Washington ? Concerned they could be national security risks, the Justice Department imposed severe restrictions, including solitary confinement, on five Cubans serving long prison sentences for conspiracy to commit espionage and other charges.

After one month, Justice Department officials have decided to suspend the measures.

The Cuban government had complained bitterly about the treatment of the five prisoners, arguing that the restrictions were preventing them from preparing properly for an appeal of their June 2001 convictions.

The Special Administrative Measures are designed to ensure that prisoners loyal to a foreign power do not carry out activities on behalf of that country through phone calls or other contacts.

Dagoberto Rodriguez, President Fidel Castro’s chief representative in Washington, said in an interview this week that there was “strong psychological pressure” on the five prisoners.

Aside from the solitary confinement in a small punishment cell, he said that in some cases, “they were prevented from wearing clothes. They had nothing more than underwear without shoes. The lights were on 24 hours a day so they didn’t even know whether it was day or night. They had no right to a piece of paper or pencil.”

In two cases cited by Rodriguez, lawyers were allowed to visit their clients but had difficulty showing them legal documents because of a glass barrier.

Efforts to obtain comment from Justice Department and Bureau of Prisons spokesmen about these allegations were unsuccessful.

The administration declined public comment about why the measures were lifted.

One official, asking not to be identified, said the measures failed to take into account the full range of U.S. interests, including international obligations to allow Cuban consular officers to have access to the prisoners.

The Cuban government complaints came at a time when the Bush administration has been highlighting its concerns about Cuba’s biggest crackdown on dissidents in years.

The initiation of trials in Havana against 78 dissidents got under way Thursday in what State Department spokesman Philip Reeker described as a “kangaroo court” proceeding.

Other officials said it would be a mistake to draw parallels between the Cuban dissidents and the convicted spies.

The five prisoners were convicted in a Miami court, several on charges of trying to infiltrate U.S. military bases. The prisoners are serving sentences ranging from 15 years to life.

One, Gerardo Hernandez, was found guilty of contributing to the deaths of four American fliers whose planes were shot down on Feb. 24, 1996, by Cuban MiGs off the island’s coast.

Cuban authorities say the men are patriots who were merely working to prevent violent Cuban exile groups in Florida from launching terrorist acts against their homeland.

In Cuba, the five are venerated as heroes in poems and songs. Their images can be seen on billboards and other locations throughout the island.

They are confined to penitentiaries in Colorado, Wisconsin, Texas, South Carolina and California.