NEWS RELEASE:
January 11, 1996
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For Further Information Contact: Bob Schwartz (212) 475-3232
NEW YORK FAMILY CONDEMNS DAUGHTER'S LAWLESS TREASON CONVICTION IN
PERU
The family of Lori Berenson is angered and upset to learn
that the government of Peru, acting through a faceless,
secret military tribunal, has pronounced Lori guilty of
treason against Peru and sentenced her to life
imprisonment.
"This is outrageous! Lori is a pacifist, opposed to every
form of violence, and has devoted her young life to
helping the poor and oppressed. She would never hurt
anyone," said Mark Berenson, father of Lori Berenson, who
was seized six weeks ago by Peruvian security forces while
riding on a public bus.
Rhoda Berenson, Lori's mother, said "Lori is innocent of
these charges. Although a variety of preposterous
allegations were made over the past six weeks, the
government of Peru has never demonstrated any evidence to
support a charge of treason. They apparently want to use
our daughter to frighten human rights activists and
foreign journalists out of Peru."
Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, an attorney
assisting the Berenson family said, "Peru continues its
massive abuses of human rights and complete denial of due
process of law. This time it is a 26 year old U.S.
citizen.
Lori Berenson has been held virtually incommunicado,
subjected to exhausting interrogation, night and day,
psychological violence and deception to break her will.
They have failed. In the degrading forced appearance
before the press at the very time a military judge
considered secret charges against her, and without a
lawyer, family or friends present, Lori Berenson said 'I
am to be condemned for my concern about the conditions of
hunger and misery which exist in this country. . . Yo amo
este pueblo (I love this people).'
"Rather than present evidence, if it has any, to a
civilian constitutional court in a public trial with
rights to counsel, to remain silent, to cross-examine
witnesses and to present evidence in her own defense, the
Peruvian government has used masked military officers in a
secret proceeding to silence the truth and condemn the
innocent. A political decision was made to give an
American the maximum sentence though there was no claim
she committed a violent act, or intended to, or even
visited Peru until recently. Everyone who cares about
fairness, justice and human rights should protest
immediately to Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, the
United Nations, the Organization of American States,
President Clinton and the U.S. Congress."
###
The Berenson family would like to take this opportunity to release
the full text of Lori Berenson's courageous and compassionate
remarks to the media while in chains and after 39 days of
isolation and relentless interrogation in Lima, Peru on January 8,
1996:
"I am to be condemned for my concern about the conditions
of hunger and misery which exist in this country. Here
nobody can deny that in Peru there is much injustice.
There is institutionalized violence that has killed the
people's best sons and has condemned children to die of hunger.
If it is a crime to worry about the subhuman conditions in which
the majority of this population lives, then I will accept my
punishment. But this is not a love of violence. This is not to
be a criminal terrorist because in the MRTA there are no criminal
terrorists. It is a revolutionary movement.
"I love this people. I love this people and although this
love is going to make -- cost -- me years in prison, I
will never stop loving, and never lose the hope and
confidence that there will be a new day of justice in
Peru."
###
Suggested Action:
1. Call the White House: (202) 456-1414; e-mail:
president@whitehouse.gov
2. Call or Fax Assistant Secretary of State Alexander Watson:
Phone (202) 647-5780; Fax (202) 647-0791
3. Call your Congressional Representative: Your representative
can be reached through the Congressional Switchboard
(202) 224-3121
4. Call or Fax Ambassador Ricardo Luna at the Peruvian Embassy:
Phone (202) 833-9860; Fax (202) 659-8124
** End of text from cdp:reg.elsalvador **