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By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer.
Yahoo!
HAVANA - An American woman left Cuba with her son and daughter Friday after
Fidel Castro's government intervened in an international custody battle and
arrested the children's father.
A government statement said the family was allowed to leave after
authorities determined that Cornelia Streeter had legal custody of the U.S.-born
children.
"This morning, Ms. Streeter left with her two children by airplane,
bound for Boston," the statement said.
Streeter, of Topsfield, Mass., was reunited with her children Wednesday
night in a case that recalled the battle over young castaway Elian Gonzalez.
Cuban authorities earlier arrested her ex-husband, Anwar Wissa, and placed
the former couple's children, Henry, 9, and Victoria, 7, in protective custody.
Cuban authorities listed the children's ages as one year older.
The statement said Wissa, an American citizen, would be prosecuted on
charges of using Cuban territory to engage in child kidnapping.
It was not immediately known whether U.S. authorities would seek to have
Wissa returned from Cuba to face kidnapping charges in the United States. The
U.S. Attorney's office in Boston did not immediately return a phone call seeking
comment.
Streeter had appealed to Castro for help in getting her children back after
learning they were living on a yacht with her ex-husband in Havana.
The Cuban statement said an investigation showed that after Streeter and
Wissa divorced two years ago, they initially had joint custody. But Streeter was
later granted sole custody.
The Cuban government compared the case to the custody battle over Elian
Gonzalez, who returned with his father to the communist island in mid-2000. A
statement Wednesday said Cubans remain mindful of the support most Americans
showed for the child's return to his father.
Elian was 5 years old in November 1999 when he was rescued at sea off
Florida following a boating accident that killed his mother and other Cubans
trying to immigrate illegally to the United States. The boy's great-uncle fought
unsuccessfully to keep the child in Miami.
U.N. rights expert asks Castro to pardon imprisoned dissidents
Fri Jun 27,10:55 AM ET
GENEVA, 27 (AP) - The United Nations expert on human rights in Cuba said
Friday she has written to President Fidel Castro asking him to pardon 50
dissidents sentenced to long prison terms.
Christine Chanet appealed to the Cuban president to use his right of pardon
to free the group of opposition party members, independent journalists and other
dissidents sentenced in a crackdown this spring. She did not disclose the
reasons she gave Castro for making the appeal.
The 50 are among 75 Cuban activists Fidel Castro's government accused of
being mercenaries who worked with U.S. officials to undermine the socialist
government. The American government and the dissidents denied the charges.
Local human rights groups in recent days announced that Cuba's court of last
resort, the Supreme Tribunal, had upheld the long sentences on the group. The
appeals of the other 25 are still pending.
The crackdown on Cuba's opposition, the harshest in decades, has been
condemned by governments and rights groups around the globe.
Chanet, a French jurist, was appointed as personal representative o the U.N.
High Commissioner for Human Rights in January.
Chanet has asked for permission to visit the Island but Cuba has refused,
claiming such a visit could infringe on its sovereignty. | 
