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Melanne Verveer's Subject Files
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file Berians
UNIVERSITYARKANSAS
1871
Robert A. Leflar Law Center
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701
(501) 575-5601
School of Law
October 12, 1999
The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, Esq.
c/o Carolyn Huber
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Hillary:
I appreciate your response to my letter about Lori
Berenson. I have talked with Mark, her father, today, who has
recently returned from Peru, where Lori has again been placed
in isolation by Peruvian prison authorities. Her physical and
mental health are suffering.
You indicated your willingness to meet with Mark and
Rhoda. Now, more than ever, they would really appreciate that
opportunity. Their number is 212-689-9572. Thanks again for
your attention and the President's.
With warm regards,
Sincerely,
Leonard P. Strickman
Professor of Law
file Becauses Perer
Berenson Summary
We have consistently made clear to the Government of Peru our
belief that Ms. Berenson deserves a fair trial before a civilian
court. Our consulate also maintains regular contact with
Ms. Berenson, calling her once a week and visiting her every
three months. In addition, we have regularly raised with the
Peruvian authorities various issues regarding the conditions
under which she is being held. Our interventions have resulted
in some improvements.
We have also held quiet negotiations with the Peruvians about a
possible resolution in which they might reduce Lori's sentence
and permit her transfer to a U.S. facility. However, the
Peruvians have thus far refused to undertake any positive action
which could ultimately be attributed to them.
Last week, Buddy MacKay visited Peru, met with President
Fujimori, and raised the case with him. Buddy urged a quick
resolution of the matter, raising again the idea of a reduction
of her sentence and a prisoner transfer. Although Fujimori did
not respond to Buddy's points, one of his aides did indicate
that they would get back to us on the matter.
We are not optimistic about a solution to this case in the short
term. Fujimori is currently positioning himself for re-election
in April 2000. Much of his public support derives from his
successful fight against terrorism. Lori's militant statement
at her sentencing, in which she called the guerrillas with whom
she is accused of collaborating "revolutionaries" and not
"terrorists," has created a widespread perception in the
Peruvian public that she had an association with them. Thus,
Fujimori has little incentive to act generously in Lori's case.
Moreover, there are thousands of Peruvians who were convicted
under the same procedures received by Lori. A decision to grant
her a new trial or to release her would create a problematic
precedent for these other cases.
We also have limited leverage over Fujimori, particularly given
his overriding domestic political interest in maintaining a hard
line against terrorists. Moreover, any threats we might make,
(such as curtailing counternarcotics assistance or aid to the
poor) would compromise other important U.S. interests.
We believe our best hope for obtaining justice in Lori's case
lies after the April elections. If Fujimori runs and is re-
elected (which we currently expect), he will not have the same
2
strong political interest in maintaining a hard line in Lori's
case. If he is not re-elected, we may have a chance of striking
a deal with a new leader.
In the interim, we should lay the basis for some sort of post-
election deal such as the one described above (e.g., a reduction
of sentence in exchange for Lori's transfer) and seek to
mitigate legitimate complaints Lori may have about the
conditions under which she is being held.
Rhoda and Mark Berenson
320 East 25th Street
New York, NY 10010
Tel.: 212-689-3868 and Fax: 212-689-9572
June 2, 1999
The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton
The First Lady
The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 00000
Dear Mrs. Clinton:
We are very pleased to know that you will be the keynote speaker at graduation ceremonies
at our alma mater, CCNY. We both have fond memories of our commencement ceremony
in 1963 when the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King was the keynote speaker. We
know that this is a very important day for you, the graduates, and the CCNY community.
Unfortunately, this day, like so many others these past three and a half years, is one that
we cannot enjoy.
We are writing this letter to ask for your personal assistance in our efforts to obtain justice
for our daughter Lori who is currently serving a life sentence in Peru following her
conviction for "treason" by a secret, hooded military tribunal, in violation of international
law. She has termed the charges against her preposterous and she has repeatedly
proclaimed her innocence. Her physical health has been impaired due to the harsh
conditions of incarceration in Andean prisons. The psychological abuse she has been
subjected to by prison officials and other prisoners these past few months is now taking a
different toll and causes us new concerns.
Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori continues to ignore requests that he meet his
international legal obligations in Lori's case, including requests from the US Department of
State, the Congress, and the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights which
recently declared that her case is one in which disrespect for international norms is of such
gravity that she must be considered to be arbitrarily deprived of liberty.
Over the past three and a half years we have met repeatedly with members of the State
Department and since July 1998 we have been in regular contact with members of the
National Security Council. However, the bottom line remains that after three and a half
years we see no progress toward a resolution of her case. All we see is continued
deterioration of Lori's health.
You, more than any other First Lady in history, have been a champion of women's rights
and children's rights, not only in the US but around the world. At the time of Lori's arrest,
she was writing articles about the effect of poverty on women and children in Peru. Lori's
purpose in life was to be of help to those less fortunate than herself. Unfortunately, she
now needs the help of others. We urge you to do everything possible to bring Lori home
now, before her health deteriorates even further. Please help!
Sincerely,
Rhoda and Mark Berenson
PLEASE HELP
LORI BERENSON
ori Berenson, a young American woman, is currently
L
serving a life sentence in Peru following her conviction
by a secret, hooded military tribunal, in violation of
international law. She was denied a fair public trial by a
competent, independent, and impartial tribunal, as
required by Article 14 of the International Convenant on
Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Peru on April 28, 1978.
On January 11, 1996 she was sentenced to an Andean
maximum security prison where she now is kept under
inhumane conditions that threaten her very life.
At the time of Lori's arrest, on Nov. 30, 1995, she was
working as a journalist with assignments from two
American publications. She had been researching articles
on women's rights and poverty in Peru and had
interviewed several members of the Peruvian Congress.
After her arrest she was "tried" in secret by a military
tribunal and sentenced by a "faceless" judge. She was
convicted of treason (even though she is a U.S. citizen)
and sentenced to life in prison with no parole. She has
termed the charges against her preposterous and has
repeatedly and strongly proclaimed her innocence.
Since January 1996, Lori has been incarcerated high in the
Peruvian Andes mountains. There is no heat and no
running water in her all-concrete 6 X 10 foot cell. Food is
insufficient. She is allowed out of her cell only one hour
each day for exercise and the high altitude has caused
digestive and circulatory problems and she suffers from
chronic laryngitis. She is denied access to the outside world
- no radio or TV, no newspapers or magazines, and no
telephone calls. Letter writing, a privilege that can be
denied at any time, must be in Spanish and is censored.
Only immediate family can visit. Journalists and human
rights groups are denied access to maximum security
military prisons and to political prisoners.
WHO IS
Lori Berenson was born and raised in New York City. She attended public schools, the LaGuardia
High School of Music and Art and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She studied music
LORI BERENSON?
and anthropology and from a very early age expressed deep concern for the suffering of those less
fortunate than herself. While still a teenager she worked in soup kitchens, volunteered at a blood
bank and helped sponsor a foster child in Guatemala with money from her part-time jobs.
WHAT WAS SHE
Lori's interest in Latin America began when she was an anthropology student at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. Her research into land and wealth distribution in El Salvador lead her to
DOING IN PERU?
visit that country with a group of Quaker women in 1988 and then as a foreign exchange student
in 1989. She returned to El Salvador in 1993 after the peace accords that ended the civil war in
that country, and she worked with refugees who had been displaced by that war. In late 1994 she
went to Peru to study the people and their culture and to observe for herself the plight of the
Peruvian poor and the response of the Peruvian government to their plight. At the time of her
arrest she was a free-lance journalist with assignments from two American publications-"Modern
Times" and "Third World Viewpoint."
WHAT ARE THE
The Peruvian military police alleged that Lori Berenson was a leader of a rebel group - the MRTA
(Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru) - and charged her with treason because of this alleged
CHARGES
leadership. She has termed the charges against her preposterous and has strongly denied being
AGAINST HER?
even a member of this group. She has stated again and again that she is totally innocent of the
accusations.
