Update: Dr. Biscet Transferred to Maximum Security Prison

Letter from Dr. Biscet following Previous Release
Background
Talking Points for Letters/Appeals
Addresses for Targeted Officials

February 3, 2003: PHR regrets to report that Dr. Oscar E. Biscet was arrested along with sixteen fellow activists around 6:00 in the afternoon of Friday, December 6 when the police prevented the group from meeting at a house in the neighborhood of Lawton in Havana. According to the Coalition of Cuban-American Women, Elsa Morejan, Dr. Biscet's wife, had first detailed 11 other activists were with her husband but later she had found out there were actually more. More background...

Dr. Biscet has been transferred to El Combinado del Este Prison in Havana. This is a maximum security facility. He has been charged with "disorderly conduct" which can mean a detention of 3 months to 1 year. He is currently sitting in a cell block with 30 other men.

Dr. Biscet has not yet received medical assistance for a severe gum infection which caused the loss of all his molars. The family dentist who was supposed to treat him, received threats and was prevented from rendering services. Dr. Biscet still remains in danger of losing additional teeth if not promptly and adequately treated. Please Take Action Now!

Background

Since his release on October 31 from a maximum security prison in Holguin where he served a three year sentence, Dr. Biscet has been promoting a civic project called "Friends of Human Rights" whereby Cuban civilians who voluntarily wish to obtain in depth information on human rights meet at homes in small groups. The purpose is assembling and educating the Cuban population on what their human rights are and ways to defend and demand them peacefully.

As the police prevented the seventeen activists, including Dr. Biscet, from entering the home where they were going to hold one of these meetings, the group staged an act of nonviolent civil disobedience by laying down in front of the home and crying out: "Long live human rights! Freedom for Cuban political prisoners!"

The peaceful protesters were arrested and taken to the Tenth Unit of the National Revolutionary Police (Décima Unidad de La PNR) on Acosta Avenue. As of December 9, five remain in custody including Dr. Biscet, according to sources close to Dr. Biscet.

Please refer to the addresses below to take action and write letters.

Other support actions you and your organization can take:

• You can call or send letters to Dr. Biscet directly. Calls and letters to the prison will bring attention to his case.
• You can also contact Dr. Biscet's wife and offer your moral support.
• For further assistance and contact information for the above actions, please contact PHR's Colleague at Risk program at 617 695-0041 or rmathews@phrusa.org.

• 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;
• urging authorities to release him immediately;
• stating that he is reported to be in ill health;
• seeking assurances that he is being provided with the necessary medical care;
• urging that the International Committee of Red Cross be given access to visit Dr. Biscet to assess his medical condition;
• imploring authorities to ensure that Dr. Biscet is not tortured or ill-treated.

Please address your letters to:

(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)
S. 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)
Senior Director
Direccion de Carceles y Prisones Ministerio del Interior
Plaza de la Revolucion
La Habana, Cuba
 

You may attach a copy of your letters to Rahel Mathews at
rmathews@phrusa.org or 100 Boylston St. suite 702 Boston, MA
02116.

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