Oscar Elías Biscet
Encyclopedia
Óscar Elías Biscet González (born: July 20, 1961 in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...

, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

), is a Cuban medical professional and a noted advocate for human rights and democratic freedoms
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

 in Cuba. He is also the founder of the Lawton Foundation
Lawton Foundation
The Lawton Foundation was founded in 1997 in Havana, Cuba, as a non-governmental organization to promote the "study, defense and denunciation of human rights inside Cuba". The group was formed by Christian pro-life activist Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet González and is made up of adult Cuban citizens of...

.

Dr. Biscet was given a 25-year prison sentence in Cuba for allegedly committing crimes against the sovereignty and the integrity of the Cuban territory. Despite appeals from the United Nations, foreign governments, and international human rights organizations, Cuba has refused to release Dr. Biscet. In recognition of his advocacy efforts for human rights and democracy in Cuba, Dr. Biscet was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...

 in 2007 by U.S. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

. Dr. Biscet was released on March 11, 2011.

Beginnings

Biscet received a degree in medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

 in 1985; the following year he initiated protests which led to his immediate suspension. Starting in 1988, Biscet revealed his political tension with the communist regime through speech. The Cuban government in 1994 officially opened a case file on Biscet, labeling him a counter-revolutionary and "dangerous". In 1997, Biscet founded the Lawton Foundation.

Political and philosophical background

Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...

, Mohandas Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr are major influences in Biscet's writing and motivation. Others from whom Biscet has taken inspiration are Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

, Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

, José Martí
José Martí
José Julián Martí Pérez was a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. In his short life he was a poet, an essayist, a journalist, a revolutionary philosopher, a translator, a professor, a publisher, and a political theorist. He was also a part of the Cuban...

, and Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. After escaping from slavery, he became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing...

. He is a strong believer in a democratic government and advocates pro-life politics.

Expulsion from the National Health Service

Dr. Biscet was expelled from the Cuban National Health System in February 1998 because of his activism. Biscet's wife, Elsa Morejón was also expelled from nursing (her profession) because of her husband's activities.

1999 arrest

In August 1999, Biscet, along with two dozen other dissidents, were detained by Cuban police for organizing meetings in Havana and Matanzas
Matanzas
Matanzas is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. It is famed for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore.It is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas , east of the capital Havana and west of the resort town of Varadero.Matanzas is called the...

. He was released five days earlier on August 17, 1999. He claimed that while in custody, the police tortured him by beating, kicking, stripping, and burning him. The government then threatened to detain him longer if he continued promoting his counterrevolutionary activities in Cuba. Later in 1999, he was sent back in prison for a three-year sentence for dishonoring a national symbol, public disorder, and instigating to commit crime, after having protested Cuba's lack of freedom by showing the Cuban flag upside down. He was released from a high-security prison in the Holguín province
Holguín Province
Holguín is one of the provinces of Cuba, the third most populous after Ciudad de la Habana and Santiago de Cuba. It lies in the northeast of the country. Its major cities include Holguín , Banes, Antilla, Mayarí, and Moa....

 after having served his entire three-year sentence behind bars.

2002 arrest

One month after recovering his liberty, on December 6, 2002, Biscet was arrested in a private house with 11 other dissidents while discussing a petition drive and human rights. Dr. Biscet's wife later said the activists "were beaten and violently arrested". During their removal from the house they shouted "Long live human rights" and "Freedom for political prisoner
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....

s".

Biscet was one of the 75 dissidents imprisoned in 2003 by the Cuban authorities for his association with the head of the US Interests Section in Havana, James Cason
James Cason
James Cason is a retired U.S. Foreign Service officer, most recently serving as Ambassador to Paraguay, a post he held from 2006 to 2008. Prior to that post, he was the Principal Officer of the US Interests Section in Havana...

. He was given a 25-year sentence for "disorderly conduct" and "counter-revolutionary activities", he is currently being held at Combinado del Este Prison in Havana, where he is generally not allowed outside visitors, including medical practitioners and clergy, under conditions described as "wretched". He had previously been imprisoned in the "Cinco Y Medio" prison in Pinar del Río
Pinar del Río
Pinar del Río is a city in Cuba. It is the capital of Pinar del Río Province.Inhabitants of the area are called Pinareños.Neighborhoods in the city include La Conchita, La Coloma, Briones Montoto and Las Ovas.-History:...

