LONDON, September 12 /PRNewswire/ --

The UK's largest unions are stepping up the campaign for justice for the
Miami Five with the launch of a short film to mark the 10th anniversary of
the arrest of the five Cubans unjustly jailed for trying to stop US based
terrorist attacks against their country.

To coincide with the anniversary of their arrests in Miami on 12
September 1998, UK union leaders including Unite joint general secretaries,
Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, Unison's Dave Prentis, CWU's Billy Hayes and 
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber are calling on the US government to give 
visitation rights to the families of the Miami Five.

The Miami Five have spent ten years in prison for gathering information
about the right wing terrorist groups working out of Miami who were
responsible for the deaths of over 3,500 Cubans.

Personalities are also adding their name to an appeal for Justice for the
Five and their families. Signatories include many famous names from the world
of politics, law, music and arts including writers Iain Banks, Beverley
Naidoo, Harold Pinter and actors Julie Christie, Susannah York and Maxine
Peake.

Unite joint general secretary, Tony Woodley, said: "This case represents
a travesty of justice by the US government who are using the Miami Five to
make a political point against Cuba. To deny the families the right to visit
their loved ones is totally inhumane."

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, part of the UN
Commission on Human Rights, have ruled that the detention of the five men was
arbitrary and in violation of international law.

The campaign is particularly focussed on the visiting rights for two of
the wives of the prisoners, Olga Salanueva, wife of Rene Gonzalez and Adriana
Pérez, wife of Gerardo Hernandez who have both been denied the right by the
US authorities to even see their husbands for 8 and 10 years.

Amnesty International have condemned this measure as "unnecessarily
punitive and contrary both to standards for the humane treatment of prisoners
and to states' obligation to protect family life."

Unite joint general secretary, Derek Simpson said: "Unite and the UK and
Irish trade union movement are absolutely determined to highlight the
injustice of this case. We have raised the issue with our colleagues in US
trade unions as the vast majority of Americans are completely unaware about
this miscarriage of justice that has occurred in their country. This has been
due to the almost total media silence that surrounded this case."

Both Olga and Adriana will attend a public anniversary vigil at the US
Embassy in London at 6pm on Tuesday 7th October 2008, the same day that the
petition will be handed over to US officials.

Unite has made a short campaigning which will be sent to over hundreds of
thousands of union members and will be posted on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KIKBq1d84w

The film tells the story of the men's imprisonment, the families' plight
and demonstrates the growing support among the UK labour movement for
visitation rights.

Notes to Editors:

    1. The Miami Five are Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, Ramón Labañino, Antonio
    Guerrero, Fernando González and René González. They were sentenced to prison
    terms of between 15 to 25 years in the USA after being convicted of
    conspiracy to act as agents of the Cuban government and related charges.

    2. Amnesty International on the case
    http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGAMR510132007

    3. Further information about the Miami Five can be found at
    http://www.unitetheunion.com