BUT DIDN'T SHE
No! Since 1992, persons accused of treason in Peru have had their guilt or innocence and their
sentences determined by a hooded military tribunal a member of the military whose identity is
HAVE A TRIAL?
hidden and who most often has not had any legal training. 97% of those charged with treason
have been convicted. These tribunals have been repeatedly condemned by human rights groups,
the United Nations, and the United States government because they deny the accused any
semblance of due process. Lori Berenson was ne ver given written notice of the charges against her,
nor meaningful access to a lawyer. She was not allowed to refute alleged evidence or even to know
in detail what evidence there was to refute. There was no opportunity to cross examine witnesses.
In other words there was no trial.
COMMITTEE TO FREE
LORI BERENSON
NEWSLETTER
Winter 1999
BULLETIN !
TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND
The United Nations High Commission on
SUPPORTERS
Human Rights Rules Lori is "Arbitrarily
Detained."
Thank you for all letters, faxes and calls to the
White House to remind President Clinton on
We have just been notified by the office of the
November 30, that it was three years since Lori's
United Nations High Commission for Human
arrest and urging him to secure Lori's release. And
Rights that after nearly three years of fact -finding,
thanks also to those who wrote or called on
missions to Peru, and a visit with Lori in
February 4 and 5 urging President Clinton to
Yanamayo Prison, the United Nations Working
deliver a strong message to Peruvian President
Group on Arbitrary Detention rendered Opinion
Fujimori who was visiting Washington. We have
26/1998 which states that Lori's case was classified
been told that the White House was inundated with
as one in which disrespect for international norms
calls and faxes on both of these occasions. We
is of such gravity, relative to impartial judgment, in
have been told that President Clinton is very aware
part or in total, that the deprivation of individual
of and concerned with Lori's situation but did not
liberty must be considered arbitrary in character. It
speak to President Fujimori about it. We now have
further declares that the Peruvian government is in
to work even harder to ensure that he acts to gain
violation of Articles 8, 9, and 10 of the Universal
justice for Lori.
Declaration of Human Rights and of Articles 9 and
Many thanks also to those hardy souls who
14 of the International Covenant on Civil and
joined us in the freezing cold on January 11 in a
Political Rights, to which Peru is signatory, and
vigil outside the White House, commemorating the
that Peru must take all necessary steps to remedy
third anniversary of Lori's sentencing to life in
this situation.
prison.
Prison Conditions
Solitary Confinement Ended After
On Wednesday, October 7th Lori was moved
115 Days
from Yanamayo Prison in Puno to Socabaya Prison
At Socabaya Lori is a maximum security
in Arequipa.
prisoner in a minimum security prison. Upon her
In this prison, which is at 7,600 ft., much
arrival Lori was placed in solitary confinement, in a
lower than the 12,700 ft. of Yanamayo prison, Lori
separate wing of the prison where she could not
still spends 23 hours each day in a concrete cell
speak with or otherwise have contact with any other
without heat or running water and is permitted only
prisoners. She remained so from October 7 until
one hour of yard time in the sun.
January 29 when four other maximum security
prisoners were moved from other prisons into
Health
Lori's wing of Socabaya prison. This move came
The Peruvian government claimed in October
after intense efforts made by the International Red
that Lori was moved for medical reasons.
Cross, the Catholic Church and two Urgent Actions
However, it was not until February, following
issued on Lori's behalf by Amnesty International.
another medical evaluation by the International Red
Lori now spends her one hour yard time with these
Cross and an arrangement by which Lori's family
four women and can speak with them from cell to
would pay for doctors and medication, that Lori
cell.
was finally examined and treated by an
ophthalmologist and a dermatologist. Lori now
OAS Case Continues
has new eyeglasses with a much stronger
On October 8 Lori's lawyers made an oral
prescription and is taking medication to ease blood
presentation before the Inter-American Commission
flow through the capillaries in her face and hands.
on Human Rights of the Organization of American
Clogged and broken capillaries were due to
States pointing out the total lack of due process in
circulation problems brought on by the high altitude
the military tribunal system that sentenced Lori and
and severe cold she had endured for three years at
asked them to hear Lori's petition. In December,
Yanamayo Prison. She awaits an examination by a
the Commission ruled that the petition is admissible
gastroenterologist and throat specialist.
and a hearing will be scheduled for their Fall 1999
session.
