A National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADEL) delegation attended the X Colloquium on the release of the Cuban Five in Havana, Cuba during September.
The conference was attended by 166 delegates representing some 50 countries. The South African delegation consisted of the African National Congress, National Union of Mineworkers, National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union, Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union, Friends of Cuba Society and NADEL.
The delegations proposal to host an inquiry and international conference on the arrest, detention, trial, conviction and continued incarceration of the five next year was received with enthusiasm by the conference. The trial and conviction of the Cuban Five has been characterised by bias, manipulation of the process and the disregard of the rights of the five for the purposes of political expediency.
The campaign for the release of the Cuban Five has come to represent the fight for human rights internationally.
This article was first published in De Rebus in 2014 (Dec) DR 12.
