This article by Femi Falana, SAN discusses the indictment of former Cuban President, Raul Castro by the United States of America, for an offence which his brother, also a former Cuban President, Fidel Castro, is said to have already taken responsibility for, arguing that the belated indictment of Raul Castro has no basis in law, and instead, is a desperate bid to overthrow the Cuban Government, and also divert attention from what he refers to as the reckless war being waged on Iran by Israel and the US
Background
On February 24, 1996, Cuban Forces shot down two of the Brothers to the Rescue planes near the Cuban coast. Three American citizens and one resident of the US, were killed. President Fidel Castro took responsibility for the incident, saying that he gave orders to his military to shoot down planes violating Cuban airspace. The Cuban Government said that it had proof that prior to shooting down the planes, Cuban authorities had issued warnings to them which he said were ignored.
At the material time, the US government said that “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”.
