Sebastian Arcos Bergnes (1931 – December 22, 1997, New York City) was a Cuban

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

activist. A prominent Cuban dissident, he was openly adversarial to the dictatorships of

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

and

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (born Rubén Zaldívar; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who played a dominant role in Cuban politics from his initial rise to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of t ...

Role in Cuban Revolution

Arcos's family had a long history of political action. His older brother

Gustavo Gustavo is the Latinate form of a Germanic male given name with respective prevalence in Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian. It is derived from Gustav /ˈɡʊstɑːv/, also spelled Gustaf, a Swedish name, likely from Slavic Gostislav. People with ...

was maimed fighting alongside Castro at the

Moncada Barracks The Moncada Barracks were military barracks in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba named after General Guillermo Moncada, a hero of the Cuban War of Independence. On 26 July 1953, the barracks was the site of an armed attack by a small group of revolutiona ...

, the first battle of the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

. Another brother, Luis, was later killed in the fighting. Sebastian, a dentist by training, also opposed that Batista dictatorship. In the years following the revolution, Arcos held several posts in the Castro government. In the 1960s, however, Gustavo was arrested for criticizing Castro, and Arcos resigned his membership in the

Communist Party of Cuba The Communist Party of Cuba (, PCC) is the sole ruling party of Cuba. It was founded on 3 October 1965 as the successor to the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, which was in turn made up of the 26th of July Movement and Popu ...

Committee for Human Rights in Cuba

In 1981, Arcos helped found the Committee for Human Rights in Cuba, becoming its vice president. His brother Gustavo served as president. The group was one of the first dissident groups in Cuba. Later in the same year, Arcos was arrested, spending more than six years with Gustavo in Combinado del Este prison.

1992 arrest

In March 1990, in reaction to the UN Commission of Human Rights having passed a resolution criticizing Cuba's human rights record, the regime launched the worst wave of "acts of repudiation" since the 1980

Mariel Boatlift The Mariel boatlift () was a mass emigration of Cubans who traveled from Cuba's Mariel Harbor to the United States between April 15 and October 31, 1980. The term "" is used to refer to these refugees in both Spanish and English. While the ex ...

, starting with Arcos's home, which suffered two attacks in one week. In the second attack, the Arcos home was kept under constant siege for almost two days by an angry government-led mob. In the summer of 1990, the CCPDH once again made history by calling on the Cuban regime to engage in a "civic dialogue" with opponents inside and outside the island. Ironically, as a result, CCPDH members were accused of being "US agents" by the Cuban regime and "Castro agents" by the exiled community. In 1992, Arcos was again arrested by the secret police. Charged with "enemy propaganda" and "inciting to rebellion," he was sentenced to four years and eight months. He was transferred to Ariza Prison in

Cienfuegos Province Cienfuegos () is one of the provinces of Cuba. The capital city of the province is also called Cienfuegos and was founded by French settlers in 1819. Overview Until 2011, Cienfuegos was the smallest province in Cuba (excluding the city of H ...

, more than 130 miles from Havana, where he was imprisoned alongside dangerous criminals and systematically denied medical attention. In 1993 the regime offered Arcos a deal: he would be released immediately if he only agreed to leave the island for good. Arcos rejected the deal, becoming the first political prisoner ever to choose prison in Cuba over freedom in exile.

Release and illness

After an international campaign that included his designation as an

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

prisoner of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

and a request by

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, the organization founded by former French first lady

Danielle Mitterrand Danielle Émilienne Isabelle Mitterrand (née Gouze; 29 October 1924 – 22 November 2011) was the wife of French President François Mitterrand, and president of the . Life Danielle Émilienne Isabelle Gouze was born on 29 October 1924 in Ver ...

, Arcos was released in 1995. A few weeks after his release, Arcos was diagnosed with a

malignant tumor Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal ...

in the rectum, for which he had previously been denied medicine and treatment in prison. After a Cuban doctor was fired from his post for treating Arocs, he traveled to Miami for further care. In 1996 he testified before the UN Human Rights Commission in

Geneva, Switzerland Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic and Ca ...

, and in 1997 was awarded the first Human Rights Award given by the Spanish-Cuban Foundation (Fundación Hispano-Cubana). Arcos died in the family home in Miami on December 22, 1997. After his death, US President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

described him as "a courageous and tireless activist for human rights, democracy and freedom in Cuba", while Cuban human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez Santa Cruz called him "irreplaceable" to the dissident movement.

Family

Arcos had two children, Sebastian and Maria Rosa. He also had a brother named Luis Arcos Bergnes.

References