. Later, however, this decision was reversed when the political power of the Bush administration - an administration in which I served - forced the full court to reconsider the decision of the panel of three judges and vote differently, affirming the judgment two of them and sending the case of the other three to the court to be re-sentenced. The court recognized that were misapplied the sentencing guidelines and briefly reduced their sentences.

But there is more, much more. In fact, there is indisputable evidence that the five were guilty of the charges against them first today. The politics surrounding the trial was held by the hardline Cuban American industries in Florida and in the US Congress. Without their flagrant interference in the course of justice, the trial had never taken place.

Moreover, the government spent thousands of taxpayer dollars to pay journalists in Miami to write articles condemning to influence the jury and prejudice the public to a guilty verdict.

This trial was a political payment to the Cuban-American hardliners, and every person in the United States and around the world pay attention to this case knows. In fact, you also know, Mr. President.

This trial is a stain on the very fabric of democracy in the United States. This judgment sends a clear signal to everyone - you do not judge us as we judge ourselves, but by our actions.

You, Mr. President, can not erase this stain; been a long time and many years have been stolen from the lives of these men. But you can mitigate it, you can make it less painful. And ultimately, you can restore the reputation of our justice system, and in the case of Gerardo and the other two men are still in prison, can grant them their freedom.

The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations in May 2005, declared that the imprisonment of the Cuban Five is a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, making the United States with some of the most egregious countries in earth. The Working Group requested that the US take steps to remedy the situation. You, Mr. President, can.

Mr. President, you said that "we have to look forward instead of looking back." But in some cases, that's wrong and you know it. Does not look to our Civil War? To the ravages of slavery led? What economic slavery of a century after the war? ¿When racism of our past - a racism that still plagues us today? I think not. And you should not deny the need to look back, review and reverse this mock trial.

Take action, Mr. Chairman. Leave immediately release the three remaining members of the five Cubans imprisoned. Admit publicly flagrant injustice done them all and develop the reasons. Apologize to the Cuban people and our citizens and especially the Cuban Five and their families. Listen to "the better angels of our nature" and put America back on the side of justice.

Respectfully,

Lawrence B. Wilkerson
US Army

Lawrence Wilkerson, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Public Policy and Government at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. From 2002 to 2005 he served as Chief of Staff Colin Powell at the State Department. Colonel (r) Wilkerson served for 31 years in the US Army from 1966-1998.