It was an incident that went all but unnoticed in the US
media.
The Cuban-America community protested but they protest a lot and as
I say, we in the mainstream media all but ignored it...
...What happened occurred at night at sea in the middle of July in
1994. The time is important because it wasn' t at all that long ago,
not, in other words, in the bad old days of mass arrests and
widespread executions. Seventy two Cubans, men, women and children,
slipped out of this harbor aboard a tugboat. They were bound for
Florida. Their boat was followed out to sea by three Cuban fire
boats. What happened next we learned from some of the survivors, two
of whom ultimately made it to Miami, while the other two risked
arrest by talking to us here in Havana...
A letter of condolence speaking in the name of the Pope was sent by
the Vatican's secretary of state to Jaime Ortega, the Archbishop of
Havana, who passed it on to the survivors of the incident and to
their families. And that created a ripple which caused a ground
swell, the full impact of which is still building.
Ted Koppel
ABC Network, Nightline
Live Broadcast from Havana, Cuba, on January 21, 1998
What happened
In the early morning hours of July 13, 1994, three boats belonging
to the Cuban State and equipped with water hoses attacked an old
tugboat that was fleeing Cuba with 72 people on board. The incident
occurred seven miles off the Cuban coast, outside the port of
Havana. The Cuban State boats attacked the tugboat with their prows,
while at the same time spraying everyone on the deck of the boat,
including women and children, with pressurized water. The pleas to
stop the attack were in vain, and the old boat-named the "13 of
March" - sank, with a toll of 41 deaths, including ten children.
Thirty one persons survived.
About the tugboat
Circa 1879 (Rebuilt and inspected, see below)
Last Inspection May 9, 1994 (Cuban government Issued a Navigation
Certificate)
Certificate IV
Hull Wood
Motor One, 300 HP
Overall length 17 ms.
Beam 3.85 ms
Speed 9 knots
Current 1.5 knots
Captain Fidencio Ramel Hernández Prieto (Murdered)
Location of bodies 23 15" 08"N 82 15' 34"W 23 15" 08"N 82 20' 36"W
(Quadrant) 23 15" 35"N 82 15' 34"W 23 15" 35"N 82 20' 36"W Weight
(passengers) 4,5 tons, estimated, based on age and sex of passengers
Weather: Category 3, Seas 4,5 ft., wind 25 to 35 kms. per hour,
Cuban Weather Bureau Report.
Government version of events:
Conflicting reports of the incident appeared in the state-controlled
Cuban media, some alleging that the "13 of March" sank because it
was very old and not seaworthy and others saying that it sank
because it had accidentally collided with the pursuing vessels.
"Capsized tugboad robbed by anti-social elements" was the title of
the article which described what happened as an "irresponsible act
of piracy promoted and stimulated by counter-revolutionary radio
stations, the most reactionary elements of the (Cuban exile) nest of
maggots in Miami, and by the well known failure of the United States
to abide by immigration agreements." Granma, the Official Communist
Party newspaper, on July 14, 1994,
"...it had taken place as a result of a collision between the "13 of
Marzo" and another tugboat which was attempting to catch up with it"
Note from Ministry of Interior, Granma newspaper July 16, 1994.
"...Fidencio Ramel Prieto (the tugboat's captain), stole the tugboat
after knocking the night watchman with a drug which he put on his
drink The boat, made of wood in 1879, was known to leak and too many
people were on board." Granma, July 23, 1994.
What Fidel Castro said:
"What we are going to do with those workers who did not want them to
steal their boat, who made a truly patriotic effort, we might say,
to stop them from stealing theboat from them? What are we going to
say to them? Listen, let the boat be stolen, don't worry about the
boat..." (Remarks by Fidel Castro to the Cuban communication media,
quoted in a letter dated March 23, 1995 from the Cuban Interest
Section in the United States to the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights)
Account by survivors:
"After leaving the pier boat No. 2 rammed us." "One out to sea, we
were attacked by boats 2, 3 and 5." "The tug was hit on te port and
starboard sides and the passengers were attacked with jets of water"
Jorge Hernández.
"When the tugboat weighted anchor, I was below deck and could see
that there was no leak anywhere" Arquímides Lebrigio
"That's when we saw that two firefightig boats were coming after
us... they hit the sides and then they began to shoot water at us."
"We told them not to harm us, that there were children on board and
we showed the children and they kept shooting water." The mothers
screamed and implored the attackers too stop directing the water
hoses at them. The perpetrators continued using the hoses, trying to
drown them by suffocation. All those on board were submerged in the
water. After nearly an hour of battling in the open sea, the other
boat circled round the survivors, creating a whirlpool so that they
would drown. As a result, many dissapeared into the seas and lost
their lives..." "We asked them to save us, and what they did was
laugh..." María Victoria García Suárez
"The boat was adrift because the captain, Fidencio Ramel, they
knocked him down with the jets of water, they knocked him into the
sea." "Roman called to one operating the boat ad said: Hey, buddy,
calm down, don't do this. Look, they are kids... and he showed his
three year old stepdaughter, and if someone hadn't take the girl
from him, they would have killed her with the jets of water."
Jannette Hernández Gutierrez.
