[Shadow_Group] Fw: update on Lori Berenson, artricle and report

[shadowgroup-l at lists.resist.ca]

PERU: update information.  Below, you will find

- FREE LORI BERENSON CAMPAIGN Update on efforts to secure Lori's liberty.

- Article: STANDING UP TO EXPLOITATION AND INJUSTICE:  THE CAJAMARCA
PROTEST, by Lori Berenson, Penal de Huacariz, Cajamarca, Peru, September
2004 (about the struggle of the local Cajamarca population against the
destructive gold mining efforts of the U.S. Newmont company).

- Summary report: "THE WAR ON TERRORISM:  PERU'S PAST AND PRESENT, A LEGAL
ANALYSIS", by Professor Ralph Ruebner and his International Human Rights
Seminar, 7ruebner at jmls.edu<mailto:7ruebner at jmls.edu>.  Full report:
http://www.jmls.edu/pdf/perureport.pdf<http://www.jmls.edu/pdf/perureportpdf>.

If you want on-off this elist: info at rightsaction.org<mailto:info at rightsaction.org>.

===

TO ALL FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS OF LORI BERENSON:

INTER-AMERICAN COURT TO TAKE UP LORI'S CASE NOV. 24 AND 25

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights announced that Lori's case will be
the sixth and final case to be reviewed during its three-week session in San
Jose, Costa Rica, that commences on November 15th.  Lori's case will be
discussed on November 24th and 25th.  A decision from the Court may be
rendered at that time, a few days after (since the Court is in session until
December 4th), or the Court may postpone a decision until its next session.

A "NOVEMBER" WISH FOR LORI
November 13th will mark Lori's 35th birthday and November 30th will mark the
completion of nine years of wrongful incarceration.  Thanksgiving Day,
November 25th, is the day the Court will be finishing its two-day
deliberations on Lori's case.  We hope that this November will mark the
Court decision that results in Lori's freedom.

RHODA VISITS LORI IN CAJAMARCA PRISON
Rhoda found Lori to be in good spirits as she awaits the decision of the San
Jose Court.  Except for her hands, which remain swollen owing to the chronic
circulatory problem that evolved from her incarceration at frigid and
high-altitude Yanamayo Prison from January 1996 through October 1998, Lori's
was feeling fine.  She continues to spend her days in the prison bakery,
making breads and cakes for the inmates as well as for the Cajamarca
community.  Although she wears appropriate gloves, the continual washing of
the pots and vats in cold water has not helped - but she is nevertheless
happy to be baking and contributing to the community.  She spends the rest
of her time reading, writing, listening to the news on radio, making
hand-stitched cards, and knitting.

INDIANAPOLIS PEACE & JUSTICE JOURNAL ARTICLE CALLS FOR LORI'S FREEDOM
Writing of his fifth trip to Peru to meet with Lori, the Rev. Dr. William J.
Nottingham, president emeritus - Division of Overseas Ministries Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ) in the US and Canada, published an article,
"Free Lori Berenson," in the October issue of the Indianapolis Peace &
Justice Journal.   To read this article, please visit
http://www.freelori.org/news/04sep16_peaceandjusticejournal.html<http://www.freelori.org/news/04sep16_peaceandjusticejournal.html>.

We are most grateful to Rev. Dr. Nottingham for his continued support for
Lori and for us over these many years.  We know him to be an extraordinary
individual whose love and compassion for those who have suffered oppression
is boundless.

Rhoda and Mark Berenson
English Website:  www.freelori.org<http://www.freelori.org/>
Spanish Website:  www.lorilibre.org<http://www.lorilibre.org/>

===

STANDING UP TO EXPLOITATION AND INJUSTICE:  THE CAJAMARCA PROTEST
By Lori Berenson, Penal de Huacariz, Cajamarca, Peru, September 2004

"The sleeping lion finally woke up," expressed a Cajamarcan lay worker who
visited here in Huacariz Prison last Saturday, referring to the recent
protests against the Yanacocha Mine Company. The mayor of one of Cajamarca's
provinces explained that "this struggle is necessary and just." It's a
struggle for life.

The people of Cajamarca paralyzed the area for over two weeks this
September. A protest that began with the peasant community that lives in the
Cerro Quilish (Quilish Hill) days earlier gave the warning signal. The
Yanacocha Mining Company, whose principle shareholder is the North American
gold mining giant, Newmont, was authorized by the Peruvian Ministry of
Energy and Mines to carry out explorations in the Cerro Quilish, the water
source for Cajamarca and nearby areas.

Seemingly seeking fame as an environmental hazard wrapped up in a gold
mining company, Newmont's Yanacocha mining efforts in others hills have
already caused damage to Cajamarca over the last ten years. Locals complain
of much more than just the death of trout and frogs, or the high chemical
contamination of the water that is causing a series of health problems. The
mercury spill in the Cajamarcan district of Choropampa a few years back was
just one illustration of the carelessness with which the issue of
environmental protection is dealt.

This mine has also brought all of the ugliness of the developed world to the
once quiet city, remembered for its dairy products, the Inca thermal baths,
and for housing the memories of the beginning of the fall of the Inca Empire
in the 1500s. Cajamarcans now complain of the increased crime rates, the
proliferation of drugs on its once peaceful streets, and of the Yanacocha
Mining Company's few direct befits to locals.

