More pictures here.

In 1999, 11 Puerto Rican Political Prisoners were released due to the pressure exerted by an international campaign. The National Boricua Human Rights Network helped lead that campaign, and the United Church of Christ played a leading role in mobilizing interfaith support. The Netowrk has worked tirelessly since that historic occasion worked for the freedom of the remaining Puerto Rican Political Prisoners, and Carlos’ release is a victory for us all. We hope to raise $15,000 in pledges by July 19.

We are asking supporters to pledge their support to Carlos Alberto Torres with a donation:

1) Donate directly through PayPal. Click on the “donate” button on the right column.

2) If you cannot donate electronically, click on the “Carlos Alberto Re-entry Fund” page and fill out the form. A member of National Boricua Human Rights Network will follow up with you about submitting your donation to us. Here is the submission information, also available on the Re-entry Fund page:

Please make checks out to NBHRN and write “CAT reentry fund in the memo.” Mail to National Boricua Human Rights Network, 2739 W. Division St, Chicago, IL 60622, c/o Michelle Morales

The National Boricua Human Rights Network and the Human Rights Committee of Puerto Rico have the great and historic pleasure of announcing that Puerto Rican political prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres, after serving 30 years in U.S. prisons for his commitment to the independence of his nation, will be released on parole in July of this year, to reside in Puerto Rico.

This historic release is due to Carlos Alberto’s maintaining his integrity and commitment throughout three decades behind bars, and to the support of the people of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican communities in the U.S., as well as those who support human rights throughout the world. This broad support was key in winning his release, and he is looking forward to expressing his gratitude in person.

For no legitimate reason, he was made to serve almost 11 years more than his compatriots who were released in 1999, when president Clinton deemed their sentences to be disproportionately lengthy. The United States stands out as the country whose political prisoners serve among the longest sentences in the world.

Two Puerto Rican political prisoners remain in U.S. custody. Oscar López Rivera, who this month will mark his 29th year in prison, is not scheduled for release until 2023; and Avelino González Claudio, who this month will be sentenced to a term not to exceed 7 years. While planning the celebration of Carlos Alberto’s release, the National Boricua Human Rights Network and the Human Rights Committee of Puerto Rico will continue to work for the release of both remaining political prisoners.

Contacts:

in the U.S.: Alejandro Molina 312/296-7210

in Puerto Rico: Eduardo Villanueva 787/612-7840

On January 19, 2010, Carlos Alberto Torres attended a video hearing presided over by a U.S. Parole Commission hearing examiner whose task was to consider the disciplinary charges stemming from last January, and to make a recommendation for what should happen with respect to his request to be released on parole. Carlos Alberto answered the questions posed, and his attorney Jan Susler asked that the Parole Commission release him on parole as previously recommended, regardless of the wrongful charges. She pointed out the vast, ongoing support for his release, and argued that there is absolutely no risk in releasing him, as evidenced by the impressive example of his compatriots who were released by presidential commutation in 1999. The hearing examiner then made a favorable recommendation. Download the letter here.

Attached is the letter to the parole board. We want to try to get in as many as possible by next Tuesday to show them how much support Carlos has.  Please sign the attached letter and mail it into the Parole Board.  The address is on the letter.

Download petition here.

As part of the Bureau of Prison’s delayed entry into the 21st century, it is implementing TRULINCS (Trust Fund Limited Inmate Computer System) throughout the federal prison system, to provide prisoners with access to email through a special system allowing prison officials to monitor all incoming and outgoing emails.

Puerto Rican political prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres was looking forward to the convenient, regular communication it facilitates, given that, since his transfer to FCI Pekin, his postal correspondence is regularly delayed from one to three months.

But it was not to be. On December 9, the SIS [prison intelligence office] lieutenant called him in to notify him that— unlike the rest of the FCI Pekin population— he will not be allowed access to email. Why? Because of “his case and his background,” offered the lieutenant, who had no response to Carlos Alberto’s inquiry as to why, after 29 years of impeccable conduct, they would treat him this way, pointing out that his release might be just around the corner, citing the USPC hearing examiner’s recommendation for April 2010 release. Nor did the lieutenant provide the required written explanation for his exclusion from the program.