. A replica of his cell while there was displayed at the residence of the head of the U.S. national interests section, James Cason. (Photo at right.) http://www.state.gov/p/wha/rls/rm/37104.htm

In 2003, in response to a petition concerning Dr. Biscet and other Cuban prisoners of conscience, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention determined that Dr. Biscet is being held in violation of Articles 9, 10, 19, 20, and 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...

 and called for his immediate release.

On September 1, 2005, in response to an Urgent Action Appeal filed by Freedom Now on behalf of Dr. Biscet, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders, and the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Association issued a joint urgent appeal to the Government of the Republic of Cuba calling again for Dr. Biscet's immediate release.

Campaign to release

Freedom Now, a non-profit organization located in Washington, D.C., was retained in 2005 to assist in obtaining Dr. Biscet's release from prison. On September 1, 2005, in response to an Urgent Action Appeal filed by Freedom Now on Dr. Biscet's behalf, the United Nations called on the Government of the Republic of Cuba to immediately release Dr. Biscet. Despite these appeals, Dr. Biscet remains imprisoned. Freedom Now has engaged in extensive outreach efforts to raise international awareness of his case and continues to advocate for his immediate release.

Nat Hentoff
Nat Hentoff
Nathan Irving "Nat" Hentoff is an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media and writes regularly on jazz and country music for The Wall Street Journal....

 has been one of the chief advocates for Dr. Biscet in the United States, penning numerous pleas in his syndicated and Village Voice column calling for his release, and highlighting his plight within the Cuban criminal justice system.

U.S. Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart
Lincoln Diaz-Balart
Lincoln Rafael Díaz-Balart was the U.S. Representative for from 1993 to 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously served in the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate...

 visited Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 in December 2005, and there met with President Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko is a former President of Ukraine. He took office on January 23, 2005, following a period of popular unrest known as the Orange Revolution...

. Diaz-Balart told Yushchenko, "This Cuban physician was not able to give me his message personally because he is a political prisoner who at this moment suffers in solitary confinement in a cold, damp underground dungeon simply for believing in democracy and human rights. I received his message from his wife, Ms. Elsa Morejón. Dr. Biscet sends you and all of your colleagues of the Orange Revolution
Orange Revolution
The Orange Revolution was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate aftermath of the run-off vote of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election which was claimed to be marred by massive corruption, voter...

, for freedom
Freedom (political)
Political freedom is a central philosophy in Western history and political thought, and one of the most important features of democratic societies...

 and democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

 in Ukraine, a message of friendship and solidarity.
He also expresses his deep gratitude, on behalf of all the political prisoners in Cuba, for your vote and your support at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

 for human rights in Cuba."

When Diaz-Balart gave this message to Yushchenko, a Cuban American
Cuban American
A Cuban American is a United States citizen who traces his or her "national origin" to Cuba. Cuban Americans are also considered native born Americans with Cuban parents or Cuban-born persons who were raised and educated in US...

 human rights group, "Mothers and Women Against Repression", gave the president of Ukraine a photograph of Biscet and three other political prisoners. Yuschenko thanked them and replied, "I will never forget this message, this gesture of friendship. I will never forget the Cuban political prisoners."

A web site, www.free-biscet.org was created in 1999, dedicated to securing the release of Dr. Biscet from jail and promulgating his ideas. That site is now offline. It includes news and columns about Dr. Biscet as well as writings from Dr. Biscet smuggled out from him in prison. There is also a campaign to nominate him for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

Release

On 11 March 2011, it was announced that Biscet had been freed, along with more than 50 other dissidents. The Catholic Church in Cuba was responsible for negotiating their release. Biscet said shortly after being freed that he planned to remain in Cuba and continue his advocacy for human rights.

See also

  • Human Rights in Cuba
    Human rights in Cuba
    Human Rights Watch is among international human rights organizations accusing the Cuban government of systematic human rights abuses, including torture, arbitrary imprisonment, unfair trials, and extrajudicial execution....

  • Amnesty International
    Amnesty International
    Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

  • Politics of Cuba
    Politics of Cuba
    Cuba is constitutionally defined as a "socialist state guided by the principles of José Martí, and the political ideas of Marx, the father of communist states, Engels and Lenin." The present Constitution also ascribes the role of the Communist Party of Cuba to be the "leading force of society and...

  • Opposition to Fidel Castro
    Opposition to Fidel Castro
    The Cuban dissident movement is a political movement in Cuba whose aim is "to replace the current regime with a more democratic form of government". According to Human Rights Watch, the Cuban government represses nearly all forms of political dissent....


External links

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