Edwin Cortes
Encyclopedia
Edwin Cortes is a Puerto Rican
nationalist
who received a sentence of 35 years for seditious conspiracy and other charges. He was sentenced on February 18, 1981, and incarcerated in a U.S. federal prison. However, he was released early from prison, after President Bill Clinton
extended a clemency offer to him on September 7, 1999.
, one of 15 children. In 1973, after a high school teacher told him that she did not teach Puerto Rican history because Puerto Rico did not have a history, he became involved in Latinos Unidos, a student group that called for the establishment of a Latin American studies curriculum and cultural programs. After graduating high school, Edwin entered the University of Illinois in Chicago where he joined a struggle that culminated in the establishment of programs for support services and recruitment for Latinos. As a student leader he participated in struggles in support of the Iranian, Palestinian, Eritrean, and Mexican people. He also participated in the founding of the Puerto Rican Student Union. In the community in which he lived he helped to set up programs for recreational and employment opportunities for youth. He was a member of the Committee to stop the Grand Jury and for the freedom of the five Puerto Rican nationalist prisoners. Edwin has two children: Noemi and Carlos. His children were two and four years old when he was arrested in 1983 and condemned to 35 years in prison for seditious conspiracy.
Cortes and 11 others were arrested on April 4, 1980, in Evanston, Illinois
. They had been linked to more than 100 bombings or attempted bombings since 1974 in their attempt to achieve independence for Puerto Rico. At their trial proceedings, some of the arrested declared their status as prisoners of war
, and refused to participate in the proceedings.
None of the bombings of which they were convicted resulted in deaths or injuries. Cortes was given a 35-year federal sentence for seditious conspiracy and other charges. Among the other convicted Puerto Rican nationalists there were sentences of as long as 90 years in Federal prisons for offenses including sedition, possession of unregistered firearms, interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle, interference with interstate commerce by violence and interstate transportation of firearms with intent to commit a crime. None of those granted clemency were convicted in any of the actual bombings. Rather, they had been convicted on a variety of charges ranging from bomb making and conspiracy to armed robbery and firearms violations. They were all convicted for sedition, the act of attempting to overthrow the Government of the United States in Puerto Rico by force.
and the House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Administration of Justice both criticized the conditions. The conditions were found to be in violation of the U.N. Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. A federal judge also addressed his concerns in the case of Baraldine vs. Meese.
s in an anti-colonial war against the United States to liberate Puerto Rico from U.S. domination and invoked prisoner of war
status. They argued that the U.S. courts did not have jurisdiction to try them as criminals and petitioned for their cases to be handed over to an international court
that would determine their status. The U.S. Government, however, did not recognize their request.
The sentences received by Cortes and the other Nationalists were judged to be "out of proportion to the nationalists' offenses." Statistics showed their sentences were almost 20 times greater than sentences for similar offenses by the American population at large.
For many years, numerous national and international organizations criticized Cortes' incarceration categorizing it as political imprisonment. Edwin Cortes was finally released from prison on September 10, 1999, after President Bill Clinton
extended him clemency. Clinton cited Rev. Desmond Tutu
and former President Jimmy Carter
as having been influential on his decision to grant Cortes the clemency offer. Cases involving the release of other Puerto Rican Nationalist prisoners have also been categorized as cases of political prisoner
s, with some being more vocal than others.
In criticizing President Clinton's decision to release the Puerto Rican prisoners, the conservative U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee
also categorized Cortes as a "Puerto Rican Nationalist", echoing a recent Newsweek article. In 2006, the United Nations called for the release of the remaining Puerto Rican political prisoners in United States prisons.
In addition, Juan Enrique Segarra-Palmer
, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison on October 4, 1985, was to become eligible for release in September, 2004.
Puerto Rican people
A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...
nationalist
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party was founded on September 17, 1922. Its main objective is to work for Puerto Rican Independence.In 1919, José Coll y Cuchí, a member of the Union Party of Puerto Rico, felt that the Union Party was not doing enough for the cause of Puerto Rican independence and he...
who received a sentence of 35 years for seditious conspiracy and other charges. He was sentenced on February 18, 1981, and incarcerated in a U.S. federal prison. However, he was released early from prison, after President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
extended a clemency offer to him on September 7, 1999.
