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"Remember that I have dealt face to face with misery, pain, and death and these have not succumbed my soul for I live to diminish these sufferings of humanity. Although I cannot
eradicate them, the evil one must acknowledge in me an eternal rival who will not lower his sword of justice, even if these three opponents would confront me simultaneously."
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Statement written by Dr. Oscar E. Biscet in a personal letter handed to his wife, Elsa Morejón, on August 29, 2000 by a guard at "Cuba Sí" Prison in Holguín Province in Cuba.
Please send this photograph of Cuban prisoner of conscience Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet to dignitaries world-wide ( U.N., O.A.S., heads of states, etc.) national and international press, embassies, religious leaders, human rights organizations at national and international levels, health organizations and publications, black leaders and their organizations. Dr. Biscet is a believer of the ideas of Ghandi, Martin Luther King and the Father Felix Varela. Dr. Biscet is presently being tortured at "Cuba Si" Prison and fears for his life.
Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet Gonzalez, a leader in the peaceful Cuban opposition movement is a devout Christian, follower of Ghandi and Martin Luther King, and presides the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, a humanitarian organization that promotes the defense of all human rights, particularly the right to life, through nonviolent means (considered illegal by Cuban authorities.) On February 25, 2000, Dr. Biscet was tried as a common criminal, sentenced to three years in prison, and transferred from Havana to "Cuba Sí " prison, located at the eastern end of the Island.
For his struggle, Dr. Biscet has been arbitrarily detained 26 times in 18 months, expelled on February 1998 from the Cuban National Health System and, along with his family, evicted from his home, depending on the charity of friends to survive. This Cuban physician has suffered what all those who oppose this regime face physically and psychologically: beatings, threats, humiliations, blackmails, intimidating interrogatories and arbitrary incarcerations in cells along with insane individuals and common criminals. On several occasions, State Security has tried to subject Dr. Biscet to psychiatric examinations and pressures him to leave Cuba, to which this human rights activist has reiterated that he will never abandon his country.
We urgently ask all dignitaries of democratic nations, human rights, and health organizations, the international press and all men and women of good will to denounce the unjust sanctions, incarceration, and physical and mental torture of this Cuban physician, whose only crime is to honor the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in his own country. Please send telegrams/ telexes/ faxes/ express/ airmail letters in Spanish or in your own language to Cuban officials inside Cuba, and representatives of Cuba accredited in your country.
Support Committee for the Lawton Foundation, U.S.A.
E-mail: LAWTON1997@aol.com
CUBAN GOVERNMENT - ADDRESSES, FAXES
"Cuba Si" Prison in Holguín -011-5324-424342 (direct from the U.S.)
Dept. of Prisons in Holguín Province - 011-5324-425171
Inspector of Prisons of the CUBAN MISSION TO THE U.N.
Attorney General's Office Fax: 212-661-9554
Sr. Eliecer Pérez Tel: 212-687-0511
Telephone: 011-53 7 333164 e-mail: cuba@un.int
Fax: 011-53 7 570795
011-53 7 669485 CUBAN INTEREST SECTION
Telex:011-53 7 511456 Fax: 202-797-8521
Tel: 202-7978518
Attorney General
Dr. Juan Escalona Reguera
Address: Fiscal General de La República
Fiscalía General de la República
San Rafael No. 3, La Habana, Cuba
Telegrams: Sr. Fiscal General, Habana, Cuba
Telexes: 511456 fisge
Faxes: 011-53-7-66-94-85 / 011-53-7-33-31-64
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Sr. Pérez Roque
Address: Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores
Calzada No. 360, Vedado, La Habana, Cuba
Telegrams: Sr. Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, Habana, Cuba
Telexes: 511122 / 511464 / 512950
Faxes: 011-53-7-33-3085 / 011-53-7-33-3460/ 011-53-7-33-5261 (direct from the U.S.)
