Havana, Cuba, Jun 8, 2006 / 22:00 pm
Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, a prominent pro-life physician who was given a 25-year prison sentence by the Cuban government for defending the unborn and promoting civil rights, has been nominated for a prestigious Spanish award by a group of exiled Cubans.
The Prince of Asturias Awards (in Spanish: Premios Príncipe de Asturias) is a series of annual prizes given in Spain by the Fundación Príncipe de Asturias to individuals from around the world who make notable achievements in the sciences, humanities, or public affairs. The awards are presented in Oviedo, the capital of the Principality of Asturias in a ceremony conducted by Felipe, Prince of Asturias.
Oscar Elias Biscet, founder and president of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, has been imprisoned by the Castro regime on several occasions. Since 2003 he has been held in a prison in Pinar del Rio under inhumane conditions.
The Castro government intensified its persecution of Biscet in 1998 when he and another scholar published an exposé on the abortion practices at a prominent state-run hospital. The report, containing unofficial statistics and testimonies of mothers whose children were murdered at birth, was send to Fidel Castro with a letter from Biscet.
More information on Dr. Biscet and the Lawton Foundation can be found at <http://www.lawtonfoundation.com/index_spanish.php>