http://mltoday.com/top-canadian-union-leaders-urge-release-of-the-five?utm_source=feedburner&utm

Below find the names of top Canadian union leaders who have signed on to the international campaign “Together for the Holidays” for justice and for the release of the three of the Cuban Five still imprisoned.

The following are the names from labour unions who have added their names to a letter to President Obama:

* Paul Moist, President, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)
* Ken Neumann, United Steelworkers National Director for Canada (USW)
* Paul R. Meinema, National President, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW)
* Patrick (Sid) Ryan, President, Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL)
* James Clancy, National President, National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE)
* Marie Clarke Walker, Executive Vice President, Canadian Labour Congress (CLC)
• Hassan Yussuff, President, Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) (see his letter attached)

In the last few weeks, the New York Times published a series of editorials and
opinions asking your administration to change its policy toward Cuba. The
centerpiece of this request involves the case of three Cuban men who have
been in U.S. prisons since 1998.

Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino and Antonio Guerrero are part of the
internationally known “Cuban Five” who came to the United States to monitor
the activities of certain groups of Cuban exiles who were responsible for acts of
violence, resulting in the immeasurable suffering of many Cuban families.
Unarmed, the altruistic mission of the Five aimed to save lives and prevent
additional criminal acts against their people, and also against U.S. citizens.

General James Clapper, the current National Director of Intelligence, testified
at their trial that the Five did not damage, nor did they endanger U.S. National
Security. Two of them, René González and González Fernando Llort have
returned to Cuba after serving their entire sentences and the three others
remain in prison to this day.

In the 16 years that have passed since the sentencing, many well-known
personalities, including 10 Nobel Laureates, jurists, intellectuals, artists, trade
union and religious leaders, parliamentarians, governments, human rights
organizations and U.S. elected officials have repeated their calls for the freedom
of these prisoners. Major international bodies such as the UN Working Group
on Arbitrary Detention and Amnesty International have also chimed in with
similar appeals.

Former President Jimmy Carter expressed in 2011: “I believe that the detention
of the Cuban Five makes no sense, there have been doubts expressed in 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.”

President Obama, 16 years of this unjust imprisonment is unconscionable.
We have added our voice to those throughout the world who are asking you to
resolve this issue without further delay.

In the spirit of the holiday season, we implore you to use your constitutional
powers to free the three remaining Cuban men and to enable them to join their
loved ones by this New Year; a moving gesture that only a caring President of
the United States can deliver.

Whilst improving the relations between the United States and Cuba, such a
gesture would also enrich the lives of the mothers, wives and children who are
waiting for them.

Sincerely,
Hassan Yussuff
President
nm/cope225

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Tel.: 613-521-3400 Fax: 613-521-4655 www.canadianlabour.ca
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