In the Congressional Record
NEW WEBSITE
Senator Paul Wellstone, Minnesota, placed an
official statement into the Congressional Record on
www.freelori.org
February 4th (page S1286) on the "Human Rights
Situation in Peru" and emphasized the mistreatment
of Lori.
LORI'S OWN WORDS
The following is an English translation of the letter Lori hand wrote in Spanish.
(A copy of the original can be provided upon request.)
Yanamayo, Peru
August 22, 1998
Members of the Community
of Organizations
for Human Rights
Esteemed Men and Women:
Through this communication permit me to congratulate you on your important work
for human rights.
I would like to inform you of some details about me and my case.
As you know, I have been confined for more than two and a half years at the
Yanamayo maximum security military prison, accused of being a member of the MRTA,
and fulfilling the sentence of life imprisonment dictated by a faceless military tribunal.
I have never been a member of the MRTA; I have never participated in the planning
of a violent act, neither with the MRTA nor anybody else; neither have I ever promoted
violence, and, what is more, I do not believe in violence and it would not be possible for
me to participate in violence.
I do believe in ideals of justice and equality; to share the ideals of a more just world
for the poor majority does not imply that I share in the use of violence to achieve such
goals.
In my own way, I have worked for these ideals. In Peru, I sought to learn about
and find ways to help the most poor and oppressed people. I met with, observed, and
studied these people, including their history, their culture, their music. I also tried to
observe how the government, the law, and the economically powerful treated the poor. I
was writing about what I experienced and learned and I had legitimate journalistic
credentials from two U.S. publications. I hoped to be able to help the situation of human
rights and social justice for the most poor; I still believe in that, and I believe it will
happen.
Certainly, I have not had real justice. I am completely innocent of the horrendous
charges made against me, and there could not be real evidence that shows such crimes.
I hope that these details might give you a better basis to facilitate an understanding
of my situation and, at the same time, I turn to reiterate my greatest respect and admiration
for your important works for the good of humanity.
With much respect,
Lori Berenson
WHAT EFFORTS
The U.S. State Department human rights report has repeatedly criticized the Peruvian military
tribunals. In particular, a State Department spokesman has expressed governmental concern that
HAVE BEEN
"Ms. Berenson was not tried in an open civilian court with rights of legal defense, in accordance
MADE ON
with international juridical norms." In May 1996 President Clinton expressed similar concerns to
the Peruvian President, Alberto Fujimori. Former President Jimmy Carter, representing the Carter
LORI
Center for Human Rights, and other human rights groups have also urged a fair trial.
BERENSON'S
In December 1997, 180 members of the House of Representatives and 55 members of the U.S.
BEHALF?
Senate signed letters to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright urging her to do all within her
power to insure that Lori receive immediate due process and justice in Peru.
In January 1998, Lori Berenson's lawyers filed a petition on her behalf with the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States against the
Government of Peru. The complaint seeks the immediate release, and, only if Peru presents
evidence sufficient to charge her, a new and fair trial in a civil court. The complaint also demands
immediate improvements (to meet minimal international standards) to inhumane conditions
found at Yanamayo and other maximum security military prisons in Peru.
In April 1998, Amnesty International issued a press release noting that Lori Berenson is a
political prisoner and criticizing the Peruvian anti-terrorism legislation. They stated "it is unaccept-
able for hundreds of political prisoners like Lori Berenson not to be able to exercise their basic
human right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal." They
emphasized that "Peru continues to mock human rights guarantees with trials that are but a
parody of justice."
In May 1998 The Committee to Free Lori Berenson was formed to help organize and coordi-
nate the efforts of individuals and groups across the country. This committee is a project of the
Committee for Inter-American Human Rights.
