(Barbados Nation) United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay wants Raul Garcia freed immediately.
The United Nations official yesterday said there was much concern about the Cuban who had been in continuous detention since completing a 17-year prison term in Barbados.
“I understand it is a question of determining his nationality. But really I urge whatever the issues are, that they be addressed immediately and certainly I call for his release while the Government and judicial institutions are deliberating over his status,” the human rights commissioner said.
Garcia, 57, was convicted here in 1994 for a number of cocaine-related charges, including importation of the illegal drug.
After completing his sentence he was held in a detention facility at the Grantley Adams International Airport but was later returned to Dodds Prisons where he recently staged a hunger strike that drew international attention to his situation.
Cuba, the place of his birth has revoked his citizenship and the United States where he became a naturalised citizen has refused to accept him.
