UNHCR meets Cuban asylum seekers

UNHCR officials have been able to interview two dissident Cuban doctors held in a Zimbabwe prison who were detained last
week after making a request for asylum to the Canadian authorities. The two were found to be in good condition.

Dominik Bartsch, a spokesman for UNHCR, told IRIN on Thursday that they were likely to be released later on Thursday to have their case heard by a Zimbabwean edibility committee on which representatives of the refugee agency will attend as observers.

"This is good news because we have not only had access to them, but because the matter is now being handled in the proper manner in keeping with international conventions on asylum seekers," Bartsch said.

The two doctors, Leonel Cordova Rodriguez, 31, and Noris Peña Martinez, 25, were taken from their home by armed soldiers in the capital, Harare, on Friday afer approaching the Canadian embassy and allegedly denouncing the Cuban leader, Fidel Castro. They were bundled aboard a flight to Johannesburg.

As officials accompanying them tried to get them to board a Paris-bound Air France flight for an onward journey to Havana, Cuba, a hastily written note was passed to an airline employee. Diplomats said they believed the two doctors were returned to Zimbabwe after the airline refused to take them on board.

Oluseyi Bajulaiye, UNHCR representative for Zimbabwe, said he was concerned at their plight and the way the matter had been handled. But after discussing the issue with the authorities, UNHCR representatives were able to meet them on Wednesday.

"We have now interviewed them at the remand prison, outside the capital, Harare, where they have been held in separate cells," Bartsch said. "We found them to be in very good condition and we can say that due process in this case is being followed. We expect they will be released during the course of the day for the hearing."