Cuba: Resolution of the European Parliament conforming to article 47 of the regulations on the case of Francisco Chaviano Gonzalez

The European Parliament,

A. informed of the 15 year jail sentence of Francisco Chaviano, president of the Council for Civil Rights in Cuba;

B. considering that this sentence was delivered by a military court;

C. considering that the prisoner has been on a hunger strike since September 12, 1995;

D. concerned about information regarding the particularly oppressive conditions of detention of Francisco Chaviano;

E. considering that, according to reports from Amnesty International, there are hundreds of political prisoners in Cuba;

1. urges the Cuban authorities to review the trial and that this Cuban citizen be judged in a civil court and with the maximum guarantees regarding his defense;

2. asks that, while waiting for the results of the trial, Francisco Chaviano is freed just as the other political prisoners;

3. invites the Commission and the Council to demonstrate to the Cuban authorities their deep concerns regarding the detention of political prisoners in Cuba;

4. insists on the fact that the entire Cuban penal code must conform to the universal principles as recognized by the Declaration adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna 1993, particularly that which implicates the abolition of the death penalty;

5. entrusts the President to transmit the present resolution to the Cuban Government, the Council and the Commission.