Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 271: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will raise the case of the Miami Five following the recent riot in the prison in Colorado, USA. [18199/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware of the reports of recent prison riots in Colorado, U.S.A. According to media reports, guards at a high-security penitentiary in Florence, Colorado, shot and killed two inmates at a federal prison on 20 April 2008 after up to 200 inmates battled with homemade weapons in a fight that appeared to be racially motivated. One of the group known as the Miami 5 is detained in this prison. However, he was not involved in the riots.

The case to which the Deputy refers relates to five Cuban citizens who were convicted in the US in 2001 on charges ranging from espionage to first degree murder. A panel of three judges from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta overturned the 2001 convictions on 9th August 2005 and ordered a retrial based on new evidence. The Miami District Attorney duly filed an appeal against the decision of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Following an appellate hearing on 14 February 2006, a 10-2 decision to uphold the 2001 convictions was issued on 9 August 2006.

It is my understanding that a number of appeals lodged on behalf of the defendants remain under active judicial review within the framework of the US domestic legal system. As the Deputy has been advised previously, the Government has no standing in this matter, which is a bilateral consular question between the US and the Cuban authorities and, consequently, I do not intend to pursue this matter.