Cuba frees political prisoners

Published on Thursday 8 July 2010 16:52

CUBA has promised the Roman Catholic Church it will free 52 political prisoners.

The move would slash the number held by nearly a third in what would be the communist-led island's largest release of dissidents since Pope John Paul II visited in 1998.

Five inmates are to be released initially and sent into exile in Spain, while the others would be freed over the next three or four months, said Havana archbishop Cardinal Jaime Ortega.

The deal was announced following a meeting between president Raul Castro and Cardinal Ortega, with Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos also on hand.

"This opens a new era in Cuba with hope of putting aside differences once and for all on matters of prisoners," the Spanish Embassy said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also welcomed the agreement. "We think that's a positive sign," she said. "It's something that is overdue but nevertheless very welcome."

She did not say if it would be enough for a new beginning to US-Cuban relations. President Barack Obama's administration has said it hoped to see an improvement in Cuba's human rights record before easing a 48-year-old trade embargo.

Moratinos and Ortega said they weren't sure how long it would take for the first five prisoners to be released, but that it would likely take days.

Ortega's office announced yesterday that authorities were transferring six prisoners to facilities closer to their homes, but had not yet released any.

Returning to Madrid, Moratinos said his country was willing to accept all 52 ex-prisoners, but so far has formally agreed to take the first five. They will not be obligated to stay in his country.

Asked if subsequent groups of freed political prisoners would also be forced into exile, Cardinal Ortega said leaving Cuba "is a proposal" they will be offered.

Moratinos said the deal could spur the EU to alter its Common Position on Cuba, which dates from 1996 and calls for advances on human rights and democracy before relations with the island can be normalised.

"I think there is no reason to maintain the common position," Moratinos was quoted as saying.

The EU is to review its relations with Cuba in September.

Back in Cuba, meanwhile, human rights and opposition activists called the scope of the agreement a surprise.

"We were hoping for a significant release of prisoners, but not this," said Elizardo Sanchez, head of the independent Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation.

Those listed for release were all among 75 political opposition activists, community organisers and independent journalists rounded up in a crackdown on dissent in March 2003.

Some of the 75 original prisoners had previously been freed for health reasons or after completing their prison terms, or were allowed into exile in Spain. But 52 have remained behind bars - most serving lengthy sentences on charges of conspiring with Washington to destabilise Cuba's Marxist political system. All are now seemingly poised to be freed.

"These liberations will not mean a significant improvement in the terrible situation of human rights that exists in Cuba," said Sanchez, whose Havana-based commission is not recognized - but is largely tolerated - by a government that officially suffers no organised opposition.

Fidel Castro said Cuba held 15,000 political prisoners in 1964, but officials in recent years say none of their prisoners are held for political reasons. They are said to be in jail for common crimes or for being paid "mercenaries" of American-funded groups trying to overthrow Cuba's government. z