"The boat which had split our stern went ahead and split us from the
prow. That meant there was not way to keep the tugboat float, it was
sinking. But they did not throw us lifebelts or try to help us in
any war... We were already in the water, holding into anything that
we could, and the three boats circled us, making swirls, causing
more deaths, as the perpetrators said: Let's see what you are going
to do now, sons of whores. When a foreing cargo came to about 800
meters of the sinking point, the attacking vessels suspended their
activities". Sergio Perodín Almanza
"Two of the boatsdeliberately rammed the 13 of Marzo, while the
third continued to direct the jets of water into the tugboat. Those
on board of the three attacking vessels were dressed in civilian
clothes, but were not ordinary dockworkers, specially as several of
the crew of one boat suffered from sea sickness."
Guantánamo.
Call for investigation from within Cuba
"The sinking of the vessel, which was carrying women and children,
and the difficulties of the rescue of the survivors do not appear to
be in any way accidental. This adds to the sorrow a feeling of
ashtonisment an a need for the facts to be clarified and
responsibilities to be established" Archbishop of Havana, Monsignor
Jaime Ortega Alamino, July 19, 1994.
"If the accounts of the survivors are correct, it was, in the best
of the scenarios, a massive murder, as described in Article 263,
codes B, C, CH, D, E, and G of the Cuban Penal Code, if not a
genocide, Article 116, codes 1, CH, and 2, of the same code.
Against the versions of the survivors, the official version said it
was an accident. Why no investigation had been opened under Article
184 of the Cuban Penal Code, Offences committed in the course of
rail, Air and Maritime Traffic". number 1, a) which provides for the
punishment of anyone who causes an accident by failing to abide by
the relevant laws and regulations." Letter to the Minister of
Justice by jurist René Gómez Manzano, July 10, 1995.
"...until the suspicious deaths of the innocent are clarified, there
will be no light in our country, or in our justice... There is no
excuse for silence, silence cannot be forgiven. Nothing justifies
crime, even (it is carried out) in the name of the Revolution. Than
reminds us of when people have been killed in the name of God..."
Leonel Morejón Almagro, Jorge Bacallao Pérez, Cuban jurists
...the delay of the investigation could constitute a crime,
particularly, prevarication, described and sanctioned in the Cuban
Penal Code, Title 2, Chapter 1, Section 6, Article 137. Fidel Castro
Ruz has been officially informed of this situation, affirming the
Article 128, Second paragraph of the Cuban Constitution of 1976"
Marcelo Manuel López Bañobre, letter to Tribunal Provincial, March
5, 1997
"This crime cannot remain unpunished. We sho suffered their (the
victims's) physical dissapearence can only cry and be silent. We
keep a vigil by their photos with the Rapid Response Brigades
standing by. We have been warned no to put at risk the safety of
those who survived. Everything is clear, we have to keep quiet. But
you who are free to shout to the world that incidents like this
should not be repeated must not forget this massacre... We only ask
for the remains of our loved ones and that justice is done for this
horrendous crime." María Victoria García Suárez
International inquires and condemnation of the incident
OAS
Inter-American
Commission of
Human Righs
Report No. 47/96
October 16, 1996
In October 1996, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of
the Organization of American States condemned the sinking of the
tugboat saying: "there was clear evidence that it was not an
accident but a premeditated and intentional act", concluding that it
constituted a violation of the rights to life, physical integrity,
free movement and justice. It recommended that the Cuban government
carry out a full investigation and punish those responsible,
compensate the survivors and relatives of the victims, and take
steps to recover the bodies and the wreck of the boat.
United Nations
Human Rights
Commission
Special Rapporteur
April 1995
In June 1995, in his report to the 51 st Session of the UN
Commission on Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial,
Summary or Arbitrary Executions transmitted allegations concerning
the case to the Cuban Government. He urged that the allegations be
properly investigated, the perpetrators brought to justice and the
victims' families compensated.
United Nations
Human Rights
Commission
Special Rapporteur
on Cuba
April 1996
In 1996, in his report to the 52nd Session of the UN Commission on
Human Rights, the Special rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or
Arbitrary Executions stated that he had ransmitted allegations
concerning thecase to the Cuban Government in June 1995 and
expressed deep concern that he had not received a reply. The UN
Special rapporteur on Cuba, in his interim report to the UN General
Assembly dated 7 October 1996, also expressed serious concern "about
the fact that an event of this magnitude, in which 37 people died,
has not been investigated"
Amnesty
International
July 1997
AMR 25/13/97
In 1997, in their report, Amnesty International stated that there is
sufficient evidence to indicate that it was an official operation
and that, if events occurred in the way described by several of the
survivors, those who died as a result of the incident were victims
of extrajudicial execution.
Amnesty International's recommendations:
1. A full and impartial investigation of the sinking of the "13 de
Marzo" be carried out inmediately
2.The findings be made public
3. Anyone indentified as being responsible for the loss of life be
brought to justice in accordance with international standards for a
fair trial
4. The victims'families be granted fair and adequate compensation
within a reasonable period of time
5. The relatives of the victims be fully informed of what efforts
were made to locate the bodies of the victims and, if any were
found, what happened to the remains
6. Survivors or victims'relatives be permitted to speak out about
what happened without fear or reprisals no further reprisals be
taken against anyone who seeks to peacefully protest or commemorate
the sinking of the "13 of Marzo"
7. No one should be imprisoned for attempting to leave the country
illegally.
8. Strict orders be issued to law enforcement officials and agents
acting on their behalf to abide at all times by UN Basic Principles
on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. |
