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NEWS
Havana, November 24, 2003
Message to the People of Cuba and the International Community
It has been more than four
decades that hundreds of Cubans chose to raise their voices in the name
of thousands of their countrymen that desire and hope to live in
freedom. Hundreds of them lost their lives in the pursuit of this task,
hundreds of them languish today unjustly jailed in the Castrist cells
for defending the democratic principles that concern the inherent
freedom of human beings while others have had to emigrate and live with
the pain of being an exile.
The people of Cuba deserve to live in freedom not only because they are
citizens of that country but also because they are human beings.
The people of Cuba have faith in God and in all the men and women that
despite the repression and incarceration to long prison terms in
sub-human conditions, have not lost their dignity and respect in the
struggle that leads to freedom and to the complete dignity of men as
Jose Marti dreamed.
We Cubans are convinced that we are just One People, and as we foresee
the radiant dawn that will bring us all well-being, happiness, and the
so-much wanted freedom, we want to make public our democratic principles
with only one purpose: With All and for the well-being of All, so that
all those people, institutions, and countries that so desire, will be
able to defend them in a pacific and civilized manner.
That is our purpose. We ratify that we respect the different democratic
tendencies that already exist in our country even if we do not coincide
in the ways to obtain total freedom for the people of Cuba.
We wish to make public the Declaration of Principles of the Lawton
Foundation for Human Rights which was outlined by its president, Dr.
Oscar Elias Biscet, who at present is unjustly jailed and sanctioned to
25 years in prison in sub-human conditions, for pacifically defending
the right to live and to freedom of the people of Cuba. With his
approval, from the depths of his dark cell, he bestowed upon me the
privilege of announcing to the Cuban people and the world this
Declaration, which was reaffirmed and bequeathed by him in the few days
that he saw sunlight in November 2002.
For his refusal to renounce these principles, Dr. Biscet is being
subject to psychological and physical punishment in a subterranean cell
without visits from his relatives and forced to cohabitate with an
inmate who has been jailed for murder.
Justice exalts a nation, sin is the ruin of people,
Proverbs 14, 34
Lic. Elsa Morejon, wife of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet and member of the
Board of Directors of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights.
Declaration of Principles of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet
1. We demand the unconditional freedom of the people of Cuba under a
multi-party system of government democratically elected at all levels
and with complete guarantee of freedom of expression for all, including
the governments’ detachment from the country’s means of communication.
2. The repeal of the illegitimate communist Constitution of 1976 and the
establishment of a sovereign constituent assembly to draw amendments to
the democratic Constitution of 1940, including the absolute adhesion to
the Universal Declaration of Humans Rights of the United Nations and the
abolition of the death penalty. These amendments should be ratified by
the elected representatives.
3. The establishment of a state that will guarantee equality to all
citizens before the Law, without discrimination based on race, sex,
ethnic group, or religious beliefs and which will end the system of
oppression and apartheid established under the communist regime.
4. The dissolution of all political, propagandistic, and repressive
organizations created by the communist regime since January, 1959 with
an emphasis on the development of independent civic institutions that
will forge democracy for the new society.
5. Unconditional and immediate amnesty for all political prisoners.
6. Free access to Cubans and their children, who live outside the
country, to enter and leave the country at will with the same citizen
rights as those who live inside the country.
7. The compromise to fund a first-rate free educational system, with no
political orientation. Also a basic health system that can be afforded
by the poorest ones.
8. The recognition of private property and free enterprise as the main
pillars to foment the economic well-being of the country together with a
guarantee to all workers of their right to organize independent labor
unions that will promote collective interests.
9. The restructuring of the armed forces and its strict isolation from
the economic and political activities and responsibilities of the
country.
10. Once democracy has been established, lobby for the elimination of
the U.S. commercial embargo and for the opening to foreign economic
assistance until Cuba can establish a base for its economic
rehabilitation.