In December 1998 the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights rendered its opinion that Lori Berenson is arbitrarily detained
and that the Peruvian government must take all necessary steps to remedy this situation in
accordance with international human rights covenants.
Rhoda, Kathy, Lori and
Mark Berenson,
New York City,
Summer 1994
PLEASE HELP
LORI BERENSON
Write to the following, asking them to act now to
secure justice for Lori Berenson.
President William Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington DC 20500
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
Department of State; 2201 C Street NW
Washington DC 20520
Your Senators
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Your Congressional Representative
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Inform companies that do business with or
have investments in Peru about Lori Berenson.
Follow her situation on the Lori Berenson web site:
www.freelori.org/
Join The Committee to Free Lori Berenson
THE COMMITTEE TO FREE LORI BERENSON
320 East 25th Street #2AA New York, NY 10010
e-mail: [email protected]
file Becenson
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
August 18, 1999
Rhoda and Mark Berenson
320 E. 25th Street
New York, NY 10010
Dear Rhoda & Mark:
Thank you for your letter regarding your daughter who is serving a life sentence in Peru.
I can only imagine how difficult her ordeal continues to be for you both.
The President and I share your concerns about Lori's case. My husband has personally
raised this issue with President Fujimori, as did his Special Envoy to the Americas, Buddy
McKay, when he met with President Fujimori in Lima. Ambassador McKay stressed that our
objective continues to be early resolution of this case in a manner that meets our fundamental
concerns.
Our consulate in Peru continues to keep in regular contact with Lori, and we have also
regularly raised with Peruvian authorities various issues regarding the conditions of Lori's
imprisonment.
Please know that we continue to seek a just and expeditious outcome of Lori's case.
Sincerely
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Rhoda and Mark Berenson
320 East 25th Street
New York, NY 10010
Tel.: 212-689-3868 and Fax: 212-689-9572
June 2, 1999
The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton
The First Lady
The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 00000
Dear Mrs. Clinton:
We are very pleased to know that you will be the keynote speaker at graduation ceremonies
at our alma mater, CCNY. We both have fond memories of our commencement ceremony
in 1963 when the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King was the keynote speaker. We
know that this is a very important day for you, the graduates, and the CCNY community.
Unfortunately, this day, like so many others these past three and a half years, is one that
we cannot enjoy.
We are writing this letter to ask for your personal assistance in our efforts to obtain justice
for our daughter Lori who is currently serving a life sentence in Peru following her
conviction for "treason" by a secret, hooded military tribunal, in violation of international
law. She has termed the charges against her preposterous and she has repeatedly
proclaimed her innocence. Her physical health has been impaired due to the harsh
conditions of incarceration in Andean prisons. The psychological abuse she has been
subjected to by prison officials and other prisoners these past few months is now taking a
different toll and causes us new concerns.
Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori continues to ignore requests that he meet his
international legal obligations in Lori's case, including requests from the US Department of
State, the Congress, and the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights which
recently declared that her case is one in which disrespect for international norms is of such
gravity that she must be considered to be arbitrarily deprived of liberty.
Over the past three and a half years we have met repeatedly with members of the State
Department and since July 1998 we have been in regular contact with members of the
National Security Council. However, the bottom line remains that after three and a half
years we see no progress toward a resolution of her case. All we see is continued
deterioration of Lori's health.
You, more than any other First Lady in history, have been a champion of women's rights
and children's rights, not only in the US but around the world. At the time of Lori's arrest,
she was writing articles about the effect of poverty on women and children in Peru. Lori's
purpose in life was to be of help to those less fortunate than herself. Unfortunately, she
now needs the help of others. We urge you to do everything possible to bring Lori home
now, before her health deteriorates even further. Please help!
Sincerely,
Rhoda and Mark Berenson
Status
fromsc
Berenson Summary
We have consistently made clear to the Government of Peru our
belief that Ms. Berenson deserves a fair trial before a civilian
court. Our consulate also maintains regular contact with
Ms. Berenson, calling her once a week and visiting her every
three months. In addition, we have regularly raised with the
Peruvian authorities various issues regarding the conditions
under which she is being held. Our interventions have resulted
in some improvements.
