My name is Lori Berenson. I am a New York born and raised political prisoner in Peru. I have spent many years in Central and South America, trying to contribute to the efforts of those who seek social justice for all. I continue this work from prison.
On November 30, 1995, I was pulled off of a public bus in Lima, Peru. Like thousands of Peruvians, I was detained by the anti-terrorist police, tried for treason by a hooded military tribunal under draconian anti-terrorism laws and condemned to life in prison.
This all occurred in the context of an internal conflict in Peru that began in the early 1980's with the armed insurgence of the Peruvian Communist Party, also known as the Shining Path, and later with the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement – the MRTA. This conflict had parallels with other conflicts that occurred in much of Latin America.
When I was arrested, Peruvian President Fujimori made me a symbol for his anti-terrorist campaign. His ability to use the media for his own publicity purposes led to my case being very high profile.
Because of the tireless efforts of my family, friends and many others in the US and elsewhere in the world, the Fujimori regime was forced to bring my case to a civilian anti-terrorist court in 2000. During the period of the falling of the Fujimori regime and the formation of a transitional government in 2001, I received a new trial and was sentenced to 20 years for collaboration with terrorism. A year and a half later, the anti-terrorism legislation was modified slightly and those incarcerated under it began to receive new trials. In 2004, in light of the international anti-terrorism campaign in our post 9/11 world and under extreme pressure from Perú's political class, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ratified my sentence.
The details of what happened to me are irrelevant in the broader picture of the thousands of Peruvians who have been killed, disappeared, tortured and detained during the internal conflict. Since history has always been re-written by those who have the upper-hand, the issue of subversion became the scapegoat for all of Peru's problems.
In all parts of the world, symbolic culprits are used to obscure the root causes of social discontent, to distract attention and distort realities when any group of people questions the existing order.
The world order, especially in this era of globalized capitalism is designed to benefit a powerful few at the expense of the majority of our world's peoples. This system is unjust, immoral, terrifying, and just plain insane. We must change it.
People all over the world are imprisoned today and suffering tremendous injustices for challenging this order. I express my solidarity with all of those prisoners, and in particular my admiration for those whose courage we can hear in the voice of Mumia Abu Jamal, in the writings about Leonard Peltier, in the struggle for the liberation of Puerto Rico, and many others. The dignity demonstrated throughout long years of struggle and resistance under one of the harshest jail regimes on earth is an example for all prisoners and for human beings in general.
For prisoners, the struggle for basic dignity is a daily plight. Prisons are just a smaller version of the general system that operates in this world, and that is what is wrong. The desire to change it is why many of us are here in the first place. It is a worthy cause to be behind bars for.
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Lori Berenson is a US citizen currently being held as a political prisoner in Peru. Lori Berenson's remarks on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of her arrest were read by Aura Bogado. This commentary was produced by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
10th Anniversary Essay (3:14)