(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) The US on Monday commended Cuba for its release of 53 political prisoners that the Obama Administration had specifically requested, during the negotiation period leading up to last month's announcement to mend ties between the two countries.
"The Cuban government has notified us that they have completed the release of the 53 political prisoners that they had committed to free. We welcome this very positive development and are pleased that the Cuban government followed through on this commitment," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters.
"These political prisoners were individuals who had been cited by various human rights organizations as being imprisoned by the Cuban government for exercising internationally protected freedoms or for their promotion of political and social reforms in Cuba," she added. "During our discussions with the Cubans, we shared the names of individuals jailed in Cuba on charges related to their political activities. The Cuban government made this sovereign decision to release those individuals, as Raul Castro indicated in his December 17th speech." Harf further noted that the list identifying the prisoners has been handed over to Congress for review, before it is released to the public.
"We're happy for it to be in the public domain, but we also don't want to leave the impression by posting it ... for example, on a government Web site that these are the only ones we care about or that this was the only checklist by which we would judge Cuba's human rights situation," she said.
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