§ 6046. — Condemnation of Cuban attack on American aircraft.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 22USC6046]
TITLE 22--FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE
CHAPTER 69A--CUBAN LIBERTY AND DEMOCRATIC SOLIDARITY (LIBERTAD)
SUBCHAPTER I--STRENGTHENING INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS AGAINST THE CASTRO
GOVERNMENT
Sec. 6046. Condemnation of Cuban attack on American aircraft
(a) Findings
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Brothers to the Rescue is a Miami-based humanitarian
organization engaged in searching for and aiding Cuban refugees in
the Straits of Florida, and was engaged in such a mission on
Saturday, February 24, 1996.
(2) The members of Brothers to the Rescue were flying unarmed
and defenseless planes in a mission identical to hundreds they have
flown since 1991 and posed no threat whatsoever to the Cuban
Government, the Cuban military, or the Cuban people.
(3) Statements by the Cuban Government that Brothers to the
Rescue has engaged in covert operations, bombing campaigns, and
commando operations against the Government of Cuba have no basis in
fact.
(4) The Brothers to the Rescue aircraft notified air traffic
controllers as to their flight plans, which would take them south of
the 24th parallel and close to Cuban airspace.
(5) International law provides a nation with airspace over the
12-mile territorial sea.
(6) The response of Fidel Castro's dictatorship to Saturday's
afternoon flight was to scramble 2 fighter jets from a Havana
airfield.
(7) At approximately 3:24 p.m., the pilot of one of the Cuban
MiGs received permission and proceeded to shoot down one Brothers to
the Rescue airplane more than 6 miles north of the Cuban exclusion
zone, or 18 miles from the Cuban coast.
(8) Approximately 7 minutes later, the pilot of the Cuban
fighter jet received permission and proceeded to shoot down the
second Brothers to the Rescue airplane almost 18.5 miles north of
the Cuban exclusion zone, or 30.5 miles from the Cuban coast.
(9) The Cuban dictatorship, if it truly felt threatened by the
flight of these unarmed aircraft, could have and should have pursued
other peaceful options as required by international law.
(10) The response chosen by Fidel Castro, the use of lethal
force, was completely inappropriate to the situation presented to
the Cuban Government, making such actions a blatant and barbaric
violation of international law and tantamount to cold-blooded
murder.
(11) There were no survivors of the attack on these aircraft,
and the crew of a third aircraft managed to escape this criminal
attack by Castro's Air Force.
(12) The crew members of the destroyed planes, Pablo Morales,
Carlos Costa, Mario de la Pena, and Armando Alejandre, were United
States citizens from Miami flying with Brothers to the Rescue on a
voluntary basis.
(13) It is incumbent upon the United States Government to
protect the lives and livelihoods of United States citizens as well
as the rights of free passage and humanitarian missions.
(14) This premeditated act took place after a week-long wave of
repression by the Cuban Government against Concilio Cubano, an
umbrella organization of human rights activists, dissidents,
independent economists, and independent journalists, among others.
(15) The wave of repression against Concilio Cubano, whose
membership is committed to peaceful democratic change in Cuba,
included arrests, strip searches, house arrests, and in some cases
sentences to more than 1 year in jail.
(b) Statements by Congress
(1) The Congress strongly condemns the act of terrorism by the
Castro regime in shooting down the Brothers to the Rescue aircraft on
February 24, 1996.
(2) The Congress extends its condolences to the families of Pablo
Morales, Carlos Costa, Mario de la Pena, and Armando Alejandre, the
victims of the attack.
(3) The Congress urges the President to seek, in the International
Court of Justice, indictment for this act of terrorism by Fidel Castro.
(Pub. L. 104-114, title I, Sec. 116, Mar. 12, 1996, 110 Stat. 803.)