We have also held quiet negotiations with the Peruvians about a
possible resolution in which they might reduce Lori's sentence
and permit her transfer to a U.S. facility. However, the
Peruvians have thus far refused to undertake any positive action
which could ultimately be attributed to them.
Last week, Buddy MacKay visited Peru, met with President
Fujimori, and raised the case with him. Buddy urged a quick
resolution of the matter, raising again the idea of a reduction
of her sentence and a prisoner transfer. Although Fujimori did
not respond to Buddy's points, one of his aides did indicate
that they would get back to us on the matter.
We are not optimistic about a solution to this case in the short
term. Fujimori is currently positioning himself for re-election
in April 2000. Much of his public support derives from his
successful fight against terrorism. Lori's militant statement
at her sentencing, in which she called the guerrillas with whom
she is accused of collaborating "revolutionaries" and not
"terrorists," has created a widespread perception in the
Peruvian public that she had an association with them. Thus,
Fujimori has little incentive to act generously in Lori's case.
Moreover, there are thousands of Peruvians who were convicted
under the same procedures received by Lori. A decision to grant
her a new trial or to release her would create a problematic
precedent for these other cases.
We also have limited leverage over Fujimori, particularly given
his overriding domestic political interest in maintaining a hard
line against terrorists. Moreover, any threats we might make,
(such as curtailing counternarcotics assistance or aid to the
poor) would compromise other important U.S. interests.
We believe our best hope for obtaining justice in Lori's case
lies after the April elections. If Fujimori runs and is re-
elected (which we currently expect), he will not have the same
2
strong political interest in maintaining a hard line in Lori's
case. If he is not re-elected, we may have a chance of striking
a deal with a new leader.
In the interim, we should lay the basis for some sort of post-
election deal such as the one described above (e.g., a reduction
of sentence in exchange for Lori's transfer) and seek to
mitigate legitimate complaints Lori may have about the
conditions under which she is being held.
8/18/00 from Len Strickman, thanking you for taking time to meet with Mark,
Rhoda and Kathy Berenson about Lori's situation in Peru. They were impressed with
your knowledge of the case and your sensitivity to its complex difficulties. Hope the
President will be able to help achieve some justice. Give 'me hell in NY.
To
Melanne
for followup
File: NRN
Becemen
School of Law
1281
UNIVERSITYARKANSAS
18 August 2000
Dear Hellory,
time to must with Mark, Rhoda and
l am most gradeful for you taking the
Kathy Berenson about fori's temble
imposed and pleased with your prowledge all
situation in Peru They were very
its complex diffeculthes
of the are and your vasidenty to
PRESERVATION
PHOTOCOPY
Here's hoping the President will be the able to
help achieve some justice by the end year
que 'en Rell in New York. Best. Jen thuckme
Robert A. Leflar Law Center
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701
(501) 575-5601
AUG 1800
AL
E033E
PB
METER
7023962
U.S. POSTAGE
I
RECEIVED MAIL SECTION
2000 AUG 21 PM 2:
Mrs. Hillary Rodhem Chinkon
The white House
1600 Penny women Avenue, NW
washing for, D.C. 20500-2000
20500/2000
University of Arkansas
School of Law
Robert A. Leflar Law Center
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701
PHOTOCOPY
PRESERVATION
file
LORI BERENSON CASE
August 28, 2000
CONTEXT: Today, August 28, the Peruvian military court announced that it had vacated its
judgment against U.S. citizen Lori Berenson, who was convicted of treason and sentenced to life
in prison in January, 1996. By formal letter to the national prosecutor's office, the military
court has transferred her case to the civilian court system for further proceedings. The decision
by the military tribunal was taken in response to a petition filed by Ms. Berenson last fall,
asserting that she was not a leader of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, or MRTA, and
that therefore the military court lacked jurisdiction over her case. She remains in prison in Peru
while awaiting disposition of civilian proceedings against her.
What is your reaction to today's developments in the Lori Berenson case?
