December 5, 2006
To Friends and Supporters of Lori Berenson:
LORI BEGINS 12th YEAR OF IMPRISONMENT
On Thursday, November 30th Lori completed her 11th year of wrongful imprisonment in Peru. It came at a time when the recently elected Peruvian President Alan Garcia is promising to make life tougher for political prisoners. It is also a time that we look forward to a new Congressional composition in the USA that will hopefully improve things on many fronts.
Lori's continued wrongful incarceration was remembered in an article-"An American forgotten by the right, the MSM, and yes, the left" (see http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/11/14/85056/305 ).
Another recent article, "Golden Cages: Wealth and Misery in Peru's Highlands," discussing Peru and Lori, appeared in Z Magazine(see http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=11466§ionID=20 ).
END-OF-YEAR MESSAGE FROM LORI
Lori is still in the north of Peru and is still working at the bakery. Rhoda and Kathy visited her for her 37th birthday (Nov. 13) and they brought back the following end-of-year message:
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Dear Friends,
My best wishes to you from northern Peru, thanking you for your continued concern and support.
Yet another year in jail is coming to a close, and I remember a repeated conversation I've had with my parents over the last two years: What could I recommend that people do to change my situation?
This is such a complex issue that I wouldn't even know where to begin to respond to it. The year 2006 in Peru has been an electoral one. There were two rounds of presidential elections at the beginning of the year and municipal/regional ones at the end. A new government in power began its term calling for the restoration of the death penalty and harshening the legislation for those who protest (particularly the contamination caused by the irresponsible extraction of native resources such as gold, copper, natural gas, etc.). Then the government of Alan Garcia launched a major offensive against the human rights community, seeking to restrict - even more - the functioning of NGOs through a new, controlling law.
The leadership of both subversive armed organizations (the Shining Path and the MRTA) that existed in Peru during the eighties and early nineties were sentenced to very high prison terms; however, the policies of "reconciliation" have been limited to promised "reparations" to certain communities affected by the internal war.
There is such a level of confusion on the issue of political violence in Peru, such continuous misinformation in the media and a momentary political utilization by the government as a "smoke screen" that it is extremely difficult to even fathom how to make a space for other opinions on that topic (even though people do say that a country that is incapable of understanding its past is condemned to repeat it). My case is completely immersed in that pool of confusion and would be difficult to separate from it.
The general trend is the restriction of jail benefits. Prisoners for "terrorism" are having a harder time receiving those benefits now-a-days, and several filed-away cases are now being re-opened.
So, what can be done? We need to work to change the way the world is working, because Peru's problems with its past and present have everything to do with the general globalized horrific mess. We have to stop the war in Iraq, close down Guantanamo, and help countries like Peru to become more just ones - which entails their comprehension of why people rose up against the systems of injustice and not a return to the use of the death penalty.
My best to you all.
Lori Berenson
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We also want to express our gratitude for your continued concern and support for our daughter Lori. All best wishes to you and your loved ones for this holiday season.
Rhoda and Mark Berenson
English Website: www.freelori.org
Spanish Website: www.lorilibre.org
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2 comments:
One thing Americans should do is write to their Representative in Congress. I know that most representatives will basically contact the State Department concerning your request as long as it is written and mailed and based on your knowledge of the case. You can expect the State
Department to get a fresh report from the Embassy in Peru, which they will send to the Congressman for your information. I do not even know how I came across the plight of Lori Berenson.From what has been written it appears she did overstep boundaries of wise behavior in a foreign country, particularly when that country is involved in a bloody and serious war with terrorists out to overthrow the government. Nevertheless, she did get involved in some way or other. While that was wrong, her treatment by both military and civilian governments in Peru was harsh and did violate her human rights. I am not going to repeat what has been written already as a simple search of her name in Google will bring up some articles. What seems to be the final outcome is a twenty year prison term, down from life imprisonment and still unjust from American and international standards. Unfortunately, Lori is right when she realizes that for her, the internal situation in Peru is not much better now than 15 years ago. Worse yet, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and subsequent events, she is unlikely to obtain much of a fair and objective hearing. The USA has been shown to react to terrorism in ways sometimes similar to how governments in Peru and other countries react. While the USA used to have a better reputation dealing with various terrorists and terrorist groups; now the government can be accused of treating prisoners without regard to the law. Now, we can expect officials in Peru to react with laughter or disbelief when asked to be more understanding and humane in the decisions regarding Ms Berenson. From all that I have read and found out, she has long since paid for any possible crime committed in Peru. The right thing for the Peruvian Government to do is to release her and simply deport her back to the United States. While I do not advocate it,one possibility is that she could be given the same type of deal as the Australian who was captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan and brought to Guantanamo prison, held without trial for years, to finally be tried secretly by a military tribunal and deported to Australia to finish his term. He was required to agree that he would not talk about his captivity when he is released and he must continue to cooperate with American intelligence agents in the future. In other words, the United States Government used its imagination to release the man and deport him, even if he had been in combat against the United States. Nobody really thinks he will have to spend any time in jail in Australia, or that he will be of any use to intelligence agencies of any country. Nor can he be stopped form speaking and writing about his experience in Afghanistan and under custody. Anyway, it will be difficult to gain the release of Ms Berenson, but even small efforts such as writing to Congressional Representatives and to the Peruvian embassies and officials, will help.
We cannot pretend to fight the terrorists from Aphganistan or elsewhere, and the same time try to gain freedom to american terrorists abroad. That would be double standard. Lori went to Peru and joined or helped terrorists acting in Peru. The american goverment knows that,reason why she is still in jail.
I am sorry for her, and am sorry for the detainees in Guantanamo also, most of whom have not even been charged, yet in prison for 5-6 years.
JC
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