News Release; Wednesday, June 07, 2000

DIAZ-BALART ASKS U.N. COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES TO INTERCEDE IN THE ASYLUM PLEA OF TWO CUBAN PHYSICIANS KIDNAPPED IN ZIMBABWE

Washington, DC - Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) sent the following letter today to the United Nations Regional Representative to the High Commissioner for Refugees, Ms. Karen AbuZayd, requesting that she intervene in the case of the two Cuban physicians seeking asylum that have been reportedly captured by Zimbabwean soldiers in coordination with Cuban diplomats.

Text of the letter:

"It has come to my attention that Cuban physicians, Leonel Cordova and Noris Pena, have been reportedly abducted by armed Zimbabwean soldiers who forced them into a military vehicle and took them, apparently in coordination with Cuban diplomatic personal in Harare.   I have reason to suspect  that this Cuban couple may have already been taken back to Cuba, where they will be subjected to reprisals by the regime's repressive apparatus and will be denied access to the international press as well as any human rights organizations.

It is my understanding that Leonel and Noris Pena, who publicly denounced Castro's dictatorship,  had pending asylum applications with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Zimbabwe.  Mr. Oluseyi Bajulaiye, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Zimbabwe, has apparently expressed concern regarding the way the physicians' asylum applications had been handled. As did Kris Janowski, spokesman for the UNHCR in Geneva, who stated that he had "very strong" reasons to believe that Leonel and Noris Pena had a credible fear of persecution if returned to Cuba. Enclosed please find a copy of The Miami Herald article for further details on the nature and seriousness of this case.

I urgently request that you intervene in this case by requesting an explanation by the Zimbabwean authorities and by taking all possible steps to process the noted asylum petitions initiated in Zimbabwe."