Uhuru Kenyatta, president of Kenya between 2013 and 2022, welcomes members of the Cuban medical brigade in June 2018. Photo: Minrex Cuba/File photo.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—The government of Cuba has asked US authorities to clarify whether its bombardment of Somalia killed two Cuban doctors, who had been abducted from the Kenya-Somalia border five years ago.
An official statement issued by the Cuban Foreign Affairs Ministry on Friday, April 12, referred to the recent news that the two Cuban doctors, Assel Herrera Correa and Landy Rodríguez Hernández, who had been kidnapped from Kenya five years ago where they had been providing voluntary medical services as part of a Cuba-Kenya binational agreement, were presumably killed on February 15 as a result of a bombing campaign of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) in southern Somalia.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry urged the US government to provide information on the matter, in view of the “difficult and worrying news on the alleged death of our two compatriots, victims of an air attack on February 15, carried out by United States military forces operating in Somalia.”
Cinco años transcurridos desde el vil y absurdo secuestro de Assel y Landy.
📌Declaración del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de la República de #Cuba 🇨🇺.
🔗 https://t.co/Md1JmY5EVd pic.twitter.com/s7sbHDLecq
— Cancillería de Cuba (@CubaMINREX) April 12, 2024
“Despite multiple efforts made by the Cuban government, it has not been possible to obtain information or evidence that would help us to reach definitive conclusions and clarify the situation of Assel and Landy, whether they are still alive, or whether we could confirm the sad news released on February 17,” the statement noted. “The data obtained to date is insufficient to corroborate the truth of what happened in accordance with procedures endorsed by national legislation on investigation.”
“Given the state of the conflict in Somalia and the impossibility of getting a confirmation,” the statement continued, “the government of Cuba has repeatedly requested, through direct communications and diplomatic notes, precise information from the government of the United States on the events that took place.” However, according to the statement, the US government has so far only confirmed that there was a bombardment in the area where the doctors were, withholding any information as to the location.
The Cuban statement added that “the government of the United States has not responded with the seriousness or urgency required. It has not even provided data on the circumstances and characteristics of the operation carried out.”
The Cuban government decried the fact that the United States “has not clarified whether the operation was justified, or whether the US military forces acted with due respect for international humanitarian law and with the obligatory caution to protect civilians and innocent people. It has not provided information on victims or offered any data that would help us determine if, during the operations carried out by the AFRICOM on the dates and in the geographic area reported, our doctors were among the victims of the attack.”
Cuban President Assures the Country “Works Tirelessly” for the Return of Doctors Kidnapped in Kenya
“This absence of data and the lack of a prompt and adequate response on the part of the US government is preventing us from having accurate information to offer the families and our people a conclusive version of what happened,” the Foreign Ministry noted.
The Cuban authorities are still waiting for “an official response to the inquiries that Cuba has respectfully submitted, with elements that may be provided by the civilian and military agencies of the United States operating in Somalia and in that part of the world.”
This April 12 was the fifth anniversary of the abduction of the two Cuban doctors, who had allegedly been taken prisoners by some terrorist group operating in the border areas of Kenya and Somalia. Since then, the governments of Cuba, Kenya, and Somalia have made numerous efforts to locate them or to secure their release, but have failed till date.
The Cuban authorities “will not give up hope or efforts until finding out the truth,” the statement concluded.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by Saheli Chowdhury
OT/SC/JRE/AU
Saheli Chowdhury
Saheli Chowdhury is from West Bengal, India, studying physics for a profession, but with a passion for writing. She is interested in history and popular movements around the world, especially in the Global South. She is a co-editor and contributor for Orinoco Tribune.
