Czechs give asylum to Guantánamo Cubans
By Associated Press
PRAGUE, Czech Republic --
The Czech government is granting asylum to three families on the run
from Cuba that were intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard before they
could step on American soil, an official said Thursday.
Czech Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalova said the 10-member
group arrived in Prague Tuesday from the U.S. military base in
Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
The refugees were detained by the Coast Guard but were not handed over
to the Cuban government because of claims that political persecution
drove them from their homes.
The Czech government, which is known for its support of Cuba's
opposition movement, agreed to grant asylum to the families at the
request of the United States. Identities of the refugees were not
revealed to prevent persecution of their relatives still living on the
island.
A small number of Cuban citizens are generally given shelter at the
remote U.S. Navy base as a first step to being given asylum at a country
other than the United States, under a U.S. policy known as ``wet-foot,
dry-foot.''
They are housed far away, and out of sight, of the prison camps for
suspected al Qaeda and Taliban members and sympathizers, which the Bush
administration set up in January 2002. Fewer than 400 war-on-terror
captives are held in the camps today, the Pentagon says.
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