Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, 45, is a medical professional and a     

  noted advocate for human rights and democratic freedoms    in Cuba, his native country. He is the founder of the Lawton    Foundation for Human Rights and a leading organizer of

  the “Friends of Human Rights” group, both of which engage

  solely in non-violent activities. He is also a husband, and a

  father of two children. 

  Dr. Biscet is serving a twenty-five year prison sentence in Cuba for allegedly committing crimes against the sovereignty and the integrity of the Cuban territory.

Dr. Biscet was arrested on December 6, 2002, in Havana, Cuba on the way to a colleague's home to attend a meeting  of the “Friends of Human Rights,” a grassroots organization through which small groups of civilians meet to discuss human rights. When the police tried to arrest Dr. Biscet, he and sixteen other individuals sat on the ground and shouted, “long live human rights” and “freedom for political prisoners.” The group was beaten and arrested. Dr. Biscet's arrest came only six weeks after his release from a prior prison term assessed in response to his promotion of human rights.

During his current term of imprisonment, the Government of Cuba has subjected Dr. Biscet to inhumane treatment, such as confining him to a punishment cell barely larger than his own body for seven months and refusing to feed him for three weeks. As a result, he has lost forty pounds and nearly all of his teeth since his imprisonment. He suffers from hypertension, gastric ulcers, chronic gastritis, and hypercholesterolemia.

In 2003, in response to a petition concerning Dr. Biscet and other Cuban prisoners of conscience, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention determined that Dr. Biscet is being held in violation of Articles 9, 10, 19, 20, and 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and called for his immediate release.

Freedom Now became involved in Dr. Biscet's case in 2005. On September 1, 2005, in response to an Urgent Action Appeal filed by Freedom Now on behalf of Dr. Biscet, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders, and the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Association issued a joint urgent appeal to the Government of the Republic of Cuba calling once again for Dr. Biscet's immediate release.

Despite appeals from the United Nations, foreign governments, Freedom Now, and other international human rights organizations, Cuba has refused to release Dr. Biscet.  Since 2005, Freedom Now has conducted extensive  global  outreach, including  to entities with human rights responsibilities within the European Commission and the European Union , to raise international awareness of Dr. Biscet's case.  

On November 5, 2007, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet was awarded the Presidential
Medal of Freedom. His son, Yan Valdes, accepted the award on his behalf. See, e.g., My Father's 'Crime,' By Yan Valdes Morejon, Boston Globe, November 4, 2007, and Freedom Now Press Release.

Freedom Now subsequently made a submission to the UN Human Rights Council as part of the Universal Periodic Review of the Government of Cuba's human rights record which took place in February 2009.

We continue to advocate for his immediate release.

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