Posted on 11/19/2003 8:01:51 PM PST by mandingo republican
CUBAN PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE, DR. OSCAR E. BISCET IS TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON AND PUNISHED IN A "DUNGEON" WITH A DANGEROUS CRIMINAL
November 19, 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, where he is confined in a punishment cell he referred to as a "dungeon", with a prisoner who has committed 12 criminal assaults.
On November 11th, at Prison Kilo Cinco y Medio, Dr. Biscet had peacefully protested with six other prisoners of conscience, the cruel treatment given by prison authorities to the family of another fellow prisoner, Juan Enrique Ferrer GarcÃa, during their scheduled visit. A prison official stated that Dr. Biscet had to be transferred because other prisoners saw him as a leader.
Elsa Morejon, Nivaldo Biscet and Hilda Gonzalez, wife and parents of the imprisoned physician traveled 150 kms. west of Havana to Prison Kilo 8 on Monday, November 17, to see Dr. Biscet on the assigned family visit. But prison authorities informed them that Dr. Biscet was punished for 21 days without family visits, food supplies or toiletries, writing or reading materials, in a cell with no sunlight. Upon hearing the news, Hilda González, 65 years old, had to be assisted and given medication by the prison staff due to a sudden rise in her blood pressure.
Compelled by circumstances and the persistence of Elsa Morejon, wife of Dr. Biscet, prison authorities allowed Hilda Gonzalez to see her son for only 10 minutes. Dr. Biscet asked his mother to alert international public opinion since he had broken no prison rule and sharing a cell with a criminal placed his life in danger.
Excerpts from a note Dr. Biscet addressed to his wife:
"I'm in a punishment cell because I did not accept to be locked up with a man condemned to life imprisonment, an assassin who killed an elderly person. I'm well though unable to see the sky, always in darkness, confined with a man who has committed 12 criminal assaults."
"I don't know why I'm in this dismal place…I will not grieve nor be afraid for being punished in this dungeon… I will face life's difficulties in order to enjoy the germination of love. I know I will succeed …the darker the place, the brighter and more intense the light."
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.
Elsa Morejon 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 CARROÂ Email: Joseito76@aol.com Elsa Morejon Hernandez / Address: Acosta 464 entre 8va y 9na, Lawton, Municipio 10 de Octubre, La Habana, Cuba.Â
I can't quite follow the logic of this.
It's fairly straight-forward. He feels that prison uniforms are for criminals and he is not a criminal, therefore he will not wear a prison uniform.
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