Interior Secretary Director of Prisons
General Abelardo Colomé Ibarra Ministry of the Interior (MININT)
Address: Ministerio del Interior Dirección de Cárceles y Prisiones
Plaza de La Revolución, La Habana, Cuba Ministerio del Interior
Telegrams: Sr. Ministro de Interior, Habana,Cuba Plaza de La Revolución
Telephone: 011-53-7-30-1566 La Habana, Cuba
Fax: 011-53-7-33-5261 (direct from the U.S.) Tel: 011-53-7-301566
Faxes:
Raúl Castro (Armed Forces) 011-53-7-333085
Carlos Amat (Secretary of Justice) 011-53-7-333038
Popular Power Assembly 011-53-7-330311
Secr.of Foreign Affairs 011-53-7-333460
Any phone or fax to Havana from the U.S. directly dial: 011+ 53 +7+ number
NEWS FROM PHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Volume 2, Issue 10
September 11, 2000
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Help sought for dissident
BY MYRON STRUCK
States News Service
WASHINGTON -- In a letter to the State Department, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,
R-Miami, has asked for help in seeking the release from Cuban prison of a physician serving a three-year sentence for calling attention to rights issues.
Joining Ros-Lehtinen in the effort to free Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet are Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Miami; the Cuban American National Foundation; the American Association for the Advancement of Science Human Rights Action Network; and Physicians for Human Rights.
Ros-Lehtinen's letter to the State Department went to Harold Hongju Koh, assistant secretary for democracy, human rights and labor. A spokesman for Koh said the department does not take a position on individual cases.
Biscet, who founded the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba in 1997,
was arrested Nov. 3, last year. Charged and convicted of ``insulting his motherland,'' Biscet has been serving his sentence in solitary confinement, Ros-Lehtinen said.
The Cuban American National Foundation released a statement Thursday from
Biscet's wife, Elsa Morejon, saying she was appreciative of U.S. support.
UPDATE: CUBA DOCTOR STILL DETAINED
Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, a Cuban physician and human rights activist, was arrested on November 3, 1999 and accused of "insulting his motherland" and "disrespecting patriotic symbols". Over the past few years, Dr. Biscet has been arrested and detained on dozens of occasions for speaking publicly and staging peaceful demonstrations in defense of human rights in Cuba. On February 25, 2000, he was tried and sentenced to three years in prison. Dr. Biscet has been transferred to 'Cuba Si' prison, where he suffers ongoing abuse and torture.
Upon his arrival at the prison, Dr.Biscet was held down by the guards and forced to shave his head and beard, being severely cut in the process. He was then denied access to the prison library for refusing to participate in communist political activities. After months of being denied access to see her husband, Elsa Morejon, Dr. Biscet's wife was granted a visit with him on August 14, 2000. Elsa Morejon reportedly found Dr. Biscet, who had just been released from 42 days of solitary confinement, emaciated and in declining health.
Please write letters expressing your concern and your protest to the imposition of punishment on Dr. Biscet for exercising his internationally recognized legal right to the freedom of expression and urge authorities to release him immediately. State that he is reported to be in ill health and seek assurances that he is being provided with the necessary medical care. Urge that the International Committee of the Red Cross be given access to visit Dr. Biscet to assess his medical condition. Implore authorities to ensure that these individuals are not tortured or ill-treated.
(Minister of the Interior)
General Abelardo Colome Ibarra
Ministro del Interior
Ministerio del Interior
Plaza de la Revolucion
La Habana, Cuba
(Inspector of Prisons of the Attorney General's Office)
Sr. Eliecer Perez
Fiscal, Jefe de la Direccion de Control de Centros Penitenciarios
Fiscalia General de la Republica
San Rafael 3
La Habana, Cuba
(Director of Prisons, Ministry of the Interior)
Señor Director
Direccion de Carceles y Prisones Ministerio del Interior
Plaza de la Revolucion
La Habana, Cuba
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phrusa@phrusa.org (PHR Newsletter)
To become a member of Physician for Human Rights (PHR) and take part in campaigning activities, please contact asmith@phrusa.org.