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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
10/4/2001
202-646-5172
CUBAN SURVIVOR CHARGES FIDEL CASTRO WITH CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
Belgian law invoked to indict Cuban leader
Brussels, Belgium Thursday, October 4, 2001
A legal campaign to bring Cuban president Fidel Castro to court to face charges of crimes against humanity was initiated in Brussels today by Jose Basulto, sole survivor of a humanitarian rescue mission attacked by Cuban Air Force jets in 1996. Other victims of Castro’s regime have joined Mr. Basulto’s initiative and pressed charges against the Cuban leader. If found guilty under Belgian law, the Cuban leader faces a sentence of between 20 and 30 years’ imprisonment.
The law, which has been used recently to bring charges against former Chilean president Pinochet, and others alleging crimes against humanity, was established in 1999. By creating such a law, Belgium paved the way in bringing perpetrators of widespread and systematic violations of human rights to face trial in Belgium, regardless of where these crimes were allegedly committed.
Today Mr Basulto, together with his fellow plaintiffs and their legal representatives, visited Brussels’ Palais de Justice to deliver a writ on behalf of all victims of Castro’s regime. Mr Basulto said: “My goal is to get justice for the innocent, unarmed men who risked everything to help their fellow countrymen.
“We have spent more than four years collecting evidence that identifies Fidel Castro as being responsible for their deaths, and now have the opportunity to test that evidence through a respected international legal process.” According to Mr. Basulto this is only the tip of the iceberg and he hopes that other victims will come forward to further strengthen his action.
Mr. Basulto has already been joined by Eugenio de Sosa Chabau, a prominent Cuban businessman and newspaper editor, who was tortured in a Cuban prison from 1960 to 1980 for opposing Castro’s government. Castro confiscated de Sosa Chabau’s assets upon imprisoning him after a Cuban court found that he had committed ‘‘dissident political activities’’ for speaking out against Castro’s regime. After being repeatedly physically and mentally abused, de Sosa Chabau was released in 1980.
Other victims to rally around this case, Sergio Perodin and Maria Victoria Garcia, were aboard a tugboat heading for Florida that was sunk on July 13; 1994 by boats of the Cuban Ministry of Transportation, drowning 41 people, many of them children. Mr Perdolin’s wife and 11-year-old son died, and Mrs. Garcia lost 14 family members. The plaintiffs’ chief counsel, Mr Larry Klayman, who chairs the American public interest law firm Judicial Watch, said that Mr Basulto’s case against President Castro includes evidence from media interviews given by the Cuban leader shortly after the aircraft were shot down.
“In subsequent press interviews with Time magazine and Dan Rather of CBS News, Fidel Castro stated that he personally ordered the shooting down of the unarmed civilian planes, and that he accepted personal responsibility for what happened” Mr. Klayman stated.
Mr Klayman added: ”Today in Brussels is an important day for all government leaders who think they are above the law. Belgium should be proud of creating a law that makes it possible to bring such people to justice.
“The recent tragic events in America serve to reinforce the importance of an international framework of law to bring lawbreakers to justice – particularly powerful leaders who believe they are above the law.”
The Basulto case
Mr. Basulto’s case stems from an incident in February 24 1996, when three unarmed civilian light aircraft, conducting a search and rescue mission for Cuban refugees over the Straits of Florida, were attacked by Cuban Air Force jets. Two of the three aircraft were shot down and destroyed in international waters, killing four people on board. One of the survivors was Mr Basulto, who is a member of the Brothers to the Rescue group (Hermanos Al Rescate) of Cuban Americans who help refugees reach and settle in America.
Mr Basulto said: ”Already, a criminal court in Miami has convicted agents of Fidel Castro of the murder of Brothers to the Rescue pilots. Now Castro himself must be brought to justice.”
The Perodin & Garcia case
In 1996 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which is part of the Organization American States (OAS), investigated the sinking of the tugboat after receiving two complaints. According to the Commission “the events that occurred…are attributable to the Cuban State as a juridical person”. It further concluded that the Cuban State was “responsible for violating the life of the 41 people” who drowned and for “violating the personal integrity of the 31 persons who survived”.
Mr. Perodin was detained in a Cuban prison for one month, and only a week after being released, he patched up a small boat and left Cuba with his surviving son. Mrs. Garcia was finally able to flee Cuba in 1999.
Media contact: (202) 646-5172
For further inquiries:
Larry Klayman (US): (202) 437-5624
Paul Sher (Brussels): (011) 322-646-5410
NOTE: There are four satellite windows available to downlink the press conference live, 8:00am ET Thursday, October 4, 2001. Brussels is 6 hours ahead of Eastern Time Zone.To arrange a downlink, please call Belinda Delys at Porter Novelli Brussels: (011) 32 477-468620
For more information please refer to http://www.hermanos.org and http://www.judicialwatch.org/
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