Peru Says Won't Free U.S. Woman Whatever Court Rules

[maddezmom]

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - Peru will not free a U.S. woman serving a 20-year sentence for terrorism even if the region's top human rights court orders it to, the nation's foreign minister said in remarks broadcast on Saturday.


The Inter-American Court of Human Rights based in Costa Rica is set to discuss Lori Berenson (news - web sites)'s case next Wednesday or Thursday, although it is not certain if it will rule then.


The 35-year-old New Yorker was convicted of collaborating with leftist rebels, and her attorneys have exhausted all legal avenues in Peru.


Berenson argues that her civilian retrial and sentencing in 2001, ordered after the annulment of her 1996 treason conviction by a summary military court, was unfair. She says she is innocent of all charges.

more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=8&u=/nm/20041120/ts_nm/peru_berenson_dc

[livinbella]

1. From what I have seen she looks guilty as sin

While I know nothing about the justness of her cause,
the fact that she is from the US does
not make her innocent.

[Downtown Hound]

4. Sorry but she is not guilty

They have never presented a single shred of evidence against her throughout two trials. No, the fact that she is from the U.S. does not make her innocent, but every rebel involved in the case has testified on her behalf and stated she was not a member of the MRTA except for one, who did it in exchange for a reduced sentence. Lori Berenson is a political pawn used by the Peruvian Government to show that it's tough on terrorism, the same way the U.S. uses prisoners at Guantanamo and Abu Grahib, many of whom are innocent as well.

[SquireJons]

9. Not so simple as that

I have followed her case from the beginning out of morbid curiosity. While she probably was not active in any terrorist organizations, she rented the house where they regularly met, and stashed weapons. During her first trial, she was very outspoken in support for the rebels and defiant of the court. Part of the reason for Peru's inflexible position on her sentencing is due to her incredibly high notoriety with the people of Peru.

While I probably would agree with much of her politics, there is a reason why I haven't left the U.S. in search of revolutions in progress. That's the very reason why Ms. Berenson was there. You play with fire, you get burned.

[Downtown Hound]

11. I have also followed the case from the beginning

She rented a room in the house with two of the rebels and moved out three months prior to her arrest. The remaining rebels moved in after she was gone and stashed the weapons then. Lori was no doubt sympathetic to the MRTA, I have no doubt of that, hence her remarks at her presentation. And I can't say I blame her. I have a lot of sympathy for anyone who resists a totalitarian government, which was what Fujimor'i was. But did she participate in its planning? In its activities? No way. Everything I've seen about her suggests that's not the type of person she is, and there's no evidence to suggest otherwise. But you seem to agree with that.

And Lori didn't go searching for revolutions abroad so much as she did to write about the poor of Latin America. She had legitimate press credentials approved by the Peruvian Government. It doesn't surprise me at all that she would meet some MRTA members along the way. Whether she actually knew they were MRTA or whether the second rebel that testified at her trial was telling the truth and she didn't, I'm really not sure. But that doesn't make her a terrorist. She also knew a lot of other journalists, and some of them were even questioned by Peruvian Police after she was arrested because their phone numbers were on her pager.

Her infamy in Peru is due to the way their media has presented her. Right after her arrest Fujimori appeared on screen and waved her American passport around. They have used her to show that they won't be bullied around by anyone, even the Untied States. It's true that she voluntarily placed herself in danger. That doesn't mean she deserves what she's getting. I think Lori is a very courageous woman that deserves support. I hope she's freed one day, and that it's not too long before that happens. Sadly, it looks like it might be.

[barb162]

17. they never should have imprisoned her

[mare]

14. but that is not illegal

meaning: renting a house.

I actually never heard of this case before but it seems I heard of a similar. In the 1970s Joschka Fischer was living in a house that was now and then inhabited by left wing terrorists. There were even supposedly weapons and explosives stashed in that house, some of them by a certain well known terrorist called "Carlos". But living in the same house and/or paying rent for it doesn't mean you are a terrorist yourself or that you are guilty of anything but living there. Some have tried to attack Fischer because of his "relations" with terrorists but nothing ever came out of it. Because he never did anything illegal. He is the German Foreign Minister by now by the way.

[barb162]

16. I agree; I stay out of certain countries

[WMliberal]

trade her for kissinger?

seems fair enough

[bossfish]

2. Interesting...does the Shrub administration..

...go to bat for her?

She is apparently a "leftist", collaborates with "terrorists" and this is just a little old "human rights" court.

[American Renaissance]

3. treason?

How the hell can Peru try an American (or any foreigner) for Treason in the first place?

Where the hell was the US government?

[Downtown Hound]

5. They let Peru's dictator Fujimori get away with it

He used her as a pawn, and they raised no objections.

[DulceDecorum]

6. I wish that the citizens of the US

had displayed a similar determination
when faced with the Supreme Court election ruling in 2004.

Smirky Berenson should count herself fortunate
not to be constantly on her knees in an orange jumpsuit
or being used for sexually explicit photoshoots.

And at least she got a trial,
which is far more than the US is granting foreigners these days.

[SquireJons]

10. ...should count herself fortunate?

Some how I seriously doubt it. I can only guess what life has been like for the last 9 years for her. Her reality would probably make those trashy female exploitation films look like they came from Disney. By now she's probably been raped so many times she can't walk. I'm actually surprised she's still alive. But I'd hardly call her fortunate.

[yo-yo-ma]

15. "Smirky Berensen"?

Just because our government has mistreated, abused and tortured detainees, doesn't change the "truth value" of Lori Berensen's case in Peru.

There is nothing "fortunate" about her situation.

The lack of empathy in some of these posts, although understandable if from a transcript of a Hannity radio show, comming from DU is literally demoralizing -- are we as swift, callous and cruel as the right . . .

[w4rma]

7. Sounds like the government there doesn't like journalists reporting

on things that the government would like covered up, such as the living conditions of the poor.

[lfairban]

8. Committee to free Lori Berenson web site

If you want more information:

http://www.freelori.org/

[yardwork]

12. I'm shocked by the lack of sympathy for this woman here

What is she accused of doing? Sympathizing with leftists? She wasn't accused of setting bombs or killing anybody, was she? Not that I know of. Her only crime was being connected, in some way, with an organization that the Peruvian government didn't like.

And for this she gets 35 years in prison in a freezing cold cement cell in the mountains of Peru?

[Downtown Hound]

13. As someone who has spent years defending this woman

this is actually quite typical of the way many Americans regard her. It's pretty easy to get them to admit that she wasn't a terrorist, but many of them still seem to not care that she's in prison because, "she was asking for it" by having the nerve to travel to a foreign country and meddle in their affairs. I honestly don't know why so many Americans seem so willing to just write her off because she decided to do something other than make lots of money, but they have been.

And just so you know, her current sentence is twenty years, of which she has almost served half. And she is no longer in the freezing prison in the mountains or locked down in her cell. She is allowed to move around during the day and spends much of her time cooking and teaching the other inmates English. Her conditions are very much improved over what they were.