Sec. 2. Findings

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Congress makes the following findings: Joanne Chesimard, who is on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s list of Most Wanted Terrorists, is believed to be receiving safe haven in Cuba to escape confinement for criminal offenses committed in the United States. On May 2, 1973, Ms. Chesimard, a member of the Black Liberation Army extremist organization, and 2 accomplices opened fire on 2 New Jersey State troopers during a motor vehicle stop. Ms. Chesimard and her accomplices wounded 1 State trooper and executed State Trooper Werner Foerster at point-blank range.

After a 6-week trial in March 1977, Ms. Chesimard was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. On November 2, 1979, Ms. Chesimard, aided by armed individuals posing as visitors, escaped from what is now the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women and fled to Cuba. William Guillermo Morales, a bomb-maker for the terrorist organization Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional, is credibly believed to have committed numerous terrorist attacks on United States soil, including the bombings of Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan on January 25, 1975, and of the Mobil Oil employment office in New York on August 3, 1977.

Among those killed in the bombing of Fraunces Tavern was Mr. Frank Connor of New Jersey. Following hospitalization in Bellevue Hospital in July 1978 after a bomb he was constructing exploded prematurely, William Guillermo Morales escaped to Mexico and made his way to Cuba before June 1988. Other fugitives from the United States who have been charged with offenses, such as hijacking, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and murder, are believed to be receiving safe haven in Cuba. Fugitives from the United States who are currently residing in Cuba include— Charlie Hill, a member of the Republic of New Afrika militant group who stands accused of killing a policeman in New Mexico in 1971 before hijacking a passenger plane and obtaining asylum in Cuba; and Victor Manuel Gerena, a member of the Puerto Rican terrorist group Los Macheteros who stole a Wells Fargo armored car in Connecticut containing over $7,000,000 in November 1983 before escaping to Cuba and remained on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for more than 32 years.

The Treaty Between the United States and Cuba for the Mutual Extradition of Fugitives from Justice, done at Washington, DC, April 6, 1904 (33 Stat. 2265), and the Additional Extradition Treaty Between the United States and Cuba, done at Havana, Cuba January 14, 1926 (44 Stat. 2392), constitute bilateral extradition treaties between the United States and Cuba. The Cuban regime has previously returned fugitives from the United States, including— Jesse James Bell, a United States citizen wanted on 15 drug charges who was returned to the United States in January 2002;

Leonard B. Auerbach, a United States citizen wanted on Federal child sex crimes charges who was returned to the United States in June 2008; and James Ray III, a United States citizen and New Jersey resident accused of murdering his girlfriend, who was returned to the United States in November 2018.

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33 Stat. 2265
44 Stat. 2392

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Sec. 2

Findings

Stat.33 Stat. 2265

Stat.44 Stat. 2392

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