Joint Declaration
The undersigned, in our roles of pro democracy leaders residents of
Cuba, and with the purpose of publicly divulging the essential points in
which we mutually agree, we have decided to sign and submit the
following declaration:
1. We proclaim that our common objective is the unconditional freedom of
the people of Cuba and the establishment of a state where rights that
guarantee the equality of all before the Law are respected; and in that
manner the oppressive system established by the communist regime of
virtual apartheid against Cubans will come to an end.
2. We declare that the existing constitution, now in its 2002 version,
is the angular stone of the totalitarian system, which we hope to
peacefully replace. Consequently, we consider that a process of real
democratization should start with a substantial change in the
constitutional norms now in existence, and we think that that change
should be inspired by the democratic principles of the 1940 Magna
Charta.
3. We believe that with the initiation of the democratization process,
free elections should be held. To guarantee that these will really be
pluralists and competitive, it should be established that any citizen
that has attained adulthood and can present the signatures of 25
electors residing in the corresponding jurisdiction, could become a
candidate. Elections should be democratic at all levels and should take
place under international observation, and all candidates should have
access to the massive means of communication. Our position about this
matter is very clear: we support elections that offer the real
possibility of peacefully effecting the substantial change that Cuba
needs; and we will not agree to a political farce that, due to the
conditions in which it takes place, would only represent a cosmetic
change to the totalitarian system.
4. We demand the immediate amnesty of all political prisoners, without
any exclusion.
5. We are convinced that THE FATHERLAND BELONGS TO ALL, and we recognize
that the Cuban Nation is only one, and that all its citizens without
distinction of sex, religious beliefs, political ideology, race, or
country of origin, have the right to participate in the solution of the
Cuban problem, without any kind of discrimination.
6. We respect the different ideologies of all our countrymen that also
respect the ideologies of those that do not think like them, and we
ratify our disposition to join forces with them as we have repeatedly
shown in order to work against totalitarianism. However, we want to make
it clear here that we do not support socialistic ideas because in our
opinion they have had regrettable results in our country.
7. We start from the basic idea that human rights are unalienable. Thus,
we demand the recognition and immediate unconditional application in our
country of each and all of the 30 Articles of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, without any limitations or previous negotiation. In
this context, we want to highlight the right to live, to enter and leave
the country at will, to own property, and also the right of freedom of
opinion and expression, the right to meet and to associate, but making
certain that none of these rights will subtract from the rest of those
in the said Universal Declaration.
8. We are convinced that the existence of a free-market system
constitutes the ideal means to take Cuba from the profound economic
crisis in which it finds itself and guarantee its future prosperity; for
that reason, we plead that such a system be instituted without unfair
limitations. We also demand guarantees so that the workers can organize
independent labor unions that will promote its legitimate interests.
9. We think that the future Cuban democratic state, without prohibiting
other options, should guarantee the existence of a national health and
education system for all. At the same time, we consider it of utmost
importance to guarantee that none of these state activities will be used
as a propagandistic tool for political indoctrination.
10. We are convinced that the courts, the armed forces, and in general
all the government entities in charge of maintaining public order should
act in behalf of the entire country guided by technical and non-partisan
criteria.
11. We believe that based in a process of true democratization, Cuba
should have normal relations with the rest of the world.
12. We declare that once the democratic change has started, we will
plead for the lifting of the U.S. economic embargo and travel ban to
Cuba. Also, for increased economic aid that our country needs to come
out its actual economic crisis and initiate its process of recuperation.
Havana, November 24, 2003
Felix Antonio Bonne Carcace
Rene Gomez Manzano
Lic. Elsa Morejon Hernández
Statements made from Havana to Radio Marti in the radio program of Juana
Isa. Also present in the program were Cary Roque, ex political prisoner,
M.A.R. por Cuba activist and member of the Lawton Foundation, Dr. Angel
Garrido and Paul Alcazar, both members of the Executive Committee of the
Lawton Foundation.
November 24, 2003
Translated by: M.A.R. POR CUBA
www.marporcuba.org
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