[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 14576]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         FREE DR. OSCAR BISCET

  (Mr. SMITH of New Jersey asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, on March 18 the Cuban 
Government began a massive crackdown on the best, the brightest, and 
the most courageous in Cuba. Some 75 journalists and human rights 
activists were arrested and subjected to kangaroo trials and now have 
gotten prison terms from 6 to 28 years.
  Last week Amnesty International called it the most severe crackdown 
on dissents since the year following the Cuban revolution.
  Sadly, these brave Cubans join 400 other political prisoners who are 
languishing in Castro's gulags. Their only crime is their love of 
freedom.
  Among those unjustly imprisoned, is Dr. Oscar Biscet, a pro-life 
Afro-Cuban who has been a leader in the human rights movement for 
years. Although he was recently released, Mr. Speaker, from a 3-year 
term, he was rearrested, and now has been sentenced to 25 years in 
prison for organizing a human rights meeting.
  His wife, Elsa Morejon, reports that Dr. Biscet is kept in a 6 by 3 
punishment cell. They have been refused any visits and any kind of 
parcels of food or medicines. On May 28 Dr. Biscet wrote, ``I am 
innocent of the charges of which I have been condemned. A true man 
cannot betray himself, so I only appeal to the living God and pray to 
our Lord, as He is not neutral and never abandons his flock.''
  According to his wife, Dr. Biscet's only crime is trying to observe 
and uphold the universal declaration on human rights, his opposition to 
abortion, his opposition to the death penalty, and for organizing civil 
rights movement through nonviolent civil disobedience.
  We join this man and his wife and all of those who are suffering. We 
have got to speak out and not give up until they are free.

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