Early years and personal life
Edwin was born and raised in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, one of 15 children. In 1973, after a high school teacher told him that she did not teach Puerto Rican history because Puerto Rico did not have a history, he became involved in Latinos Unidos, a student group that called for the establishment of a Latin American studies curriculum and cultural programs. After graduating high school, Edwin entered the University of Illinois in Chicago where he joined a struggle that culminated in the establishment of programs for support services and recruitment for Latinos. As a student leader he participated in struggles in support of the Iranian, Palestinian, Eritrean, and Mexican people. He also participated in the founding of the Puerto Rican Student Union. In the community in which he lived he helped to set up programs for recreational and employment opportunities for youth. He was a member of the Committee to stop the Grand Jury and for the freedom of the five Puerto Rican nationalist prisoners. Edwin has two children: Noemi and Carlos. His children were two and four years old when he was arrested in 1983 and condemned to 35 years in prison for seditious conspiracy.
Seditious conspiracy
Cortes' first 10 months in custody were spent in isolation, imposed solely because of the political nature of the charges against him, and ended only when the federal court ordered the prison to place him in the general population. In prison he was involved in the creation of cultural and social programs for prisoners. He was also active in vocational and arts programs. Had President Clinton not offered clemency, Cortes would had been released in 2004.Cortes and 11 others were arrested on April 4, 1980, in Evanston, Illinois
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
. They had been linked to more than 100 bombings or attempted bombings since 1974 in their attempt to achieve independence for Puerto Rico. At their trial proceedings, some of the arrested declared their status as prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
, and refused to participate in the proceedings.
None of the bombings of which they were convicted resulted in deaths or injuries. Cortes was given a 35-year federal sentence for seditious conspiracy and other charges. Among the other convicted Puerto Rican nationalists there were sentences of as long as 90 years in Federal prisons for offenses including sedition, possession of unregistered firearms, interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle, interference with interstate commerce by violence and interstate transportation of firearms with intent to commit a crime. None of those granted clemency were convicted in any of the actual bombings. Rather, they had been convicted on a variety of charges ranging from bomb making and conspiracy to armed robbery and firearms violations. They were all convicted for sedition, the act of attempting to overthrow the Government of the United States in Puerto Rico by force.
Human rights violations
There were reports of human rights violations against the FALN prisoners. The prisoners were placed in prisons far from their families, some were sexually assaulted by prison personnel, some were denied adequate medical attention, and others were kept in isolated underground prison cells for no reason. Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
and the House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Administration of Justice both criticized the conditions. The conditions were found to be in violation of the U.N. Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. A federal judge also addressed his concerns in the case of Baraldine vs. Meese.
Political prisoner
At the time of their arrest Cortes and the others declared themselves to be combatantCombatant
A combatant is someone who takes a direct part in the hostilities of an armed conflict. If a combatant follows the law of war, then they are considered a privileged combatant, and upon capture they qualify as a prisoner of war under the Third Geneva Convention...
s in an anti-colonial war against the United States to liberate Puerto Rico from U.S. domination and invoked prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
status. They argued that the U.S. courts did not have jurisdiction to try them as criminals and petitioned for their cases to be handed over to an international court
International court
International courts are formed by treaties between nations, or under the authority of an international organization such as the United Nations — this includes ad hoc tribunals and permanent institutions, but excludes any courts arising purely under national authority.Early examples of...
that would determine their status. The U.S. Government, however, did not recognize their request.
The sentences received by Cortes and the other Nationalists were judged to be "out of proportion to the nationalists' offenses." Statistics showed their sentences were almost 20 times greater than sentences for similar offenses by the American population at large.
For many years, numerous national and international organizations criticized Cortes' incarceration categorizing it as political imprisonment. Edwin Cortes was finally released from prison on September 10, 1999, after President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
extended him clemency. Clinton cited Rev. Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
and former President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
as having been influential on his decision to grant Cortes the clemency offer. Cases involving the release of other Puerto Rican Nationalist prisoners have also been categorized as cases of political prisoner
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
s, with some being more vocal than others.
In criticizing President Clinton's decision to release the Puerto Rican prisoners, the conservative U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee
Republican Policy Committee Chairman of the United States Senate
Since 1947, the Republican members of the United States Senate have elected a policy committee chairman, who is the fourth-ranking Republican, behind the Republican Leader, Republican Whip, and Republican Conference Chairman....
also categorized Cortes as a "Puerto Rican Nationalist", echoing a recent Newsweek article. In 2006, the United Nations called for the release of the remaining Puerto Rican political prisoners in United States prisons.
The 10 convicted prisoners
The ten convicted on February 18, 1981, but then released under Clinton's clemency order were:- Elizam EscobarElizam EscobarElizam Escobar is a Puerto Ricanpoet, author and visual artist.-Early years:Escobar was born in Puerto Rico's second largest city, Ponce, Puerto Rico, on the southern part of the island. There he received his primary and secondary education. As a child, he always enjoyed drawing and painting...
