A Long March Towards Justice - The Cuban Five in Atlanta

A Long March Towards Justice

The Cuban Five in Atlanta

By RICARDO ALARCÓN de QUESADA

"The sun of justice shall rise,
bearing salvation on its wings"

(Malaquías, 4, 2)

On 9th August last, 28 months after the defendants had filed their arguments, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta finally handed down its verdict reversing the unjust convictions imposed over four years ago by a Miami Court on five young Cuban anti-terrorism fighters. The decision of the Atlanta Court was in no way a precipitated one. The process enabling the defendants to exercise their right of appeal was long, complex and hazardous. They had to face a whole series of obstacles that breached principles and rules of both American and international law, which forced them to a defense in conditions that defy imagination. It seemed their case would never actually reach the superior court for its necessary review. Then, the judges in Atlanta in order to do justice dedicated to the case four times the period used by the shameful farce in Miami. (1).

The Atlanta decision has a truly historical significance. ...