Show your support for Carlos Alberto by writing to the U.S. Parole Commission to encourage them to adopt the recommendation and order his release! Sample letter available at http://boricuahumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/7.31.09_cat_petition_lappin.doc

See also
“Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres: parole bid foiled by Bureau of Prisons.” August 2009 post.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/14/world/AP-CB-Puerto-Rico-Vieques.html?ref=global-home

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A U.S. agency has overturned its 2003 research that said no health hazards were caused by decades of military exercises on Vieques, a bombing range-turned-tourist destination off Puerto Rico’s east coast.

The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said Friday it intends to “modify” some of its earlier research on Vieques, where the U.S. and its allies trained for conflicts from Vietnam to Iraq.

The agency, a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, used its own studies to conclude in 2003 that there was essentially no health risk from the bombing range – a conclusion widely criticized by academics and residents on the 18-mile-long island of less than 10,000 people.

“We have identified gaps in environmental data that could be important in determining health effects,” director Howard Frumkin said in a statement posted Friday on the agency’s Web site. “The gaps we found indicate that we cannot state categorically that no health hazards exist in Vieques. We have found reason to pose further questions.”

Frumkin, who did not specifically identify the research gaps, said the agency will take a fresh look at the issue. He also said the agency will work with Puerto Rican health officials to conduct more in-depth health evaluations and will recommend monitoring to determine if Vieques residents were exposed to harmful chemicals.

For decades, warships and planes hammered the Naval Training Range on Vieques with live rounds before it was closed in April 2003 after years of protests over environmental risks and the 1999 death of a Puerto Rican civilian guard killed by an errant bomb.

Robert Rabin, who moved to Vieques from Boston in 1980 and helped lead the protests against the bombing range, said he and other islanders had an “attitude of cautious celebration” about the agency’s announcement.

“We hope this will lead to the best possible cleanup and allow people here to receive the best health care,” Rabin said Saturday from his Vieques home. “They are using hopeful language, and this island really needs help.”

The U.S. agency reevaluated its earlier finding after being asked in April by U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman, a New Jersey Democrat who said independent studies and reports had documented a health crisis on Vieques.

The military fired and dropped millions of pounds of bombs, rockets and artillery shells, including napalm, depleted uranium and Agent Orange, on Vieques. A cleanup began in 2005 to clear thousands of unexploded munitions from the former range, which is now a Fish and Wildlife Service refuge, and the island has placed new emphasis on tourism.

Some 7,000 past and current Vieques residents have filed a federal lawsuit seeking billions of dollars in compensation for illnesses they have linked to the bombing range.

The January parole hearing was postponed, the false accusation was ultimately expunged, and he proceeded to hearing in May.

At the May hearing, the hearing examiner for the Parole Commission recommended that he be paroled on April 3, 2010— by when Carlos Alberto will have served exactly 30 years in prison— and advised that we could expect the commission’s final decision within 21 days. However, in June, prison authorities reinstated the false weapons possession charges against Carlos Alberto and his eight cellmates.

On July 28, the Parole Commission notified Carlos Alberto that they would postpone their decision for at least 90 days, pending resolution of the charges.

Two days later, the prison disciplinary hearing officer held hearings on the false weapons charges. Carlos Alberto’s defense consisted not merely of his statement denying possession. The tenth cellmate appeared as a witness, admitting that the knives were his, and his alone, and that Carlos Alberto and none of the other cellmates knew he had hidden the knives in the light fixture. The guilty party also provided a sworn statement to this effect. Much to the surprise of Carlos Alberto and the other eight cellmates, the disciplinary hearing officer nevertheless found them guilty of possessing the hidden weapons.

The finding of guilt will undoubtedly adversely affect the decision of the Parole Commission. Indeed, one might suspect that the reinstatement of the charges and the finding of guilt were calculated to adversely affect the decision.

The National Boricua Human Rights Network and the Comité Pro Derechos Humanos de Puerto Rico are waging a phone and fax campaign to the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Parole Commission, asking that the false disciplinary charges be expunged and that Carlos Alberto be released from prison. Sample letters and contact information are provided below.

Download petition letter to the Director of the Bureau of Prisons.

Download petition letter to Warden.

See last article, “Ex Puerto Rican political prisoner Alberto Rodríguez hospitalized”.

Alberto se encuentra ahora en un cuarto privado, fuera de intensivo, mejorándose poco a poco. No sabemos hasta cuando tiene que estar hospitalizado, una semana por lo menos, pero ¡esta haciendo chistes!

Vea el artículo, “Ex Puerto Rican political prisoner Alberto Rodríguez hospitalized”.