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Letters
Open letter to Public Opinion from the wife of
Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet.
Havana, March 10, 2004 (www.cubanet.org)
My name is Elsa Morejón Hernández. I am a Christian woman and a defender
of
human rights in Cuba. My hope is that this message will serve as a
testimony
to the world about the injustices that we, the men and women who are
struggling peacefully in our country for the freedom of all Cubans, are
suffering.
My husband, Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet, who is 42 years old, a Christian, a
married man, and the father of two children, is imprisoned in Cuba in
the maximum
security prison, Kilo 8, in Pinar del Río, 162 kilometers from Havana
where his
family lives. He was sentenced on April 7, 2003, along with 75 other
peaceful dissidents, in a summary trial under Article 91 of the Cuban
constitution.
The article states that he violated the sovereignty and integrity of the
Cuban
state.
On October 13, 2002, my husband completed a three-year prison term, in
the
maximum security prison, Cuba Sí, 768 kilometers from his family. He was
sentenced only because in November, 1999, he publicly convened a
peaceful march,
asking the Cuban government for an end to the death penalty and for the
freedom
of political prisoners in Cuba. On December 6, 2003, he was again
arrested
when he went to the home of a colleague for a discussion about human
rights. He
was kept illegally in Combinado del Este prison in Havana for the
alleged
crime of public disorder. On March 29, 2003, he was moved to the
Department of
State Security in Havana, where he was subjected to interrogation, and
where he
was isolated until his summary trial on April 7, 2003. At the same time,
we
were the object of searches of our home by Castro's State Security. The
only
dangerous weapons the State Security agents found in my home were books
by
Martin Luther King, Jr., Newsweek magazines, articles about human
rights, an old
computer from 1995, two CD's about medicine, and an authorized permit to
the
U.S. Interests Section in Havana. The last item was the greatest find
for the
State Security, about which my husband responded openly on April, 7: "I
visit
them (the US Interests Section) because they are my friends, and they
love
freedom and justice like I do. I take them documented violations of
human rights
committed by the Cuban government. We have never bow to a foreign
government;
we have appealed to diplomatic headquarters seeking solidarity and
expressing
our desire to live in freedom in our own country."
Dr. Biscet was confined in the prison, Kilo 5, in Pinar del Río, after
the
summary trial and was forced to remain in a punishment cell for seven
months
without proper clothing, wearing only his undergarments. He was denied
family
visits, was isolated, and was out of contact with his family because he
refused
to wear the common prisoner's uniform. On November 13, 2003, the
authorities
moved him to Kilo 8 prison in Pinar del Río, where he is presently
detained.
Since his arrival there, State Security kept him isolated in a cell
without
windows for two months, with restricted food, without family visits,
without
reading material, and without sunlight, only because he refused to share
a cell
with a prisoner sentenced for murder. On January 16, 2004, he was taken
from
the punishment cell and placed in the same jail in a cubicle next to
twelve
hardened (common) prisoners without high prison sentences Neither the
sanitary
conditions nor the food there is acceptable. He does have the right to
family
visits every three months (only close family, two people), reading
material
that does not contain anything different from communism, personal
toiletries,
and some food as allowed by the prison, but limited in quantity. He
cannot have
a radio or any contact with his family by phone-only letters that have
to be
handed to the guard. These letters are sometimes read by prison
officials,
and depending on their content, they are sent to the family and vice
versa.
Dr. Biscet joined the human rights movement in Cuba in 1990 and founded
his o
rganization for human rights in 1997 with the sole purpose of defending
the
right to life and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That same
year, he
and his wife both lost their jobs because he publicly opposed abortions
in
the hospital where he was working.
Before going to prison, my husband had no dental problems. As a result
of
prolonged incarceration and the lack of dental care, his teeth are in
very poor
condition. He has no confidence that there is any good intention on the
part
of State Security concerning this matter. In addition, he suffers from
high
blood pressure, in spite of being treated for it with a restricted diet
and
Atenolol. He refuses much needed medical tests, because he distrusts
State
Security. In spite of everything, his mother and I saw him on February
26, 2004,
and he mentioned that he felt better since he was out of the punishment
cell.
He says that the authorities take him out in the sun daily,that he walks
a
little bit on the patio during exercise time, that he gets along with
the other
prisoners, and that they respect and appreciate him. In the five years
that he
has been in prison, Dr. Biscet has maintained a true unshakeable
spiritual
strength; in the last communication he wrote to me on the eve of his
anniversary
in prison, he said, "I am a man who is guided by my ethical principles.
The
suffering of another is also my suffering. I cannot calmly accept evil
because
doing so would eat away my bones, and my mind would never live in peace.
I
oppose injustice so that it will not prevail. Non-violent resistance to
evil
dignifies the human spirit and at the same time fulfills me as a person.
For
this reason, I will be here in prison as long as God so desires." (Dr.
Oscar
Elías Biscet)
We are convinced that this man is innocent, as God also knows. The
accusations imposed upon my husband to jail him have nothing to do with
the true
peaceful public activities that he carries out in defense of life and
human rights.
My husband is in prison as a result of the lack of freedom and justice
in my
country, Cuba. For this reason, we appeal to the conscience of all men
and
women of good will, to organizations of human rights, the international
press,
and nations that they demand the immediate release of Dr. Oscar Elías
Biscet
and all political prisoners, whose only crime has been and is to honor
the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
We thank you in advance for your solidarity,
Relatives of Dr. Biscet and Lic. Elsa Morejón Hernández, his wife
Address:Avenida Acosta #464, Entre 8va & 9na Lawton, Havana, Cuba
Havana, Cuba
March 10, 2004
Testimony obtained from Cuba by Cubanet.org. Translation by Tanya
Wilder,
Human Rights Committee of the Coalition of Cuban-American Women. Email:
(tswilder@charter.net)
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