Those who work in the mine are mostly brought in from other regions of Peru,
and the indirect benefits of providing services to the mine workers are far
outweighed by the skyrocketing cost of living in Cajamarca, today among the
highest, if not the highest, in all of Peru.

However, the clearest signal that "something is wrong" is the annual
statistical report on poverty that shows how Cajamarca has moved from fourth
to second place in the rankings by department (the equivalent of state), a
poverty level which has increased during the years in which Latin America´s
number one gold producer has been functioning here.

The exploration of Cerro Quilish, especially when taking into account
Newmont's record worldwide in causing terrible health problems to the
populations near their mines, is very threatening to the well-being of
hundreds of thousands of people and to the future of this part of the
country. This isn't the first time that a foreign company has come in to
take away Peru's wealth and give it, in turn, poverty and lifeless lands.
Other mining companies have done the same in other regions of Peru, as well
as elsewhere in the world. It is a problem for dependent countries and their
impoverished citizens when faced with capitalist monsters that want to
increase their fortunes at any cost.

Even when the destruction of water sources is condemned by the United
Nations, the general feeling is that power can buy off anyone or anything,
and history has shown this to be true. Globalized capitalism continues to
divide up the world into pockets of resources, natural or human, to be used
and disposed of at the whim of those who have power.

Struggling against a monster of that size is not an easy feat; however,
there are many who are willing to give it a try.

The peasant communities of the Cerro Quilish gave out the warning once
again. The Peruvian Government's authorization brought about the initial
protests among those closest to the hill. Peasants from other provinces of
Cajamarca joined them in solidarity, as did local unions, students and
Cajamarcans in general, producing the largest protest ever seen here.

The result has been the temporary suspension of the exploration of the Cerro
Quilish and the subsequent reduction of the work by the Yanacocha Mining
Company as it awaits the "tests" that would somehow prove that the company
is not affecting the environment. In itself, stopping the work at the mine,
however temporarily it might be, is quite an achievement but, sadly, it
seems as though the road to justice is quite a long one and this struggle
will go on for the long haul. This is merely the beginning.

As much as I truly admire the determination of those who started and later
joined these protests throughout the entire department of Cajamarca, I
believe it's not going to be enough. This is an issue that affects all of
Peru, and the Third World in general. The cycle of regarding countries as
resource warehouses began centuries ago, here and elsewhere, in colonies and
dependent republics.  But isn't it a good time to change that cycle? It's a
difficult task for all people of good conscience, but a very necessary one.

My solidarity is with the peasant communities and all of those who initiated
this struggle.  I am convinced that many more of us will continue to join
hands to promote life and true justice and oppose the destruction of the
livelihood of a people, their water sources, and their future, in Cajamarca
and elsewhere.

===

THE WAR ON TERRORISM:  PERU'S PAST AND PRESENT, A LEGAL ANALYSIS
(By Professor Ralph Ruebner(c) and his International Human Rights Seminar,
7ruebner at jmls.edu<mailto:7ruebner at jmls.edu>)

Full report: http://www.jmls.edu/pdf/perureport.pdf<http://www.jmls.edu/pdf/perureportpdf>

INTRODUCTION
Due process of law embodies substantive rights and procedural guarantees
that protect a person from the arbitrary and capricious acts of his or her
government.  These rights include life, liberty, and security of person;
recognition before the law and equal protection of the law; freedom from
arbitrary arrest and detention; freedom from torture and cruel inhumane, and
degrading treatment or punishment; presumption of innocence; and fair trial.

There are currently numerous international human rights instruments that
afford every individual these rights, such as the American Convention on
Human Rights, Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture,
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Convention Against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Peru's past is filled with horrific stories of violence involving terrorism
and the violent reaction to terrorism by its government, especially after
the April 5, 1992, coup-d-'etat.  Peru is slowly coming out of its tragic
past.

Currently, in its war on terror, Peru is making substantial progress in
improving its human rights record, but in some important respects she falls
short of her obligations under international human rights norms.

During the reign of President Alberto Fujimori, core due process rights,
which were previously protected by the Constitution, were obliterated in the
arrest, prosecution and sentencing of alleged terrorists.   Under the
anti-terrorism laws and numerous presidential decrees, persons arrested for
alleged terrorist activities were tortured, interrogated, forced to confess,
and then tried in closed military trials presided by hooded or faceless
judges and prosecutors.  Since Fujimori's removal from office, the Peruvian
Constitutional Court and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, have
directed Peru to alter its judicial system and reform its anti-terrorism
laws.  Some legislative changes were eventually made in 2003.

This report analyzes the 1992 terrorism law which caused the detentions,
arrests, interrogations, trials and the sentencing of many Peruvians and
some foreigners and the disappearances and murder of many other individuals.
This report also discusses the decision of the Peruvian Constitutional
Court, which was prompted by the rulings of the Inter-American Court of
Human Rights (IACHR), and the subsequent legislative changes Peru made to
its anti-terrorism law in 2003.  The report will also evaluate Peru's
anti-terrorism laws and procedures against international human rights
standards that bind Peru outside the Inter-American human rights system.

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