OPEN LETTER
TO PUBLIC OPINION FROM THE WIFE OF DR. OSCAR ELIAS BISCET
Havana, March 10, 2004
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
organization 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
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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)