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

11 May 1998

Sr. Carlos Dotres Martinez
Ministro de la Salud Publica
Ministerio de la Salud Publica
Calle 23, No. 301
Vedado, La Habana, Cuba

Dear Senor Ministro:

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 175,000 individual members and 296 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.

On behalf of the Committee, we are writing to commend your government on the release from prison of physician Omar del Pozo Marrero, along with eleven others, and the reported release of nearly 300 prisoners of conscience. It is our hope that his positive development following the visit of Pope John Paul II to your island nation signals the beginning of a period of openness and increased freedom for all Cuban citizens.

While we welcome the release of Dr. Omar del Pozo Marrero, we are disturbed by the condition placed on his release: forced exile in Canada. The Committee also would welcome your providing increased access to information by independent groups monitoring releases, as they have only been able to confirm 110 releases.

The Committee remains concerned regarding the continued imprisonment of physician Desi Mendoza Rivero, who is suffering ill health, as well as the arrest of engineer and physicist Felix A. Bonne Carcases and economist Maria Beatriz Roque Cabello. We fear that these individuals have been detained for the exercising their right to peacefully express their opinions.

We also have received disturbing information indicating that Dr. Desi Mendoza Rivero's health has seriously deteriorated. It is our understanding that Dr. Mendoza Rivero suffers from acute hypertension, reportedly aggravated by harsh prison conditions. We have learned that he has been hospitalized in Saturnino Lora hospital in Santiago de Cuba. According to hospital personnel, officials from the Ministry of the Interior have kept Dr. Mendoza Rivero's wife from seeing him. They also have reportedly not allowed Dr. Mendoza Rivero to receive food prepared by his family. We have learned that Dr. Mendoza Rivero's condition has been stabilized.

The Committee is also concerned about the imprisonment of engineer and physicist Felix A. Bonne Carcases and economist Maria Beatriz Roque Cabello. They were reportedly arrested on 16 July 1997, along with three others, for their membership in the Internal Dissidents' Working Group for the Analysis of the Cuban Socio-Economic Situation. Several members of the group were arrested for a short period of time (hours or days) on 27 June 1997 following a press conference in which they criticized an official document entitled "The Party of Unity, Democracy and the Human Rights We Defend." We fear that their arrest is also due to the peaceful expression of their opinion.
As you are likely aware, the detention of Dr. Desi Mendoza Rivero, Felix A. Bonne Carcases, and Maria Beatriz Roque Cabello, as well as the forced exile of Dr. Omar del Pozo Marrero constitute serious violations of international human rights standards enumerated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted without opposition by the United Nations' General Assembly on 10 December 1948. They include the right to life, liberty, and security of the person; the right to freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention or exile; and the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

The Committee calls on the Cuban government to release Dr. Desi Mendoza Rivero, Felix A. Bonne Carcases, and Maria Beatriz Roque Cabello immediately and unconditionally on the grounds that they are prisoners of conscience. We respectfully request that Dr. Mendoza Rivero continue to receive proper medial attention if he remains in detention.

We thank you for your attention to this important matter and request any information you may have regarding their legal status.

Sincerely,



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

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