His wife urgently requests international solidarity, alleging the objective of Cuban authorities is to destroy him physically and psychologically
December, 2003
 

Elsa Morejon, wife of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet Gonzalez, was informed via telephone on December 11 by the head Official of Kilo 8 Prison where this physician is confined, that her husband is punished once more in a cell for refusing to stand up to acknowledge the presence of prison guards and officials during the recount of prisoners. Mrs. Morejon hasn't seen her husband since August 2003.

Cuban prisoner of conscience, Dr. Oscar E. Biscet Gonzalez, serving a 25 year prison sentence, was transferred on November 12, 2003 from Kilo Cinco y Medio Prison to another maximum security prison in the province of Pinar del Rio called Kilo 8 and put in a punishment cell for peacefully protesting with six other prisoners of conscience, the cruel treatment given by prison authorities to the family of another fellow prisoner of conscience.

Dr. Biscet was confined for 21 days with a common criminal in a cell he described as a "dungeon", without family visits, food supplies, toiletries, writing or reading materials, in a cell with no windows, and prohibited from going out in the sun.

On December 4, day when Dr. Biscet was supposed to be released from his punishment, Cuban authorities denied his wife seeing him nor allow delivery of the food supply he is entitled every three months.

In a fragment of a clandestine letter written to his wife in November, Dr. Biscet reports:

I'm arbitrarily confined in a cell with characteristics that violate the law - there are no windows, only walls; a gloomy space lacking sunlight and the sky's visibility. I cannot go out in the sun at the hour assigned because authorities want to handcuff me with my hands behind my back, a practice which violates prisoners' most elemental regulations. This is humiliating and illegal. Unsuccessfully, I have repeatedly requested "internal control" personnel to be alerted. My prison visit in November was arbitrarily suspended, prohibiting me from seeing my parents and wife. Of the eight months I have been imprisoned in Pinar del Rio, I have seen my family only once, during two hours, in the month of August. I am not allowed to have any type of communication with my son and daughter who live abroad.

>From the 8th of November to December 10th we are praying to God to intercede on behalf of Cuba's freedom and will conclude with a 12 hour fast on December 10th from 6 am - 6 pm. Inform our compatriots in case they wish to pray and fast.

I sent my mother a letter which is, in reality, addressed to all women with family members imprisoned because of their defense of human rights. All mothers, wives and daughters could display, on their breast, a picture of their loved one in prison that read "INOCENT" and the name of the prisoner. They should never remove it and carry it until Cuba is free, also attending church on Saturday and Sunday."

Dr. Biscet previously served 3 years in prison and was released October 31, 2002, only to be re-arrested on December 6, 2002 as he was to meet with human rights activists. On April 7, 2003 he was tried summarily during a Cuban government crackdown, along with 75 other activists and independent journalists and was sentenced to 25 years for "serving as a mercenary to a foreign state."

Dr. Biscet, a 42 year old black physician, follower of Ghandi and Martin Luther King, has been wearing only his underwear as he deems it unacceptable to wear a common prisoner's uniform because he considers himself innocent of the charges for which he was sentenced. He suffers from severe hypertension and gum infection.

Elsa Morejon makes the Cuban government responsible for the physical and mental well-being of her husband and family, and urgently appeals to heads of states, leaders of political, civic, religious and professional organizations, the press, and all men and women of good will worldwide to demand before the Cuban government the unconditional and immediate freedom of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet and all those prisoners whose only crime is to honor the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in their own country.

Testimony by Elsa Morejon provided via telephone from Cuba. Recorded, transcribed and translated.
Coalition of Cuban-American Women/ LAIDA CARRO  Email: Joseito76@aol.com
Elsa MorejOn Hernandez / Address: Acosta 464 entre 8va y 9na, Lawton, Municipio 10 de Octubre, La Habana, Cuba. 
 

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