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NEWS
CUBA
FAMILY OF
PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE, DR. OSCAR E. BISCET GONZALEZ, MAKE AN URGENT
APPEAL FOR HIS LIFE
February 27, 2007
 Open
Letter to the International Community, Physicians, and Non-governmental
Human Rights Organizations
“ It is very difficult for common prisoners to serve a prison sentence;
all the more so for a man of peace confined for exercising his right to
freedom of thought. Everything has been so excessive and arbitrary that,
the tribunal that condemned me, did not pronounce sentence until three
days after the trial had concluded. At that moment I felt their
disloyalty to justice. I am convinced today of the fear they felt when
they convicted an innocent man and put him to live with the scum of
society. During all these years in prison I have witnessed ignominious
things that I cannot go into the details of due to their perversity;
acts that threaten the decorous behavior of a civilized society. In
spite of the difficult situation, I am not frightened nor will I go back
a step in regards to my ideas. I am here by my own free will to condemn
and not to retract myself and will serve this unjust sentence until God
in the Highest puts an end to it.. Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet, January 23,
2007. (Fragments of a letter written to wife Elsa Morejón, which she
received on February 9, 2007)
Prison Conditions: Dr. Biscet continues confined in the maximum security
Prison Combinado del Este in Havana (building # 1, 2nd floor, South
Wing, prison cell # 1232), being subjected to the harshest prison
conditions since March 2003, where family visits are allowed every 3
months for 2 hours and conjugal visits are allowed every 4 months for 3
hours. The prison cell where he is forced to live is unfit for long term
confinements, where no human being would escape illness: full of
humidity, whitewashed walls, lacking a mattress, no light nor
ventilation or a chair to sit on, in addition to: excessive noise,
little privacy, restricted family contact, hostile environment, as well
as other factors that place at high risk his health and life.
Health Conditions: Total deterioration of his dental health. He suffers
recurring infections treated with antibiotics and painkillers, and
symptoms of high blood pressure, a condition Dr. Biscet has endured for
many years that is treated with atenolol and tablets of clortalidona.
(His family provides him with all this medication.) He is progressively
loosing his eyesight and has pain in his joints. More than 100 prisoners
found in his prison subdivision consume the same food rations that are
taken to his cell. Like my husband, the prisoners subsist thanks to the
foodstuff brought to the penitentiary by their families since prison
food is unsuitable for human consumption. Dr. Biscet is taken
sporadically outside in the sunlight and, once a month, he is allowed to
go out to walk in the open air.
Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet is in prison for peacefully defending the right
to life and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and, in 1999,
Amnesty International declared him prisoner of conscience. He is
presently subjected to prison conditions that are inconsistent with the
United Nation’s international treaties against inhumane, cruel and
degrading treatment of which Cuba is signatory. Unfortunately, this
situation goes unsolved by the Cuban government. His family, including
myself, a health professional, are confronting an ethical, moral, and
legal problem, reason why we request the immediate solidarity and
cooperation of dignitaries, physicians, non-governmental human rights
organizations, and of all those who value life’s dignity so that my
husband is able to receive medical treatment, is removed from the harsh
prison conditions he is being subjected to and is immediately and
unconditionally released.
The family of Dr. Oscar E. Biscet has not received a response after the
following allegations were made by prison officials Daniel and Yoelvis
at the Combinado del Este Prison: “ At the end of 2006, we proposed the
prosecutor’s office that Oscar be promoted to a less severe prison
system.”
Sincerely,
ELSA MOREJÓN, Licensed Registered Nurse (signature)
February, 27, 2007
(Wife of Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet González, president of the Lawton
Foundation for Human Rights and prisoner of conscience.)
Email: elsamorejon@yahoo.com
Translation: Coalition of Cuban-American Women/ LAIDA CARRO. Email:
Joseito76@aol.com
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