November 8, 1999
CANF Challenges Cuban Official to Answer POW Accusations of Vietnam
Torture :: High-Ranking Minister to Give Monday Speech in New York
WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cuban American National Foundation today challenged the president of Cuba's rubber-stamp National Assembly to answer accusations by former American prisoners of war in Vietnam that American servicemen were subjected to systematic torture by Cuban officials while imprisoned in Hanoi. Ricardo Alarcon is scheduled to give a speech in New York on Monday before the Americas Society (680 Park Avenue, 212-249-8950).
The accusations were reiterated Thursday in Washington in an emotional hearing before the House of Representatives Committee on International Relations, which is seeking to re-open the decades-long issue known as the "Cuba Program." Retired U.S. Navy Capt. Ray Vohden and Air Force Col. Jack Bomar gave chilling testimony on their treatment by three Cuban officials at a Hanoi prison camp known as "the Zoo." "I was beaten three or four times a day until I became demoralized," said Capt. Vohden. ". . . I didn't care if I lived or died." They said that one of their colleagues, Air Force Capt. Earl G. Cobeil was beaten so badly by the Cuban agents that he lapsed into a coma and subsequently died.
The former war heroes said that the torturers were Caucasian and spoke English with Spanish accents, and knew them to be Cuban because that is how they were referred to by the Vietnamese.
The issue of Cuban torture of American POWs in Vietnam has been known for decades, after returning prisoners in 1973 reported it to Defense Department officials. The issue has received renewed attention with the recent publication of a Defense Department book, Honor Bound: The History of American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973, which provides extensive details on the Cuba Program. In his recent bestseller, Faith of My Fathers, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), a former POW, also recounted the torture of American servicemen by Cuban agents.
Cuban American National Foundation Chairman Jorge Mas offered the group's gratitude to Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), who is leading the congressional charge for a final accountability of the Cuban torture of American POWs, and said of Alarcon's scheduled speech in New York, "First of all, we believe it is unconscionable that a prestigious organization like the Americas Society is providing a forum for one of Fidel Castro's most prized disciples. Regimes like these, that systemically deny freedom of expression to their own citizens, most certainly do not deserve it for themselves."
"But if Mr. Alarcon is going to face an audience that is free to speak their minds," said Mr. Mas, "then it is simply a matter of justice and what is right that someone hold him accountable on this issue. The American people, and especially these American heroes and the families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, deserve answers-and answers they should get, not the typical communist dissembling of which Mr. Alarcon is a master."
SOURCE Cuban American National Foundation
CO: Cuban American National Foundation
ST: Vietnam, District of Columbia, New York, Cuba
© CubaNet News, Inc.
Testimony & Transcripts: There were 2 different Hearings, running concurrently. One in the House, one in the Senate.
The Cuban Torture Program Hearing Transcript - Senate
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
The Cuban Torture Program Hearing Transcript - House 5 Meg PDF
COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Other Testimony on The Cuba Program -
Ray Vohden, Cuban Program Survivor
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, US House of Representatives
Robert Jones, DASD DPMO
Robert Destatte, Analyst DPMO
Michael Benge, Ex-POW
CANF Challenges Cuban Official to Answer POW Accusations of Vietnam
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