“THE
CUBAN GOVERNMENT HAS TORTURED ME DURING EIGHT YEARS…TRYING TO DRIVE ME
INSANE…”
Testimony
of prisoner of conscience, Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet, from the Prison of Combinado
del Este
in
Havana
,
Cuba
PRISON
CONDITIONS
“The government of Cuba has tortured me during eight
years; they have done so trying to drive me insane though, thank God, I have
been able to preserve my sanity… in reality, they continue torturing me
because I live in a box with no windows or natural light, no water…with a
mattress that feels as if one were sleeping on a plank, a stone… unfit for a
human being … surrounded by criminals and under the threat, as it has happened
on previous occasions, of being attacked by the government who instigates these
dangerous prisoners…”
“I believe that what the government is doing is
torturing me to humiliate me so that I abandon the struggle on behalf of the
freedom of my country but, thank God, I have been able to keep up my stance and
will continue doing so with God’s help…”
SYMBOLIC
FAST AS OF JULY 13, 2006
We
began this fast (in prison) because I believe we should pray to God and demand
our rights before the government, the right to be free which belongs to every
person just for being a citizen. Our country has lived so long without any
rights, under a dictatorship…I believe that we must demand rights that belong
to us and, in everyone’s interest, these liberties must be observed... In
order to live a full life, it is essential to live in freedom and the Cuban
people are denied these rights… that is why I’m initiating a fast along with
other brothers (in prison) to demand that the government sign the international
covenants of civil, political, economic, cultural and social rights – the
Cuban regime must sign them and abide by them so that the Cuban people may live
in freedom at last….
MESSAGE
TO THE CUBAN PEOPLE
“The
Cuban people must do their utmost in their struggle to win their freedom and
succeed in obtaining the international support of all free and democratic
countries. I trust that the Cuban people prove their dignity as they have done
so on other occasions, so that we may enjoy FREEDOM..”
Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet, 45 years
old, is an internal medicine specialist of the black race who established and
presides in
Cuba
the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, an organization that promotes universal
human rights through non-violent civil disobedience. He was
released October 31, 2002, after serving a three-year sentence at a
maximum-security prison 700 km. away from his home. He was violently arrested
thirty-six days later and remained in prison until March-April, 2003, when he
was included in a crackdown carried out by the Cuban regime against the
independent civil rights movement in the island. He was tried summarily and
sentenced to serve 25 years in prison, accused of being “a mercenary at the
service of a foreign state”. He continues to suffer the cruel prison
conditions he has been exposed to during eight years, which have seriously
deteriorated his physical health.
On
July 17, 2006, Amado Gil, a journalist in Radio Martí, was able to speak with
Dr. Biscet in
Cuba
thanks to the intercession of an independent journalist in
Havana
who, beyond governmental control, used the limited time allotted to Dr. Biscet
to make telephone calls from prison.
(Listen
audio – in Spanish – of the entire interview: http://www.martinoticias.com/ocbstory.asp?MediaID=37276
)
The
Coalition of Cuban-American Women transcribed, edited and translated to English
this interview
LAIDA
CARRO – Email: Joseito76@aol.com
Tel: 305-740-0934
Fax: 305-740-7323