Washington, May 8.- The five anti-terrorist Cuban fighters arrested and given unfair, harsh sentences in US prisons will receive today in San Francisco, California, a human rights award granted by the non governmental organization Global Exchange.
During a ceremony to be attended by relatives of these heroes, they will be given the award Seleccionado for la Gente 2014 (the People’s Choice award 2014), which is one of the categories in an annual contest.
Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez won the award among other candidates for their outstanding work for justice and human rights, said the NGO in a communique announcing the award in April.
The group considered that though The Cuban Five are Cuban heroes known in many parts of the world, in the United States most people ignore their situation and their case.
The non governmental organization recalled that Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez fully served their sentences and are already with their families in Cuba, but the other three remain in prison in the United States under fabricated charges and must be eleased and sent back home.
Alicia Krapko, coordinator of the International Free the Five Committee in the United States, told Prensa Latina that this “is a prestigious award.”
She said that during the voting campaign, in three weeks, almost 9,000 people entered the link describing who they are and the conditions of their arrest in Miami, on September 12, 1998, for monitoring Miami-based terrorist groups operating against Cuba.
There were 35 nominees for the award, including “native American activist Leonard Peltier, who has been in prison for 36 years for a crime he did not commit, ” noted Jrapko.
San Francisco-based Global Exchange, founded in 1988, has devoted itself to promote human and social rights, and justice worldwide. (Prensa Latina)
