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Free Cuba's political prisoners
Voice
of America. July
18, 2004.
The following is an editorial reflecting
the views of the United States Government:
Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, one of Cuba's most
prominent jailed dissidents, is reportedly
being starved by the regime of Cuban dictator
Fidel Castro. Dr. Biscet's wife, Elsa Morejón
Hernández, has released a letter
from her husband which was smuggled out
of Kilo Eight prison. The letter alleges
that prison officials have denied Dr. Biscet
food since mid-June. Ms. Morejon Hernandez
says the withholding of food started after
Dr. Biscet joined other prisoners in an
act of civil disobedience. They shouted,
"Down with the Castro-Communist dictatorship."
Dr. Biscet is the founder of Cuba's Lawton
Center for Human Rights. In October 2002,
he completed a three-year prison term on
trumped-up charges of "insulting the
symbols of the homeland," "public
disorder," and "instigation to
commit crime." In fact, he merely participated
in anti-abortion protests and hung a Cuban
flag upside down during a press conference
he held to discuss the regime's treatment
of political prisoners. In December 2002,
Dr. Biscet and other Cuban dissidents were
arrested following a pro-democracy meeting
at a private home in Havana. This time,
Dr. Biscet was sentenced to twenty-five
years in prison.
The past few years in Cuba have been particularly
difficult for those who oppose Fidel Castro's
Communist regime. The regime has arrested
hundreds of dissidents who have called for
democracy and respect for the human rights
of the Cuban people. President George W.
Bush says the United States will continue
to pressure the Castro government to change:
"Today, the struggle for freedom continues
in cities and towns of that beautiful island,
in Castro's prisons, and in the heart of
every Cuban patriot. . . . In all that lies
ahead, the Cuban people have a constant
friend in the United States of America.
No tyrant can stand forever against the
power of liberty, because the hope of freedom
is found in every heart."
In his letter from prison, Dr. Oscar Elias
Biscet wrote, "I have the spiritual
sustenance and the strength that God provides
to all those who love him in justice and
truth." The Cuban government should
deal justly with Dr. Biscet. He and hundreds
of other prisoners of conscience in Cuba
should be immediately released.
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