“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”― John Adams, Boston Massacre trial (1770)
February 24, 1996 shoot down was an act of state terrorism that blew two civilian aircraft out of the sky with air to air missiles while in international airspace after regime planned the act months beforehand with its espionage network in the United States.
FACT 1: By definition: Terrorism is the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear)
Source: Wordnet Search http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=terrorism
FACT 2: Cuba is responsible for violating the right to life (Article I of the American Declaration
of the Rights and Duties of Man) to the detriment of Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario De La
Peña, and Armando Alejandre, who died as a result of the direct actions of its agents on the
afternoon of 24 February 1996 while flying through international airspace.
Source: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights September 29, 1999 Report on the Merits
http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/99eng/Merits/Cuba11.589.htm
FACT 3: Cuba is responsible for violating the right to a fair trial (Article XVIII of the American
Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man) to the detriment of the relatives of Carlos Costa,
Pablo Morales, Mario De La Peña, and Armando Alejandre, in that to date the Cuban authorities
have not conducted an exhaustive investigation with a view toward prosecuting and punishing
the perpetrators and have not indemnified those same relatives for the damage they suffered as a
result of those illicit acts.
Source:
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights September 29, 1999 Report on the Merits
http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/99eng/Merits/Cuba11.589.htm
FACT 4: In Alejandre v. Republic of Cuba, 996 F.Supp. 1239 (S.D.Fla. 1997), a federal district
court awarded the families of three of the four occupants of the “ Brothers to the Rescue” planes
shot down by Cuba in 1996 a total of $187.7 million in damages against Cuba.
Source:
Lawsuits Against State Supporters of Terrorism: An Overview by Jennifer K. Elsea
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/terror/RS22094.pdf
FACT 5: WASP spy network was involved. One of the “illegal officers” (Gerardo Hernandez)
was convicted of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder based on his role in the February 24,
1996, shoot-down of two unarmed civilian aircraft in international airspace by Cuban Air Force
jet fighters, which resulted in the deaths of four people, three of them U.S. citizens.
Source:
Department of Justice on Obama Commutations
http://www.justice.gov/pardon/obama-commutations#dec152014
FACT 6: Brothers to the Rescue had spotted and saved thousands of rafters in the Florida Straits
and was engaged in such a mission on that day. The one plane that skirted the boundary briefly
was the only one to return. The other two were shotdown miles away from Cuba’s boundary
having never entered or touched it on that day and the planes had been in contact with the Cuban
tower throughout the flight.
Source:
ICAO Resolution on February 24 shootdown
http://www.icao.int/icao/en/nr/1996/pio199606_e.pdf
FACT 7: On July 26, 1996 the United Nations Security Council: "Noting that the unlawful
downing of two civil aircraft on 24 February by the Cuban Air Force violated the principle that
States must refrain from using weapons against airborne civil aircraft, the Security Council this
afternoon condemned such use as being incompatible with the rules of customary international
law "
Source:
ICAO Resolution on February 24 shootdown
http://www.icao.int/icao/en/nr/1996/pio199606_e.pdf
FACT 8: Ana Belen Montes, the US intelligence community's top analyst on Cuban affairs had
throughout a sixteen-year career at the Defense Intelligence Agency sent the Cuba intelligence
service sensitive and secret information and helped to shape US opinion on Cuba. Investigation
against her was triggered by her odd behavior before and after the Brothers to the Rescue shoot
down. On September 21 2001 Ana Belen Montes was arrested and subsequently charged with
Conspiracy to Commit Espionage for the government of Cuba. Montes eventually pleaded guilty
to spying, and in October, 2002, she was sentenced to a 25-year prison term followed by 5 years
of probation.
Source:
True Believer: Inside the Investigation and Capture of Ana Montes, Cuba's Master Spy
http://www.amazon.com/True-Believer-Inside-Investigation-Capture/dp/1591141001
FACT 9: On December 27, 2010 and again in a January 19, 2011 clarification the defense of
Cuban spy-master Gerardo Hernandez acknowledged that "there was overwhelming evidence
that the 1996 shoot-down of two Brothers to the Rescue planes occurred in international
airspace, not Cuban territory."
Source: The Miami Herald: Cuban spymaster now claims Brothers to the Rescue shooting was outside
Cuban airspace by Jay Weaver December 27, 2010 https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2010-12-27-fl-cuba-spy-20101227-story.html
FACT 10: On December 17, 2014 President Barack Obama commuted Gerardo Hernandez’s two life
sentences and returned him along with two other spies jailed for crimes in the United States to
Cuba where they were received with a hero’s welcome in what is an immense propaganda victory for the Castro regime.
Source:
Department of Justice on Obama Commutations
http://www.justice.gov/pardon/obama-commutations#dec152014
FACT 11: Netflix settled a defamation lawsuit in brought by Jose Basulto of Brothers to the Rescue, who accused the streamer of falsely portraying him as a terrorist and drug trafficker in Olivier Assayas’ political spy thriller Wasp Network.
Source: Netflix Settles Defamation Suit Brought By Cuban Exiles Over Spy Thriller ‘Wasp Network’ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/netflix-settles-defamation-suit-brought-cuban-exiles-wasp-network-1235806098/
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment