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.
Top
"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 extra
judicial execution.
Amnesty International's recommendations:
1. A full and impartial investigation of the
sinking of the "13 de Marzo" be carried out
immediately
2.The findings be made public
3. Anyone identified 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.
Top
|
A
MASSACRE CARRY OUT BY THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT