On May 7, Gerardo Sanchez Santa Cruz of the Cuban "Commission...

On May 7, Gerardo Sanchez Santa Cruz of the Cuban "Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation" in Havana disclosed that the Cuban Government had executed 10 criminals by firing squad in the previous 3 months and has sentenced 5 more to death. The 10 were executed for crimes involving slayings and none of them appeared to have any political overtones. Jose Miguel Vivanon, American regional director for Human Rights Watch, said, "I believe they are accelerating these processes in an attempt to maintain social control and control criminal activity." Gerardo Sanchez Santa Cruz said, "This is a very notable increase that scares us. The most terrible part is that this may be only a partial list, because the Government does not always reveal all it does." Two of the executions were reported by international sources considered reliable, and 8 by local agencies.