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For Immediate Release
6 September 2000 |
For more information, contact:
Beau Friedlander, Context Books (212) 233-4880 |
LORI:
My Daughter, Wrongfully Imprisoned in Peru
by Rhoda Berenson
Preface by Noam Chomsky; Afterword by former Attorney General Ramsey Clark
"Illuminating and powerful, everyone who cares about human rights and decency will want to read Rhoda Berenson's superb book."
Blanche Wiesen Cook
"Anyone who reads this book will be inspired and outraged. . . I hope that everyone who reads this courageous testament written by her mother will join the effort to free Lori Berenson."
Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton
"An inspiring symbol of the aspiration of countless people who seek. . . the freedom and rights they deserve."
Noam Chomsky
"speaks more clearly and more powerfully about the failures of governments, leaders, militarism, and economic self-interest than libraries of scholarly studies."
Ramsey Clark
On Friday, December 1, 1995, Rhoda Berenson received a phone call that would forever change her life. An official from the U.S. embassy in Peru called to say that her twenty-seven-year-old daughter had been arrested and charged with high treason against Peru. President Alberto Fujimori declaimed Lori as a threat to Peruvian national security. Absurd and totally surreal, this marked the beginning of what has now become a five-year nightmare for the Berenson family.
And the nightmare would take on unimaginable proportions. Charged as a leader of the Peruvian terrorist group, the MRTA (Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru), Lori was tried by hooded military officials. Without due process, and in the absence of any supporting evidence, this anonymous tribunal convicted Lori as charged. The Peruvian justice system broke four international treaties on legal rights, and even its own constitution, in order to do this. Human rights organizations called foul. Regardless, she was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. Isolated in a Draconian mountaintop prison with no heat, electricity, or running water and less food than could sustain her, Lori's health swiftly deteriorated.
This is the Berenson's harrowing story, as told by her mother, a story that continues on a day-to-day, hour-to-hour basis. Wrenched from the quiet New York college classrooms where they both taught, Rhoda and Mark Berenson found themselves propelled into a world of sensitive politics, military courts, torture, corrupt prison commandants, terrorist insurgency and police reprisals. Berenson vividly records her impressions and the real story behind this several year struggle: the anger, the sadness, the behind-the-scenes negotiations with politicians, and the unwavering dedication. Excerpts from Lori Berenson's letters, and Rhoda Berenson's insightful account bring the reader close into the fold of this family and their ordeal.
The plight of all prisoners of conscience is exemplified in the experiences of Lori Berenson and her family. While shedding harsh light on the injustices that are routine in Peru, Rhoda Berenson's memoir is a moving testament to both a family's love and to the strength of spirit and character in us all.
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15,000-copy First Printing
Signed Copies Available |
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About the Author
Rhoda Berenson and her husband Mark have been working to secure their daughter's release from the Peruvian prison system for the past five years. After long careers as college professors, the Berensons now work as lobbyist in the struggle to free Lori.
About the Book
LORI: My Daughter, Wrongfully Imprisoned in Peru
by Rhoda Berenson
ISBN: 1-893956-06-7
Pub: November 15, 2000
Pages: 240
Price: $21.95
Cloth (5.5 x 8.25 )
Current Events/Biography