[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 105 (Monday, July 29, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1464-E1465]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  LORI BERENSON'S UNJUST IMPRISONMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MAXINE WATERS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 26, 2002

  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I am outraged and appalled by the continuing 
incarceration of Lori Berenson on charges of collaborating with 
terrorists in Peru. Lori Berenson is not a terrorist, nor has she ever 
collaborated with terrorists. She is an intelligent and caring young 
woman who is committed to justice.
  The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recently vindicated 
Lori Berenson. The Inter-American Commission came to the following 
conclusion:
  ``The Peruvian State is responsible for the violation of the right to 
judicial guarantees, of personal integrity, and of the right concerning 
the principle of legality to the detriment of Berenson, having judged 
her in the military court, submitting her to inhumane and degrading 
conditions of detention, starting a new trial conforming to Legal 
Decree 25475 (antiterrorist law), and permitting the evidence collected 
during the first [military] process with a value of proof in said 
[second] trial.''
  Lori Berenson has been unjustly imprisoned in Peru for nearly seven 
years under the harshest possible conditions. She has never had a trial 
that respected her rights or met international standards of fairness 
and due process. Not only has Lori never wavered in her insistence that 
she is innocent of the charges against her, she was charged under the 
antiterrorist laws that the Inter-American Commission has deemed 
unacceptable.
  The Peruvian government is challenging the decision of the Inter-
American Commission by filing a lawsuit against the Inter-American 
Commission at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Peru's lawsuit 
is mean-spirited and frivolous and will only result in the unnecessary 
further incarceration of Lori Berenson. In similar cases, the Inter-
American Court of Human Rights has confirmed the rulings of the Inter-
American Commission that Peru's antiterrorist laws violate the American 
Convention on Human Rights. These court decisions have resulted in the 
release of the defendants whose rights were violated.
  Lori Berenson's health has been damaged by her wrongful imprisonment. 
The Inter American Commission on Human Rights concluded

[[Page E1465]]

that the conditions of her incarceration are ``degrading and 
inhumane.'' Continued incarceration while awaiting a decision of the 
Inter American Court will cause her needless additional suffering.
  Legal and humanitarian considerations require that Lori Berenson be 
released immediately. I urge the Peruvian government to set her free.

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