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Carlos Alberto Torres (Puerto Rican nationalist)

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 72.186.99.104 (talk) at 15:55, 29 August 2010 (Well, I'm sorry but it's a fact. He plead guilty and was sentenced to seven years in prison. I'm Puerto Rican too but the 1980s are over.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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Carlos Alberto Torres (born September 19, 1952) is a member of Puerto Rico's independence movement and the longest-serving Puerto Rican political prisioner.[1] He was convicted and sentenced to 78 years in a U.S. federal prison for seditious conspiracy - conspiring to use force against the lawful authority of the United States over Puerto Rico.[2] He served 30 years, being released on July 26, 2010.[3]

Circumstances

Torres was linked to the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN), which claimed responsibility for numerous bombings (which had led to six deaths),[4][5] although Torres himself was not accused of participating in the bombings, or himself causing any deaths.[6] He was released on 26 July 2010, after 30 years in prison.[6] In the 1970s Torres was listed for three years as one of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives during the 1970s.[7]

Education

According to the Committee Pro Human Rights of Puerto Rico, while in jail, Torres obtained a university degree, worked in the Department of Education, and became a painter and artesan.[8]

Severity of his sentence

No other Puerto Rican political prisoner has served as many years in prison as Torres. The other Puerto Rican political prisoner with a long sentence was Oscar López Rivera, who has spent 29 years behind bars.[9] Several human rights organization including the American Association of Jurists called for the release of Alberto Torres.[10] Torres was not included in the President Bill Clinton's 1999 clemency offer to others FALN members.[11] President Clinton said he refused to commute Torres' sentence because he "was identified as the leader of the group, and had made statements that he was involved in a revolution against the United States and that his actions had been legitimate."[12] Torres spent 30 years as a political prisoner and, had he not been paroled in May, 2010, he would had been jailed until 2024.[13]

Release proceedings

In January, 2009, Carlos Alberto Torres was scheduled for a parole hearing, after serving 29 years behind bars. On the eve of his hearing, prison authorities accused him and eight of his cellmates of possessing knives which the tenth cellmate had hidden in the light fixture of the cell. On July 28, the Parole board notified Carlos Alberto that they would postpone their decision for at least 90 days, pending resolution of the charges. Two days later, the prison disciplinary hearing officer held hearings on the weapons charges. Alberto’s defense consisted not merely of his statement denying possession. The tenth cellmate appeared as a witness, admitting that the knives were his, and his alone, and that Carlos Alberto and none of the other cellmates knew he had hidden the knives in the light fixture. The guilty party also provided a sworn statement to this effect. The disciplinary hearing officer nevertheless found them guilty of possessing the hidden weapons.[14]

Parole and release

Torres was granted parole in May 2010, and released on July 26, 2010. Torres flew to his homeland island of Puerto Rico on 29 July to a hero's welcome.[15] An activity was organized at the Don Pedro Albizu Campos Park, located across the street from the Tenerías sector of Barrio Machuelo Abajo, Ponce, where Torres was born on September 1,1952.[16] This is the same place in Ponce where Pedro Albizu Campos, another independence advocate, was born.

Other prisoners

Oscar Lopez Rivera who, like Torres, also went underground in 1976, was arrested in 1981. He was accused of treason and belonging to FALN. He served 12 years of a 70-year sentence in isolation. Nevertheless, he rejected Clinton’s offer of an early release and remains in prison. His projected release date is scheduled for June 26, 2023.[17]

The other Puerto Rican political prisoner still jailed is Avelino González Claudio. He was the leader of the Federation of University Students pro Independence (FUPI) and the Pro Independence Movement (MPI) during the years he spent in New York. In 1985, González Claudio was accused in abstencia of having planned a $6 million robbery to Wells Fargo in Hartford, Connecticut, as a member of the Macheteros. He was captured in 2008. He plead guilty and was sentenced to seven years in prison.[18][19]

See also

References

  1. ^ La Prensa San Diego. By Marjorie Cohn. The Incarceration of Carlos Alberto Torres: After 30 Years in Prison, the Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Will Be Freed.. Vol. XXXIII. July 30, 2010.
  2. ^ Puerto Rico Daily Sun. Political prisoner to be released. July 17, 2010.
  3. ^ Primera Hora. By Leoncio Pineda Dattari. Saldrá en Libertad Preso Político Puertorriqueño Carlos Alberto Torres. July 16, 2010.
  4. ^ The Los Angeles Times. 11 Arrested as Puerto Rican Terrorists. April 6, 1980.
  5. ^ The San Francisco Chronicle. Violent nationalist group leader welcomed in Puerto Rico. By Danica Coto. July 27, 2010.
  6. ^ a b CounterPunch, 26 July 2010, The Incarceration of Carlos Alberto Torres
  7. ^ "A Chronological Listing of the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" March 14, 1950 – January 1, 2000" (PDF). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  8. ^ Puerto Rico Daily Sun. Political prisoner to be released. July 17, 2010.
  9. ^ Puerto Rico Daily Sun. Political prisoner to be released. July 17, 2010.
  10. ^ "American Association of Jurists calls for release of Puerto Rican political prisoners". National Boricua Human Rights Network. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  11. ^ "FALN prisoners set free". CNN. September 10, 1999. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  12. ^ The San Francisco Chronicle. Violent nationalist group leader welcomed in Puerto Rico. By Danica Coto. July 27, 2010.
  13. ^ Primera Hora. By Leoncio Pineda Dattari. Saldrá en Libertad Preso Político Puertorriqueño Carlos Alberto Torres. July 16, 2010.
  14. ^ Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Carlos Alberto Torres: parole bid foiled by Bureau of Prisons
  15. ^ The San Francisco Chronicle. Violent nationalist group leader welcomed in Puerto Rico. By Danica Coto. July 27, 2010.
  16. ^ Puerto Rico Daily Sun. Political prisoner to be released. July 17, 2010.
  17. ^ Federal Bureau of Prisons. U.S. Department of Justice. Immate Locator.
  18. ^ [1]
  19. ^ Puerto Rico Daily Sun. Political prisoner to be released. July 17, 2010.
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