News from Lori's Parents

19 March 2003

In this update:

Lori's article published on "ZNet"

Lori's recent article "Is Perú the Model for Fighting 'Terrorism?'" appears on ZNet. Despite the Peruvian government's rhetoric that seems "so convincing" to outlets like the Los Angeles Times and some other mainstream U.S. media, Lori's critical assessment of Perú's recent political history puts in proper perspective the superficial judicial and sociological changes now occurring in that country.

Lori's case remains stalled in Human Rights Court

Owing to a backlog of cases, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights concluded its session in San Jose, Costa Rica without movement on Lori's case. There are still several cases listed ahead of Lori's and the Court's next meeting is in June.

Reverend Nottingham to visit Lori

The Rev. Dr. William J. Nottingham, from the Christian Church--Disciples of Christ and Indianapolis Theological Seminary, is now in Lima and will be visiting with Lori on Friday. Rev. Nottingham has visited Lori four times and was with us in court at her sentencing on June 20, 2001. Lori is really looking forward to this visit.

Perú's "amended" anti-terrorism laws?

As we concluded in the February 28 Update, it is simply incredible for Perú to state that its antiterrorism laws are now in compliance with international standards and that anyone accused of a terrorism-related crime could have a fair civilian trial. The more we learn about these new laws, the more obvious it becomes that social justice and human rights are still lacking in Perú. "Apologia" remains a crime and there have been recent arrests, accusing people "for speaking their mind."

Alberto Fujimori: Wanted for crimes against humanity

While his former advisor and intelligence chief Vladimir Montesinos is about to receive his second superficial sentence tomorrow in but another of the many trials he faces, former President Alberto Fujimori, residing these past 28 months in Japan under the name of Ken Imamoto, has now been charged with "crimes against humanity." Although numerous countries around the world have publicly stated that Fujimori would be arrested should he set foot on their soil (the U.S., unfortunately, has not made any such statement), the government of Japan has refused to extradite "its citizen" to Perú for trial. Fujimori has insisted it is impossible to receive a fair trial in Perú -- need we say more on that?

- Rhoda and Mark Berenson