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Declaration of Principles
of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet
La
Habana
La Nueva Cuba
Noviembre 25, 2003
Message to the
People of Cuba and the International Community
It has been
more than four decades that hundreds of Cubans chose to raise
their voices in the name of thousands of their countrymen that desire
and hope to
live in freedom. Hundreds of them lost their lives in the pursuit
of this
task, hundreds of them languish today unjustly jailed in the Castrist
cells for
defending the democratic principles that concern the inherent freedom
of human
beings while others have had to emigrate and live with the pain
of being an
exile.
The people of
Cuba deserve to live in freedom not only because they are
citizens of that country but also because they are human beings.
The people of
Cuba have faith in God and in all the men and women that
despite the repression and incarceration to long prison terms in
sub-human
conditions, have not lost their dignity and respect in the struggle
that leads to
freedom and to the complete dignity of men as Jose Marti dreamed.
We Cubans are
convinced that we are just One People, and as we foresee the
radiant dawn that will bring us all well-being, happiness, and the
so-much
wanted freedom, we want to make public our democratic principles
with only one purpose: With All and for the well-being of All, so
that all those people,
institutions, and countries that so desire, will be able to defend
them in a pacific
and civilized manner.
That is our
purpose. We ratify that we respect the different democratic
tendencies that already exist in our country even if we do not coincide
in the ways to obtain total freedom for the people of Cuba.
We wish to make
public the Declaration of Principles of the Lawton Foundation
for Human Rights which was outlined by its president, Dr. Oscar
Elias Biscet,
who at present is unjustly jailed and sanctioned to 25 years in
prison in
sub-human conditions, for pacifically defending the right to live
and to freedom
of the people of Cuba. With his approval, from the depths of his
dark cell, he
bestowed upon me the privilege of announcing to the Cuban people
and the
world this Declaration, which was reaffirmed and bequeathed by him
in the few days that he saw sunlight in November 2002.
For his refusal
to renounce these principles, Dr. Biscet is being subject to
psychological and physical punishment in a subterranean cell without
visits
from his relatives and forced to cohabitate with an inmate who has
been jailed
for murder.
Justice exalts
a nation, sin is the ruin of people,
Proverbs 14, 34
Lic. Elsa Morejon,
wife of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet and member of the Board of
Directors of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights.
Declaration of Principles of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet
1. We demand
the unconditional freedom of the people of Cuba under a
multi-party system of government democratically elected at all levels
and with
complete guarantee of freedom of expression for all, including the
governments
detachment from the countrys means of communication.
2. The repeal
of the illegitimate communist Constitution of 1976 and the
establishment of a sovereign constituent assembly to draw amendments
to the
democratic Constitution of 1940, including the absolute adhesion
to the Universal
Declaration of Humans Rights of the United Nations and the abolition
of the
death penalty. These amendments should be ratified by the elected
representatives.
3. The establishment
of a state that will guarantee equality to all citizens
before the Law, without discrimination based on race, sex, ethnic
group, or
religious beliefs and which will end the system of oppression and
apartheid
established under the communist regime.
4. The dissolution
of all political, propagandistic, and repressive
organizations created by the communist regime since January, 1959
with an emphasis on
the development of independent civic institutions that will forge
democracy for
the new society.
5. Unconditional
and immediate amnesty for all political prisoners.
6. Free access
to Cubans and their children, who live outside the country, to
enter and leave the country at will with the same citizen rights
as those who
live inside the country.
7. The compromise
to fund a first-rate free educational system, with no
political orientation. Also a basic health system that can be afforded
by the
poorest ones.
8. The recognition
of private property and free enterprise as the main
pillars to foment the economic well-being of the country together
with a guarantee
to all workers of their right to organize independent labor unions
that will
promote collective interests.
9. The restructuring
of the armed forces and its strict isolation from the
economic and political activities and responsibilities of the country.
10. Once democracy
has been established, lobby for the elimination of the
U.S. commercial embargo and for the opening to foreign economic
assistance until
Cuba can establish a base for its economic rehabilitation.
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