ALCATRAZ 90 MILES SOUTH OF THE USA

Cuba's Bloody Iron Curtain
For immediate release

May 3, 2007, Summit, New Jersey. In the wake of the most recent escape attempts from Cuba, foiled or successful, we note the systematic murder of civilians by the Castro regime for their mere attempt to flee the island. These crimes illustrate a profound disregard for human life and stem from the egregious violation of the fundamental right of Cubans to leave their country.

Article 215 of Cuba's Penal Code punishes attempts to leave the national territory without government authorization with up to eight years in prison. In fact, if a citizen tries to take an able vessel or aircraft to do so -a necessity because all are state property and strictly controlled- the punishment is up to twenty years in prison or death. Over the course of decades thousands have served prison, under dire conditions, for these so-called crimes. Still today, a number of political prisoners are serving very long sentences for attempting to escape the country.

But what is even more shocking is what Cuba’s Penal Code does not say. The Castro regime has, in fact, for decades systematically murdered civilians for trying to escape their country. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, are estimated to have been killed by government authorities for attempting to escape by sea, for seeking asylum in foreign embassies, or trying to cross into the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo. That Guantánamo, largely ignored by the media and world public opinion, is sealed off by barbed wire, separated by a mine field, and under the shadow of watchtowers manned round-the-clock by Cuban border guards with orders to shoot to kill.

Cuba Archive’s incipient documentation effort has already revealed 247 victims of assassinations and executions for attempted escapes from Cuba. This is a partial number that grows consistently as research progresses, yet it already exceeds the 227 killings at the Berlin Wall. See a summary of selected documented cases at <http://www.CubaArchive.org/english_version/articles/89/1/ Cubans -killed-for-attempting-to-flee-Cuba>. An account in English of the massacre of 37 civilians in 1994 is available at <www.CubaArchive.org/english_version/articles/97/1/The-Tugboat-Massacre>.