MR. CASTRO'S PRISONERS

MR. CASTRO'S PRISONERS
Washington Post: At a time when suicide bombings and mass hostage takings have become common tools of political insurrection, the opponents of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro remain stubbornly civilized. The country's most important act of rebellion comes in the form of a petition campaign, intended to force Mr. Castro to hold a national referendum on freeing political prisoners and establishing basic freedoms. Public acts of disobedience are almost quaint in their mildness: One activist hung three Cuban flags upside down, while another ventured into the street to shout, "Long live human rights!"
Harsh treatment
Yet Mr. Castro's response to such dissent remains as harsh as if he were confronted by the terrorists of Al-Qaida; in fact, he treats his political prisoners far worse than the United States treats the Al-Qaida suspects it is holding at the Guantanamo Bay naval base on the edge of the island. People who circulate the petitions of the Varela Project are regularly harassed and fired from their jobs.
The man who hung the flags upside down, Oscar Elias Biscet, was arrested and imprisoned for three years; after his release this month he described cruel treatment, including inadequate rations of food, involuntary psychiatric examinations and long stretches in solitary confinement. Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva, the president of the Cuban Foundation for Human Rights and the man who dared to shout for them in public, has been in prison awaiting trial since last March; authorities have charged him with disrespect and public disorder and are seeking a sentence of six to eight years.
Then there is Leonardo Miguel Bruzon Avila, president of the 24th of February Movement -- named for both a turning point in the Spanish-American War and the day in 1996 when two civilian aircraft carrying four members of the Cuban American Brothers to the Rescue movement were shot down over international waters by Cuban fighter jets. Mr. Bruzon was merely planning a peaceful public ceremony when he was arrested Feb. 23; since then he has been held without trial.
Hunger strike
In late August, in protest of the conditions under which he and some 230 other Cuban political prisoners are being held, he began a hunger strike. Now, according to his family, he is near death at a military hospital. His family says his body is covered with bruises and he is coughing blood; his voice is barely audible. His condition is a testament to the nature of Mr. Castro's regime. By the same token, the peaceful tactics he and other opponents have so courageously adhered to predict the quality of government that could one day succeed the dictatorship.