Wives Without Rights

Wives Without RightsThe US government is prohibiting two of wives of the Cuban Five entry into the US to visit their husbands incarcerated in US prisons.

Olga Salanueva, wife of René González and Adriana Pérez, wife of Gerardo Hernández, are law-abiding and productive citizens of Cuba who seek entry solely for family visits.  The wives have not been granted visas to visit their husbands for 11 years.

The “United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions” request the United States government adopt the necessary remedy to the situation, the US has also continued to ignore repeated request of the international community to resolve this humanitarian issue.

Olga Salanueva

Olga has not seen René since August 16, 2000, when she was arrested by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).  When her husband refused to plead guilty before trial, as “offered” by the FBI, René received a letter from the federal agents two weeks later, suggesting that the permanent resident status of his family could be revoked at any time.  In an act of intimidation, on August 16, 2000, Olga was handcuffed and driven to INS to appear before a judge in a deportation hearing.  On the way there they stopped at the Miami Detention Center where René had been held for two years.  They took her to René so that he could see she was in custody, and this would provoke a guilty plea from René and allow Olga to remain in the US.  Instead, René upheld his plea of innocence and Olga was deported.
Adriana was subjected to cruel and unjustified treatment when she attempted to visit Gerardo her husband July 25, 2002.  On Adriana’s arrival at the Houston Airport, she was detained by the FBI for 11 hours, isolated, deprived of her passport, photographed, fingerprinted, and illegally interrogated before being deported to Cuba – without visiting Geraldo. The FBI offered absolutely no explanation to support its decision

Adriana Pérez

In April 2003, the US government denied her a visa, invoking section 212 (f) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act.  This provision suspends the entry of any foreign national the President considers the entry to be contrary to the United States national security interest. In October 2003 and April 2004, the US denied Adriana, under Section 212 (a) (3) (A). It denies entry to those that  “may overthrow the Government of the United States by force, violence, or other unlawful means”.

It was obvious pressure on Gerardo, he said, “I was not guilty and would plead so.

We ask that you call on the U.S. government to grant visas to Adriana Pérez and Olga Salanueva, residents of Cuba, to visit their jailed husbands, Gerardo Hernández and René

González. They have been denied this basic human right for more than a decade. Several Nobel Prize laureates, the World Council of Churches, Amnesty International, mayors of 13 U.S. cities, the Steelworkers, the Service Employees unions, and hundreds of parliamentarians worldwide have joined this call. This denial of visas is part of the inhumane treatment of the Cuban Five: Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González, and René González.

To join this campaign, contact us at: Wiveswithoutrights@gmail.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
P.O. Box 189
Hell Gate Station
153 E. 110th St.
New York, NY 10029
Tel: 646 251 7745.

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