A SHORT FURLOUGH FOR POLITICAL PRISONER OSCAR

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 000771 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/18/2013 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINR CU SUBJECT: A SHORT FURLOUGH FOR POLITICAL PRISONER OSCAR ELIAS BISCET Classified By: COM Jonathan Farrar for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (SBU) Political prisoner and Presidential Medal of Freedom winner Oscar Elias Biscet was permitted to return home for several hours on Saturday, September 13, following the death of the woman who had taken him and his family in when they first began to suffer persecution from the Cuban government. The woman had been in a semi-comatose state for four years and had been cared for by Biscet's wife, Elsa Morejon, who is a nurse. Morejon said the woman had a very difficult time during Hurricane Ike when the power went out and the few pieces of equipment she had to care for her failed. She died on September 12. ¶2. (SBU) According to Morejon, Biscet arrived in an unmarked car with five plain clothes security force escorts. He was not handcuffed or otherwise bound. While he was at the house, there was a strong uniformed police presence in the neighborhood too. Morejon said Biscet was able to speak with neighbors who came by to pay their respects to the deceased woman. Morejon visits Biscet in prison on a regular basis and, while his arrival at home was a surprise for her, his condition was not. However, she said that her neighbors were profoundly shocked to see how much weight he had lost and the poor condition of his teeth and mouth (Biscet suffers from serious mouth and gum disease, among other problems). After two-three hours, police put Biscet back in the car and returned him to prison. ¶3. (C) COMMENT: Until Morejon came in to the Interests Section on September 16, we had heard nothing of this event. This is the second time in the past few months that a political prisoner has been allowed to return home following a death in the family. However, it is noteworthy that, while Biscet and Morejon treated the woman as if she were family, she was not a blood relative. Dissident leaders also have told us that for the past 6 months, the GOC has been moving members of the group of 75 political prisoners to prisons closer to their homes at the rate of about one per month. Originally, many of the political prisoners were housed in prisons far from their families. FARRAR