Cuban exile group sues Castro in Spain
Action against Pinochet inspires suit
From Herald Staff and Wire Reports
MADRID -- A Cuban exile group encouraged by the case against former Chilean
strongman Augusto Pinochet filed suit here Thursday accusing Cuban President
Fidel Castro of genocide, terrorism and torture.
``Spain's National Court has ruled that it is competent to investigate
crimes of
genocide, terrorism and torture in the case against Pinochet,'' said Guillermo
Alonso Olarra, a lawyer for the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba. ``This
case
is identical.''
The foundation said the suit was inspired by a National Court decision
last week
that gave a Spanish judge the green light to try to bring Pinochet to trial
for crimes
committed during his 1973-90 regime.
Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon had Pinochet arrested in London last month
as a
first step toward his extradition. The case is pending in Britain's House
of Lords
after a court there ruled that Pinochet was entitled to immunity as a former
head of
state.
Alonso said his group had submitted papers to Spain's National Court detailing
the
cases of about 120 people who allegedly suffered torture or other abuses
at the
hands of Castro's government. The suit also included the names of 18,000
people
who lawyers say have been killed or have disappeared in Cuba since 1959,
when
Castro took power.
``Spain has opened the door to the victims of Argentina and Chile,'' Clara
Maria
del Valle, foundation vice president, said at a Madrid news conference.
``Today
we come to knock on the door of Spanish justice in the name of the victims
. . . of
Fidel Castro.''
Most of the 18,000 on the list are Cubans, but there are also several people
from
North America and Spain.
The suit was also announced in Washington at a press conference by Jorge
Mas,
vice chairman of the Miami-based Cuban American National Foundation. The
Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba is allied with CANF.
With Rep. Peter Deutsch, a Broward Democrat at his side, Mas said: ``With
the
globalization of how we are treating dictators, there should be no differentiation
between dictators of the right and the left. Those who care about human
rights
know that they should be treated equally.''
The Spanish court is likely to name a judge to review the case by this
weekend,
said Javier Barrilero, another lawyer for the foundation.
In Havana, Cuban Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alejandro Gonzalez said he
would not respond ``to such ridiculous humbug.''
Also named in the suit are Castro's brother Raul, Cuban Tourism Minister
and
former army commander Osmani Cienfuegos and Carlos Amat, Cuba's
ambassador in Geneva.
Frank Davies of The Herald's Washington bureau contributed to this report.
Copyright © 1998 The Miami Herald