Castro: US ignored its offers on counterterrorism

[Judi Lynn]

Castro: US ignored its offers on counterterrorism
The Associated Press
Wednesday, October 6, 2010; 6:12 PM

HAVANA -- Raul Castro says the U.S. has ignored Cuban overtures to cooperate on counterterrorism.

Cuba decided Wednesday to make Oct. 6 its annual "Victims of State Terrorism Day." In a speech, Castro said the island offered 2001 and 2002 proposals for "bilateral cooperation to fight against terrorism."

It repeated the offer last year.

The U.S. made no reply, said Castro, who accused Washington of harboring Luis Posada Carriles, accused of involvement in 1990s Cuban hotel attacks and in the bombing of a Cuban jetliner.

Castro said his country urges President Barack Obama to "abide by his commitment to fight terrorism and act with determination and without double standards against those who, from U.S. territory, have perpetrated and continue to perpetrate terrorist acts against Cuba."

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/06/AR2010100605947.html

[bherrera]

1. Maybe they need to fix their government first

The problem I see is these guys in Cuba lack checks and balances. Their judicial system is not independent, and this means a person can not receive a just trial. It would be difficult to justify sending a prisoner to an autocracy where the judges are puppets of the government. I don't think Raul Castro understands this basic principle of modern free societies.

[Billy Burnett]

2. The problem you see?

:rofl: Jeez.

The problem I see in your post(s) is that you are making absurd observations based on a near total information vacuum.


The extradition request being denied by the US is from Venezuela (the US and Venezuela are both signatories of an extradition agreement). That is where Posada was on trial when CANF operatives busted him out of prison in his escape from justice.

Also, FYI, the US and Cuba have no mutual extradition agreement, so there is no formal extradition procedure between the US and Cuba.

[bherrera]

3. The same applies to Venezuela

Venezuela lacks an independent judiciary, as was demonstrated in the Afiuni case. Therefore it is difficult to justify sending prisoners to Venezuela, until such time as they demonstrate an independent judiciary does exist. Releasing the judge would help.

[Peace Patriot]

4. The judge is charged with aiding the escape of a corrupt banker

Fighting Corruption or Persecuting Political Opponents in Venezuela?

Written by James Suggett
Wednesday, 14 April 2010 22:38

(SNIP)

Here’s what happened: In 2007, Venezuelan authorities arrested Eligio Cedeño, the former president of two banks, on the charge of stealing $27 million from the state’s foreign currency administrative agency, CADIVI, through a false import contract.

Last December, the government stepped up its investigations of corruption in the banking sector, leading to the arrest of 10 bankers for fraud and the liquidation or nationalization of eight banks that had violated national banking laws – including both of Cedeño’s former banks, Banco Canarias and Banco Bolivar. Three bank executives fled the country to avoid charges, so the government placed temporary international travel prohibitions and seized the assets of nearly thirty other bankers who were under investigation.<3>

In the middle of all of this, on December 10th, Judge Afiuni changed the conditions of Cedeño’s arrest warrant to allow him to be freed from custody. More importantly, she did so in an unannounced hearing without notifying the prosecution from the Attorney General’s office, in violation of the penal procedural code. Cedeño was released from custody and, days later, he turned up in Miami, where he was detained by U.S. immigration authorities for illegally entering the country.<4>

Had Afiuni’s only infraction been a faulty judicial procedure, then she would not have been arrested. Rather, she would have been disciplined by the Supreme Court according to its own code of conduct, a procedure mandated by the 1999 Constitution in order to assure the independence of the Judicial Branch. However, there was evidence that Afiuni had conspired to help Cedeño avoid facing the charges amidst the escalating fraud scandal in which he was implicated. So, national prosecutors brought charges against Afiuni for conspiracy, which warranted her arrest.<5>

It is important to point out that neither Judge Afiuni nor Eligio Cedeño were campaigning against or criticizing the government. Those who spin the issue as the silencing of government critics are wrong and guilty of deliberately misleading the public. The judge and banker were arrested for corruption and fraud, respectively, and they will go to trial like other citizens.

It is very hypocritical for the same media outlets who say there are political prisoners whenever the government takes effective measures against corruption and crime to also condemn the government for not doing enough about corruption and crime, depending on which critique is most convenient at any given time.

Nonetheless, it must be pointed out that there were problems related to the arrest of Cedeño and Afiuni. For example, Romero refers to three U.N. human rights lawyers’ critique of Cedeño’s detention. The critique centered on the fact that Cedeño’s detention lasted for nearly two years before his trial began, constituting an infraction upon his right to an expedient trial.<6> Indeed, delayed trials have long been and continue to be a problem in Venezuela.

But this is not evidence of state-directed persecution; it reflects the inefficiency of the judicial process as a whole. Such systemic problems must be distinguished as such and analyzed in detail, in the context of the government’s comprehensive judicial reform measures.

