[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 89 (Monday, June 25, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1188]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             LORI BERENSON

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 25, 2001

  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, when Peru announced it would 
retry Lori last August, we hoped for an open and fair hearing. Instead, 
what she received was a public circus in which the verdict was a 
foregone conclusion.
  Peru has condemned Lori Berenson under draconian anti-terrorism laws 
enacted during the flawed Fujimori-Montesinos regime. The U.S. 
Department of State and the Inter-American Human Rights court system 
have been joined by human rights groups such as the Washington Office 
on Latin America (WOLA) and Human Rights Watch: Americas, in concluding 
that the Fujimori-Montesinos anti-terrorism laws violate both 
international law and the Peruvian Constitution. Her trial should not 
have been held until those laws were reformed.
  International observers, human rights advocates and legal scholars 
report that Lori's trial has been riddled with violations of due 
process. Much of the evidence used against her was gathered during her 
discredited military trial, in many cases from witnesses who had been 
subjected to torture. Most of the witnesses have since recanted their 
earlier statements. The only witness against Lori received a reduced 
sentence for his testimony against Lori and, on the eve of Lori's trial 
was given a new trial so that he can get another reduction in sentence. 
Furthermore, court proceedings clearly show that the judges had decided 
the verdict long before this trial began. How fair is a trial in which 
a judge proclaims a defendant guilty while witnesses are still being 
heard?
  In her public statement in court yesterday, Lori said that she was 
sorry for the violence and the deaths that there have been. She has 
condemned terrorism in the past and she did so again today. Lori has 
always maintained that she was innocent of the charges against her.
  I am hopeful that the Peruvian President will recognize that Lori has 
already served 5\1/2\ years in prison under very harsh circumstances 
and will pardon her. It is time for Lori to come home.

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