, sentenced to 60 years in prison. - Ricardo JimenezRicardo JimenezRicardo Jiménez is a Puerto Rican nationalist who received a sentence of 90 years for seditious conspiracy and other charges. He was sentenced on February 18, 1981, and incarcerated in a U.S. federal prison...
, sentenced to 90 years in prison. - Adolfo MatosAdolfo MatosAdolfo Matos is a Puerto Rican nationalist who received a sentence of 70 years for seditious conspiracy and other charges. He was sentenced on February 18, 1981, and incarcerated in a U.S. federal prison...
, sentenced to 70 years in prison. - Dylcia Noemi PaganDylcia Noemi PaganDylcia Noemi Pagan is a Puerto Rican nationalist who received a sentence of 55 years for seditious conspiracy and other charges. She was sentenced on February 18, 1981, and incarcerated in a U.S. federal prison...
, sentenced to 55 years in prison. - Alicia RodriguezAlicia RodriguezAlicia Rodriguez is a Puerto Rican nationalist who received a sentence of 55 years for seditious conspiracy and other charges. She was sentenced on February 18, 1981, and incarcerated in a U.S. federal prison...
, sentenced to 55 years in prison. - Ida Luz RodriguezIda Luz RodriguezIda Luz Rodriguez is a Puerto Rican nationalist who received a sentence of 75 years for seditious conspiracy and other charges. She was sentenced on February 18, 1981, and incarcerated in a U.S. federal prison...
, sentenced to 75 years in prison. - Luis RosaLuis RosaLuis Rosa is a Puerto Rican nationalist who received a sentence of 75 years for seditious conspiracy and other charges. He was sentenced on February 18, 1981, and incarcerated in a U.S. federal prison...
, sentenced to 75 years in prison. - Carmen ValentinCarmen ValentinCarmen Hilda Valentín Pérez is a Puerto Rican nationalist who received a sentence of 90 years for seditious conspiracy and other charges. She was sentenced on February 18, 1981, and incarcerated in a U.S. federal prison...
, sentenced to 90 years in prison. - Alberto RodriguezAlberto Rodriguez (Puerto Rican Nationalist)Alberto Rodriguez is a Puerto Rican nationalist who received a sentence of 35 years for seditious conspiracy and other charges. He was sentenced in 1985, and incarcerated first at United States Penitentiary in Lewisburg , PA, and later at the federal penitentiary at USP Beaumont, TX...
, sentenced to 35 years in prison. - Alejandrina TorresAlejandrina TorresAlejandrina Torres is a Puerto Rican nationalist who was convicted and sentenced to 35 years for seditious conspiracy to overthrow the government of the United States. Torres was linked to the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional , which claimed responsibility for numerous bombings...
, sentenced to 35 years in prison.
In addition, Juan Enrique Segarra-Palmer
Juan Enrique Segarra-Palmer
Juan Enrique Segarra-Palmer is a Puerto Rican Nationalist who became eligible for release from prison five years after accepting President Bill Clinton's clemency offer on September 7, 1999. He had received a sentence of 55 years for seditious conspiracy, and weapons and conspiracy charges, along...
, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison on October 4, 1985, was to become eligible for release in September, 2004.
See also
- Carlos Alberto TorresCarlos Alberto Torres (Puerto Rican Nationalist)Carlos Alberto Torres is a member of Puerto Rico's independence movement and the longest-serving Puerto Rican political prisoner. 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...
- Juan Enrique Segarra-PalmerJuan Enrique Segarra-PalmerJuan Enrique Segarra-Palmer is a Puerto Rican Nationalist who became eligible for release from prison five years after accepting President Bill Clinton's clemency offer on September 7, 1999. He had received a sentence of 55 years for seditious conspiracy, and weapons and conspiracy charges, along...
- Edwin Cortes
- Pedro Albizu CamposPedro Albizu CamposDon Pedro Albizu Campos was a Puerto Rican politician and one of the leading figures in the Puerto Rican independence movement. He was the leader and president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party from 1930 until his death...
- Oscar CollazoOscar CollazoOscar Collazo , was one of two Puerto Ricans who attempted to assassinate U.S. President Harry S. Truman.-Early life:...
- Lolita LebrónLolita LebrónDolores "Lolita" Lebrón Sotomayor was a Puerto Rican nationalist who wasconvicted of attempted murder and other crimes after leading an assault on the United States House of Representatives in 1954,...
- Puerto Rican independence movementPuerto Rican independence movementThe Puerto Rican independence movement refers to initiatives throughout the history of Puerto Rico aimed at obtaining independence for the Island, first from Spain, and then from the United States...