Dr. Biscet's daughter tells us about her father

My Father, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet was born on July 20, 1961 in Havana, Cuba. My father is Founder and President of Lawton Foundation. This organization is considered illegal by the Cuban government. My father, Oscar is a Cuban physician and is a very spiritual man. I feel that he follows the same philosophies as Dr. Martin Luther King and Thoreau. Oscar was unjustly sentenced to three years in prison on February 26, 1999 for a crime of flying the Cuban flag upside down, which is an International recognized symbol of distress. Before his sentence Oscar had been arbitrarily detained twenty six times in eighteen months. On February 1998, he was then expelled from the Cuban National Health System. He and his family were evicted from their home. My father is presently in prison right now because he continues to defend the Human Rights in Cuba. The Cuban prison is a place where no one wants to be. It is a place where persons are restrained from any personal freedom.

The Cuban Government condemned my father to twenty-five years in prison for his role in attempting to promote integrity and sovereignty to the Cuban people. His life is constantly in danger in prison. He is presently experiencing a lot of physical problems. He had lost weight since he has been incarcerated and his teeth and mouth show signs of deterioration. This is all due to the fact that he is not receiving proper medical treatment that should be provided by the military personnel. Most of the time my father is isolated in a cell as punishment. He does not participate in any Communist activities and he does not like to go to the dining hall to eat because of inadequate cleanliness. Proper healthy food is scarce in prisons. Prisoners get into fights and then the authorities issue violations. The authorities treat my father badly and of course they try to take away all of his human rights. I know that prison life is very difficult for him but, even with all of his physical problems, he seems to be coping well mentally. That is something that I am thankful for.

My father is presently serving twenty-five years in a Cuban prison. He is only allowed one visit every three months for two hours. Only two people can be chosen to visit him. This becomes difficult to choose between mother, father, brother, and wife. He tells me that all the conditions are poor, poor, poor. I do remember when I use to go visit my father in prison. I felt very disappointed about the situation and I knew that it was an unhappy place to be. I noticed that a lot of the prisoners seemed angry with their family and friends. They looked depressed and many did not want to talk about anything. There is no safety in a Cuban prison. I feel very depress about my father many times, but I know that the one good thing that I can do is to study hard and to work diligently. I know that my father will be very proud of me!

I demand the immediate release of my father so that this peaceful Human Rights Activist may continue his struggle to see his country free one day. I ask men and women of good will, Human Rights Organizations, the Press, Democratic Nations, and everyone who has a voice, to denounce the Cuban Government for the unjust incarceration of my father, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, whose only crime is to honor the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in his country, Cuba.

Dr. Biscet's daughter wants you to write to Dr. Biscet

Please help out Winnie Biscet.

Dr. Biscet's daughter, Winnie Biscet urges the international community to write to her father!

Please write to Dr. Biscet for Father's day! You can translate your letters into Spanish here: www.babelfish.altavista.com

"I WANT THAT PEOPLE WRITE SOMETHING TO MY FATHER ANYTHING THEY WANT TO SAY TO HIM. IT HAS TO BE IN SPANISH! IM GOING TO SEND ALL THOSE WRITING TO HIM AS SOON YOU SEND IT TO ME. I KNOW HE WILL LOVE IT. I WANT TO DO IT FOR "FATHERS DAY" PLEASE SEND TO MY EMAIL (winnie_biscet@yahoo.com)"

Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt International Human Rights Award Goes to Dr. Biscet

Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt International Human Rights Award Goes to Dr. Biscet

"Cuba's rulers promised "absolute respect for human rights." Instead they offered Cubans a police state. Hundreds of people are serving long prison sentences for political offenses such as the crime of "dangerousness” -- people such as Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet and Normando Hernández, who we are recognizing this evening. To the Cuban dictatorship, these are "dangerous men." They are dangerous in the same way that Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi were dangerous. They are both honest, decent men of convictions."

Read more at: http://germany.usembassy.gov/timken_121207.html

Dr. Biscet receives Presidential Medal of Freedom

Dr. Biscet is still in Castro's prisons, so family members and supporters of Biscet will receive the medal for him in absentia.

President Bush will give the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Nation's highest civil award. The Medal is awarded by the President "to any person who has made an especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." President Bush will honor these recipients at a White House ceremony on Monday, November 5, 2007.

"Oscar Elias Biscet is a champion in the fight against tyranny and oppression. Despite being persecuted and imprisoned for his beliefs, he continues to advocate for a free Cuba in which the rights of all people are respected."

So who is Oscar Biscet?
From Babalublog.com

Dr. Elias Biscet – Doctor in Cuba - Appeal from The International Society for Human Rights

http://www.ishr.org/index.php?id=812
March 23 2007, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

"Dr. Elias Biscet’s (born 1962) “crime” was among others to document the government’s abortion methods and to publish the book “Rivanol: A method to destroy life” in April 1998. In this book he accuses the health authorities of numerous forced abortions."

