Lori Berenson

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Lori Berenson : biography

November 13, 1969 –

In 2002, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States condemned the system under which Berenson was tried. Alleging violations of the American Convention on Human Rights, to which Peru is a party, Berenson’s case was referred to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of the Organization of American States when the government of Peru refused to accept the Commission’s recommendations.

On November 25, 2004, the Inter-American Court upheld the conviction and sentence. The Court did condemn the judicial system under which Berenson was originally tried, and also condemned Berenson’s earlier incarceration at Yanamayo Prison. Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo hailed the verdict, and The New York Times noted that few Peruvians have any sympathy for Berenson.

Background

Berenson was born in New York City to Rhoda and Mark Berenson, both college professors. On her web site, she states that she volunteered for soup kitchens and blood banks and also worked as a mother’s helper in the Hamptons as a teenager. While an undergraduate at MIT, she volunteered with the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES). Before graduating, she left MIT to work with CISPES. Later she went to El Salvador and became secretary and translator for Leonel González, a leader of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), during negotiations that achieved peace in 1992. FMLN was at that time an umbrella organization associated with various leftist guerilla organizations and the Salvadoran Communist Party and working to overthrow the Salvadoran military dictatorship. FMLN transitioned during the peace process to a become a legal political party. Gonzalez (aka Salvador Sánchez Cerén) is currently the Vice President of El Salvador.

After political reconciliation came to El Salvador, Berenson moved to Peru. During her travels and political activities, she claims she was supported by an educational trust fund established by her parents.

Efforts to free Berenson

Over the years, there were several efforts made on behalf of Berenson, stemming from concerns she did not obtain a fair trial or was not receiving humanitarian treatment, or simply to obtain her release. Various endeavors have come from Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

According to her release website, in 1998, Amnesty International issued a press release declaring Berenson to be a political prisoner Amnesty criticized the Peruvian anti-terrorism legislation, stating that, "it is unacceptable for hundreds of political prisoners like Berenson not to be able to exercise their basic human right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal."

In December 1996, the MRTA seized the Japanese Ambassador’s residence in Lima and demanded that MRTA prisoners be released in exchange for the release of their hostages. MRTA leader Nestor Cerpa, Nancy Gilvonio’s husband, led the takeover of the Embassy. Berenson was third on a list of MRTA prisoners whose release was sought by the hostage-takers. After 126 days, the standoff ended in a raid by Peruvian special forces in which all hostage-takers were killed. Two military personnel, commander EP Juan Valer Sandoval and captain EP Raúl Jiménez Chávez, and one of the seventy-two hostages, Carlos Giusti were also killed.

On July 21, 1999, the United States House of Representatives voted against an amendment sponsored by US Rep. Maxine Waters described as "to express the sense of Congress concerning support for democracy in Peru and the release of Lori Berenson". The vote failed 189 to 234. to the original H.R. 2415. First session, 106th United States Congress.

In January 2002 Thomas Gumbleton, Bishop of Archdiocese of Detroit and founder of Pax Christi USA, visited with Lori to work with Peruvian government officials "for her release." Berenson was visited by other religious leaders, including William Nottingham, President Emeritus of Overseas Ministries for Disciples of Christ, who after meeting with Lori stated that "She has maintained her innocence in the face of many inducements. She neither condones nor justifies violence of any kind" and that her "involvements in Latin America were motivated by her concern for social justice and her understanding of the oppression of the poor. Her humanitarian and political sympathies made her the target of an oppressive right-wing government."