(MORE)

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/2450-fighting-corruption-or-persecuting-political-opponents-in-venezuela-a-response-to-the-new-york-times
(my emphases - see the article for the footnotes)

[bherrera]

6. Afinui Case considered a violation of Human Rights

Human Rights Watch has this to say:

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/04/08/venezuela-stop-attacks-judicial-independence

April 8, 2010

Throwing a judge in prison for doing her job and issuing a decision that upholds fundamental rights protected under both Venezuelan and international law is not something you’d expect in a functioning democracy.

José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch.(Washington, DC) – The detention of Judge María Lourdes Afiuni threatens judicial independence and the rule of law in Venezuela, Human Rights Watch said today. Venezuela has disregarded calls by UN and OAS human rights authorities to end her arbitrary detention and ensure her safety.

Judge Afiuni was detained on December 10, 2009, the day she authorized the conditional liberty of Eligio Cedeño, a banker accused of corruption, on the basis that he had been in pretrial detention for almost 3 years, despite the 2-year limit prescribed by Venezuelan law. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions had declared Cedeño’s detention “arbitrary.” The authorities accused Afiuni of corruption, abuse of authority, and “favoring evasion of justice.” On December 11, President Hugo Chávez said Afiuni was a “bandit” and should be sentenced to 30 years in prison

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

European Parliament resolution on the case of Maria Lourdes Afiuni B7‑0414/2010

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Venezuela,

– having regard to Rule 122(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the rule of law and independence of the judiciary are essential components of the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

B. whereas the independence of the judiciary is of primary importance for the respect of democracy and fundamental freedoms,

C. whereas Article 26 of the Venezuelan Constitution states that the judiciary should be autonomous and independent,

D. whereas judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni was detained on 10 December 2009 after she authorized the conditional release of Eligio Cedeno, a banker accused of corruption, on the basis that he had been in pre-trial detention for almost three years, despite the 2-year limit prescribed by Venezuelan law,

E. whereas on 11 December 2009 President Hugo Chavez said judge Afiuni was a "bandit" and should be sentenced to 30 years in prison,

F. whereas judge Afiuni remains in detention in a women's prison, where she shares space with convicted prisoners, some of whom were tried before her,

G. whereas on 16 December 2009 three UN Rapporteurs called for her "immediate and unconditional release" saying that "reprisals for exercising their constitutionally guaranteed functions and creating a climate of fear among the judiciary and lawyer's profession serve no purpose except to undermine the rule of law and obstruct justice",

H. whereas on 11 January 2010 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ruled that judge Afiuni was entitled to protective measures and called on Venezuela to "adopt the necessary measures to guarantee the life and physical integrity of judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni",

I. whereas at least five high-profile critics of President Hugo Chavez have been arrested since August 2009 on what appear to be politically motivated grounds,

1. Strongly condemns the arrest of judge Marias Lourdes Afiuni; calls on the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to implement the recommendations of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and to release Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni immediately;

[EFerrari]

8. Jose Miguel Vivanco has been condemned by intellectuals all over the world

for interfering in the internal affairs of Venezuela. HRW does itself a great disservice by keeping him in their organization.

[bherrera]

7. James Suggett , the author of the piece you posted, is Chavez employee

I did search this James Suggett. He is a paid propagandist for the Venezuelan government. He is not reliable, what you may call a member of Venezuela's governo-fascist media :-)

[Judi Lynn]

9. Right-wingers have been attempting to bind two absolute enemies, fascism and communism together,

and attach both to progressive people.

Laughable, contemptible, and wildly stupid.

[VioletLake]

10. That about sums it up, Judi Lynn. nt

[flamingdem]

5. Link for Raul Castro's speech on Victims of State Terrorism Day - Oct 6

http://www.5septiembre.cu/index.php/national/10522-speech-delivered-by-cuban-president-raul-castro-at-the-main-ceremony-marking-the-qvictims-of-state-terrorism-dayq-held-in-havana

Relatives of the victims of State Terrorism against Cuba,

Comrades:

As set out in the Council of State Decree-Law published today, beginning this year, October 6 will be commemorated as "Victims of State Terrorism Day".
Exactly 34 years ago, 73 innocent people were assassinated: 11 Guyanese, 5 citizens of the Democratic Popular Republic of Korea and 57 Cubans. They were killed in midair when a bomb exploded aboard a Cubana de Aviación passenger plane that had just taken off from Barbados. Among them were 24 young Cubans from the national youth fencing team who had just swept all the gold medals at the Fourth Central-American and Caribbean Championships held in Venezuela.

For the Cuban people, who have been the target of state terrorism since the very triumph of the Cuban Revolution, the painful losses suffered that day were added to the numerous other victims for whom we are still seeking justice today. Read more at link....

[Billy Burnett]

11. Thanks for posting this.

:hi:

[Downwinder]

12. Obviously there is no counterterrorism effort, because all terrorism is state sponsored.

Counterterrorism is only a ploy by the state to institute more intrusive measures.