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FROM
CUBA
Defense lawyers are scarce in Cuba
HAVANA, Cuba - May 5 (Jaime Leygonier
/ www.cubanet.org) - Lawyers avoid--and
even refuse--to defend those accused by
the government, since they consider it useless
and even dangerous for themselves to act
as defense lawyers.
Relatives of those arrested state that
whoever seeks the services of a defense
attorney for those charged with "social
dangerousness" and, above all, political
causes, must run from law firm to law firm
until they find an attorney who will accept
the contract.
This situation has the result of increasing
the number of those who are prosecuted without
a defense--not even a public defender--during
the trial. On the other hand, there are
virtually no appeals having defense attorneys
to fulfill their assignment. The judges
grant them a few minutes, and their performance
as defense attorneys frustrates those they
defend.
In Cuba, attorneys are barred from practicing
their profession independently. They may
only attend to their clients in state offices
called "people's law firms" where
the state appropriates the bulk of the legal
fees, paid according to a schedule established
by the same state. For each case handled,
the attorney receives only 15 Cuban pesos.
Attorneys are lacking cars, time, respect,
and civil rights for their defendants. Those
charged are judged quickly and without procedural
rights.
The defense attorney feels pressured not
to go "too far" in his defense,
something that's obvious when, in the enforcement
of an order, massive round-ups of self-employed
workers or young people accused of "social
dangerousness" take place.
"The prosecution doesn't have to prove
the crime with documentary evidence,"
an attorney points out. "The word of
a policeman is enough, which is based many
times on reports from the Committee for
the Defense of the Revolution, without corroboration
of its veracity. The watchful eye of a male
neighbor or the gossips of a female neighbor
are enough to destroy a life."
Versión
original en español
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