News from Lori's Parents
14 January 2000
This is day 1,507 of wrongful incarceration.
In this update:Lori's hunger strike
The Peruvian prison authorities have announced, and the U.S. Embassy has confirmed, that Lori began a hunger strike on Tuesday morning, January 11th, the day that we were holding vigils across the country to protest her wrongful imprisonment.
No one should be surprised that Lori decided to commence a hunger strike on the 11th of January -- after all, it was the fourth anniversary of her unjust conviction and sentence to life imprisonment. She is innocent and this wrongful act is something that is uppermost in her daily thoughts.
Although the Peruvian media indicated today that Lori made demands upon the prison system, we want you to know that this is not true. The written statement Lori gave to the prison director makes no such demands. In it she confirms her commitment to human rights and outlines the violations of fundamental rights in the Peuvian prison system including complete isolation and the physical, moral, and psychological destruction of the prisoner.
As Lori's parents, while we are not surprised, we are very anxious about her health, which is already impaired and undermined by spending these past four years under extremely harsh and debilitating conditions. We respect her courage and her commitment to her beliefs to help the poor, and end injustice and suffering.