Chris Andrews (Dublin South East, Fianna Fail)

I believe the case of the Miami Five is one of serious injustice and given our experience in Ireland of miscarriages of justice, this case resonates deeply with Irish people. The Miami Five were five Cubans who were sent to try to infiltrate Miami-based terrorist groups to prevent them from carrying out terrorist actions against the people of Cuba. The information they collected built up into a substantial intelligence dossier on the workings of the terrorist groups. The Cuban Government invited the FBI to Havana and presented it with 4,000 pages of documentary evidence on the activities of the groups concerned. While the Cubans felt confident this information would lead to arrests and prosecutions, instead of so doing the FBI arrested the five Cubans. The charges brought against them included travelling on false passports, failing to register as foreign agents, conspiracy to commit espionage and conspiracy to commit crimes against the United States of America.

The trial was deeply flawed and failed to prove these men were guilty of the charges brought against them. The original trial was one of the longest ever held in the United States and the judge acknowledged that members of the jury had been intimidated. Moreover, before the trial, the men were held for 33 months without bail, during 17 of which they were held in solitary confinement. This punishment typically only is used to punish prisoners who are guilty of violent crimes after conviction and prison regulations in the United States generally permit a maximum of 60 days in solitary confinement.

Hundreds of NGOs from all around the world, including international human rights organisations, lawyers' groups, parliamentarians, trade unions and academics have called for an appeal of this case. However, the United States Supreme Court has declined such calls and has refused to provide a reason for its decision. Deputy Finian McGrath will agree with my call on the Government to address this miscarriage of justice at the highest diplomatic level and for the Minister for Foreign Affairs to raise the matter at European Council level.

See this speech in context