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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

Date:	4 November 2002
Case Number:	cu9813_and
Victim:	Oscar Elias Biscet
Country:	Cuba
Subject:	Medical Doctor Released
Issues:	Freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention; Freedom of opinion and expression
Type of alert:	Update
Related alerts:	20 October 1998; 24 May 2000; 9 May 2002

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FACTS OF THE CASE:

On 31 October 2002, Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet's three-year prison term ended and he was released from the Cuba Sí Prison. Dr. Biscet, a physician and founder of the Lawton Foundation, is an anti-abortion activist and an outspoken critic of the Castro regime. He was arrested in November 1999 while organizing protests against the government of Fidel Castro. In February 2000, he was convicted of "public disorder," "incitement to commit a crime," and "insult to the symbols of the homeland" for hanging the Cuban flag upside down in his house. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

Dr. Biscet has long been the subject of government reprisals for his anti-abortion advocacy and criticism of the Cuban government. In the sixteen months leading up to the 1999 arrest, Cuban authorities detained Dr. Biscet on 26 separate occasions. In 1999, he was detained in the town of Pedro Betancourt while visiting dissidents who were conducting a fast to show support for political prisoners. In July 1998, Dr. Biscet was charged with the "improper use of state-owned materials" because he used state hospital computers in a study about abortions in Cuba. Dr. Biscet was expelled from the Cuban national health system for his views and advocacy on abortion, which is legal in Cuba. He requested that the authorities put an immediate stop to abortions at all hospitals and clinics.

International human rights organizations welcomed the release of Dr. Biscet, but continue to press for the release of all political prisoners in Cuba. This summer, a respected Cuban human rights organization, the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (Comisión Cubana de Derechos Humanos y Reconciliación Nacional), released a partial list of political prisoners in Cuba. This group believes that there are 230 political prisoners in Cuba whose cases they can reasonably document. Shortly after his release, Dr. Biscet stated, "Despite my three years in prison, I have not given up my struggle for the liberty of Cuba, especially for the prisoners."

(Sources of information for this case include: Human Rights Watch and the Associated Press.)

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

No action is requested at this time. Many thanks to all those who sent letters of appeal on behalf of Dr. Biscet.

Please send copies of your appeals, and any responses you may receive, or direct any questions you may have to Victoria Baxter, AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, 1200 New York Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20005; tel. 202-326-6797; email vbaxter@aaas.org; or fax 202-289-4950.

The keys to effective appeals are to be courteous and respectful, accurate and precise, impartial in approach, and as specific as possible regarding the alleged violation and the international human rights standards and instruments that apply to the situation. Reference to your scientific organization and professional affiliation is always helpful.

To ensure that appeals are current and credible, please do not continue to write appeals on this case after 90 days from the date of the posting unless an update has been issued.

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