Havana, September 11-12, 2014

The 10th International Colloquium for the Release of the Five Heroes and against Terrorism, which concludes today in Havana, with the presence of 266 delegates representing the Movement of Solidarity with Cuba in 45 countries, takes place in an important context; Fernando and René, heroes of the Republic of Cuba, have returned to their Homeland, after serving until the last minute their unfair sentences. They, along with their brothers who are still incarcerated in U.S. prisons: Antonio Ramón and Gerardo are symbols of resistance in the fight for peace and against terrorism.

After 16 years of an unfair incarceration, the U.S. government continues to defy its own and international law, violating the human rights of the three comrades that remain in jail and their families.

The Cuban Five were declared guilty of charges that were never proved, suffered from being arbitrarily locked-up in punishment cells, the legal team’s demands for a trial outside Miami, where there would be no anti-Cuban prejudice conditioning the jury’s verdict, were not taken into account.

The last legal resource protecting the Cuban antiterrorists, the Habeas Corpus presented by the defense before the Judge, more than 4 years ago, remains unanswered; they don’t seem to care about 5844 days of unfair imprisonment.

We have witnessed how the international claim for justice has been ignored, ten Nobel Prizewinners, governments, parliamentarians, religious, political and opinion leaders, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, International Amnesty, several human rights organizations, jurists, trade unionists and more than 6000 intellectuals and artists from all over the world, have claimed for Gerardo, Ramón and Antonio’s rights to be respected.

Former President Jimmy Carter said in April, 2011 “I believe that the detention of the Cuban Five makes no sense, there has been doubts expressed in the U.S. courts and by human rights organizations around the world. They have now been in prison 12 years and I hope that in the near future they will be freed to return to their homes”.

Too much time away from their families and loved ones! Too much time for those who should not have spent one single second in prison!

Too much suffering and darkness for those who defend the truth and the light of hope and justice!

The Colloquium has based on the experience of what has been done so far, endorsed in nine previous Colloquiums successfully held in Holguín province, and has favored the Exchange of experiences and the deep and objective debate about what’s yet to be done, which is included in the Action Plan attached to this Declaration.

It can be noticed the strength and maturity reached by the Solidarity Movement for the Liberation of the Cuban Five worldwide, shown in the quality of the actions and initiatives executed, as well as in their scope. The main challenge is still to reach the U.S. power structures with that energy and experience gained, key point to solve the situation of Gerardo, Ramón and Antonio.

Dear friends:

The battle for the liberation of Antonio, Ramón and Gerardo is the most urgent cause in Cuba now, along with the end of the genocide blockade. It is supported by all those who defend the inalienable right to sovereignty and dignity of the peoples.

The U.S. government in an arbitrary and illegal way has used the case of the Five Heroes, discrediting once again its legal system, to maintain its political positions against the Cuban Revolution, and in particular the socialist system. By punishing the Five Patriots, not only they are trying to condemn Cuba, but also everyone who tries to defy the Imperial Power.

The values, principles, and integrity shown by the Cuban Heroes have become a dignity bastion for the just causes of other peoples, and therefore we ratify that the International Solidarity Movement for the Liberation of the Cuban Five will maintain its activism and actions until justice is done and they return home. We are certain that united we can achieve it.

We make a call to reinforce our fight to prevent that Gerardo spends the rest of his life in prison, that Ramón health continues affecting and that Antonio fails to meet in time with his beloved mother, in the haste of time.

To return Gerardo, Ramón and Antonio to life and to their people would represent a positive gesture of respect to International Law regulations, to honest people in the world and it would put an end to the damage inflicted to the Cuban Five and their families. It’s President Obama who can avoid the perpetuity of this colossal injustice. If he fails to do so, he will receive international repudiation and the claim of the peoples for the prevalence of Truth and Justice.

We will never stop fighting!

Say No to State terrorism against Cuba!

16 years is too much time. Not even another single minute!

Immediate and unconditional freedom for Antonio, Gerardo and Ramón!
Action Plan resulting from the 10th International Colloquium for the Release of the Five Heroes and against Terrorism.

For all the reasons and wills endorsed in this declaration, the international solidarity movement for the cause of our Five Brothers gathered in this 10th Colloquium, and in close coordination with the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples and the International Committee for the Liberation of the Five Heroes, summon to:

1- Address every man and woman with good will, specially the people from the U.S., to support the demand for the immediate release of our three antiterrorists, demanding in every possible way Barack Obama President of the United States to end this injustice.

2- Intensify the spreading of information on the case taking into account the political scenario and the growing interest in a change of policy towards Cuba in the eve of the presidential elections that will take place in 2016, so that this becomes an additional pressure element that forces the current U.S. administration to find a humanitarian solution to the case.

3- Strengthen the information spreading work to attract attention on the impact of subversive actions against Cuba, organized and financed in U.S. territory aiming to ratify the effectiveness of terrorism against Cuba, which motivated the work of the Five Heroes inside counterrevolutionary organizations and the anti-Cuban mafia based in the U.S.

4- Support the initiatives carried out in U.S. territory in favor of the cause and in particular the IV Symposium of Accusation and Solidarity “5 Days for the Five in Washington D.C.”, in September 2015, joining it with parallel actions around the world, to make the case more visible to the media and to obtain the necessary impact in International Public Opinion.

5- To sustain the initiative presented by the South African delegation to convene an International Meeting in the first semester of the year 2015.

6- Increase the mobilization around the case of parliamentarians around the world to direct statements to their counterparts in the U.S. senate and Congress, as well as culture, science, art and sports celebrities of international prestige that can contribute to multiply the message and increase political pressure.

7- Work with higher efficiency and creativity the publicity of the different campaigns, the results of the events and the visits of the relatives of the Five, in order to achieve a wide media repercussion, giving priority to the use of materials in different formats and languages, which can be promoted in alternative media.

8- Make more efficient use of the social networks and information technologies as information instrument to counteract the media silence on the case.

9- Encourage the approval of motions and/or declarations in favor of the freedom of the Five in national, regional and local Parliaments and Legislations.

10- Continue the actions in the 5th day of every month to prioritize the letters and messages sent to President Obama and the U.S. institutions, added to demonstrations in front of that country’s diplomatic venues in the world.

11- Request to religious congregations and institutions their intervention in favor of the Five, to favor a humanitarian solution of the case.

12- Promote the support to different trade unions of the world to the Campaign, giving priority to the influence on their U.S. counterparts.

13- Achieve a higher interrelation with the legal sector in order to take advantage of every legal resource in favor of the cause and to condemn the violations and arbitrary acts of the U.S. legal system.

14- Request support from the youth organizations to join the cause, using their spaces and potentials, promoting cultural, sports, educational and social mobilization actions among others.

15- Increase the work with intellectuals, artists, athletes, and opinion leaders, to strengthen the spreading work from multiple scenarios and in their spaces of social influence.

16- Arrange solidarity actions with Cuba at national, regional and global level, aiming to increase the claim for justice and freedom for the Five. Lograr acciones concertadas de solidaridad con Cuba a nivel nacional, regional y mundial, con vistas a incrementar el clamor de justicia y libertad para los Cinco.

17- Demand the freedom of Oscar López Rivera, Puerto Rican patriot incarcerated for 33 years in U.S. prisons. Likewise, demand the freedom of the Palestinian prisoners, among them more than two hundred minors in prisons of the terrorist state of Israel. Support initiatives such as the South African Conference in Solidarity with the Five, the event Mothers of the World for the Five, the bike rides, the next Colloquium and other actions that make this injustice visible.