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Letter of Appeal from the AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

11 September 1998

Sr. Jefe del Centro de Investigaciones del Departamento de
Seguridad del Estado (DSE)
Versalles
Santiago de Cuba
Prov. Oriente, Cuba

Dear Sr. Director:

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the largest organization of natural and social scientists in the United States, and the world's largest federation of scientific organizations, with 143,000 individual members and 275 affiliated groups. Our AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility was formed in 1976 to protect the human rights of scientists and to deal with issues relating to scientific freedom worldwide.

We are writing to you on behalf of the committee to express our concern regarding the arrest of Doctor Oscar Elias Biscet, a Cuban physician and anti-abortion activist, and his colleague Ronaldo Muñoz Yyobre a computer technician. The two men were reportedly arrested 9 July 1998 and have been charged with "improper use of state-owned materials." According to our sources, the arrest stems from a study the men conducted between January and February 1998 on abortion.

Although in the course of their research the two men used computers belonging to the hospital Hijas de Galicia, the Committee fears that the disproportionate response by Cuban authorities may be due to their anti-abortion and political activities, and the release of the study's results to members of the foreign press. It is our understanding that Dr. Biscet has been engaged in a campaign against the use of the drug Rivanol, reportedly prescribed to induce abortion after the third month of pregnancy, and both men are founders of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights.

We would like to point out that the arrests of Dr. Biscet and Ronaldo Muñoz Yyobre, if based solely on the peaceful expression of their opinion, constitute serious violations of international human rights standards enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted without opposition by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948. They include the rights to life, liberty, and security of person; freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention or exile; and the rights to freedom of opinion and expression.

The Committee calls on your government to release of Dr. Biscet and Ronaldo Muñoz Yyobre immediately and unconditionally if their arrest stems from the peaceful expression of their opinion. We urge Cuban authorities to respect the standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Sincerely,



Irving Lerch, Chair Mary Gray, Chair
Committee on Scientific Freedom Committee on Scientific Freedom
and Responsibility and Responsibility

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