Dr. Biscet featured at Human Rights Exhibition "Fields of Shame"

March 23, 2007 International Society for Human Rights
http://www.ishr.org/index.php?id=843

"Among the most prominent prisoners that are portrayed in the exhibition is the Cuban Doctor Oscar Elias Biscet. The non-violent, committed Christian was sentenced to 25 years of prison for founding a human rights organisation that demands civil rights and the end of Fidel Castro’s 26-year autarchy. Even though he was threatened and tortured in prison, the Christian civil rights activist’s spirit is not broken."

From Human Rights First: Send a letter to Raul Castro, re: Four Years Since Cuba Crackdown: Release Activists Still in Prison - Dr. Biscet included in

From Human Rights First: Send a letter to Raul Castro, re: Four Years Since Cuba Crackdown: Release Activists Still in Prison - Dr. Biscet included in list
http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/CubaFourYears?qp_source=ga%5fadv

"It has been four years since 75 peaceful human rights activists and independent journalists were rounded up by Cuban authorities, summarily and unfairly tried, and sentenced to prison terms of up to 28 years."

On Fourth Anniversary of Clampdown, Rights Group Calls for Release of Prisoners - Dr. Biscet included in list

From a communique of March 19, 2007 by Human Rights First.
http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/media/hrd/2007/alert/319/

"Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet is a physician and president of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, which peacefully promotes human rights and the rule of law. In reprisal for his human rights activities, the 41-year-old Dr. Biscet was sentenced to 25 years in prison and has been held in some of the harshest conditions, including in punishment cells and solitary confinement."

Family of Prisoner of Conscience, Dr. Oscar E. Biscet Gonzalez, Make An Urgent Appeal For His Life

From Dr. Biscet's website
March, 3, 2007 Elsa Morejón, Licensed Registered Nurse and wife of Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet González, president of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights and prisoner of conscience...more

Fears grow in Cuba for well being of jailed pro-life dissident

From the Indian Catholic

March 3,2007
Fears grow in Cuba for well being of jailed pro-life dissident

HAVANA(CNA): Elsa Morejon, the wife of prominent pro-life activist and political prisoner Oscar Elias Biscet, has issued an urgent appeal for medical treatment for her husband and for his transferal out of the harsh conditions of the prison cell where has been held for refusing to collaborate with the Castro regime and renounce his principles.

LiberPress published the open letter from Morejon, in which she describes the grave prison conditions Biscet must endure as part of a 25-year sentence for his non-violent struggle for civil rights and for his opposition to abortion and the death penalty, which are both legal in Cuba.

Amnesty International has classified Biscet as a prisoner of conscience since 1999. He was released after three years in prison, but he was arrested again one month later while he was preparing to meet with human rights activist in the city of Matanzas.

In 2003 Biscet was condemned to 25 years in prison for his efforts to achieve freedom, democracy and respect for civil rights.

Elsa Morejon revealed that her husband is subject to harsh prison conditions and is allowed family visits once every three months and spousal visits once every four months. In addition he is being held in a cell with no bed, lights, ventilation or chair and he is “taken out for fresh air” once a month. She said he depends greatly on the antibiotics and medicines that his family members are able to bring to him during their periodic visits.

In her letter Elsa Morejon cites several paragraphs from a letter she received from her husband: “Carrying out a sentence is very difficult for prisoners, but more so for a man of peace who was imprisoned for exercising his freedom of thought.”

“During these years here in prison,” the letter continued, “I have seen shameful things that I am unable to describe to you in words because of their perversity and their attack on the good mores of a civilized society. Despite this difficult situation I am not intimidated nor do I take any step backwards in my mind…I will carry out this unjust sentence until the most high God puts an end to it.”

Oscar Who?

From the blog Uncommon Sense:
Oscar who?

"For an example of why I am sometimes ashamed to make my living in the MSM, go to Google News, type in "Oscar Biscet," perhaps the most prominent political prisoner in the Cuban gulag, and whose wife this week pleaded for the international community to come to his aid..." more

Elsa Morejon blog radio interview

Alex of Ya No Mas interviewed Elsa Morejon, wife of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, March 2, 2007
You can listen here.

Civil Disobedience by Dr. Biscet

The latest from Dr. Biscet from his prison cell in Cuba.
Thank you for www.Babalublog.com and Val, and Robert M who posted and translated the story into English. The link below will take you to the Biscet website and to the letter written.

Civil Disobedience
By Doctor Oscar Elias Biscet, Havana, Cuba, Aug. 2006
http://www.free-biscet.org/biscetarticles/2006/civil_disobedience.htm