We are very pleased with the decision by the military court. Since Ms. Berenson's
conviction nearly five years ago, we have maintained that the trial proceedings against her
did not meet due process standards, and so we welcome the court's decision today.
IFASKED: What happens next? Will she be charged with terrorism or a related crime in
civilian court? How long will she remain in prison?
We understand that the case has been transferred to the national prosecutor's office, and that
they will determine the appropriate next steps.
Ms. Berenson remains in prison in Peru.
How can she get a fair trial in Peru when the annual State Department human rights
report indicates that a fair trial is not possible?
With the Organization of American States and our partners throughout the hemisphere, we
continue to press the Government of Peru to undertake serious reforms to ensure
democratization and transparency in Peruvian institutions.
As the State Department report indicates, there remain serious concerns about the openness
and fairness of trial proceedings in the military court and in cases related to terrorism in the
civilian courts.
The action by the military court is a welcome first step. We hope that this matter will be
resolved fairly and expeditiously.
Many members of Congress have signed a letter to the President, urging him to press the
Government of Peru to release Ms. Berenson. Do you support her release?
2
As I said, we will continue to engage the Government of Peru regarding our desire to see a
just and expeditious resolution of this case.
Do you think she is guilty or innocent?
We take no position on her guilt or innocence, but we have maintained since her trial in 1996
that the proceedings against her did not meet due process standards. We will continue to
express our concerns regarding this matter to the Government of Peru, as well as our hope for
a just and expeditious resolution.
Is the Peruvian government acting on the Berenson case now in order to get back in your
good graces following the flawed election?
We welcome today's development in this legal matter, Our concerns about Peruvian
democracy remain unchanged. With the Organization of American States and our partners
throughout the hemisphere, we continue to press the Government of Peru to undertake
serious reforms to ensure democratization and transparency in Peru's institutions.
ONLY IF ASKED: On what basis did the military tribunal vacate its judgment and
sentence?
As the court's decision indicates, it reviewed a petition filed by Lori Berenson and
determined that her conviction and sentence should be vacated and that the case should be
transferred to civilian court.
ONLY IF ASKED: Did the court have new evidence?
This matter was handled by the Peruvian military court. It would be inappropriate for us to
comment on what evidence they may have weighed in reaching this decision.
The Lori Berenson Papers
Page I of 8
Looking for a Mutual Fund?
FEATURE STORY
September 4/11, 2000
The Lori Berenson Papers
On January 11, 1996, a young American woman was sentenced to life in prison in
Peru for treason. Now documents have surfaced that shed new light on her case.
by JONATHAN LEVI and LIZ MINEO
E-mail this story to a friend.
The house at No. 1049 Alameda del Corregidor fits in well with the rest of Lima's upper-
middle-class neighborhood of La Molina. Partially screened from the street by a pair of
olive trees, with a large garage and four floors on a plot of 500 square meters, the house
is big enough to hold, say, a childcare center or a college-prep outfit, as it has for the past
few years. Only a few bullet holes in the stucco bear witness to the fiery events of
November 30, 1995. On that night, members of the DINCOTE, Peru's antiterrorism
police force, fought a pitched battle with the inhabitants of the house. By morning, one
person was dead, three critically wounded, four hostages rescued and twenty-one
purported members of the Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru (MRTA) arrested.
The prize catch was one of Peru's Most Wanted--Miguel Rincón Rincón, second in
command of the MRTA, one of Peru's two armed guerrilla organizations.
Several other suspected associates were brought into the DINCOTE headquarters that
night in a general roundup from other parts of Lima, including a middle-aged
Panamanian and a young American woman. Within six weeks of her arrest, 26-year-old
Lori Berenson would find herself center stage in one of the most heavily marketed
terrorism trials of the year. Accused of "treason against the fatherland,' of participating
in a plot to attack the Peruvian Congress with a guerrilla organization, of transporting
weapons and instructing militants, Berenson was convicted based on secret evidence by a
panel of hooded military judges (in the manner prescribed by Peru's draconian 1992
antiterrorism law) and sentenced on January 11. 1996, to life in prison.
During the nearly five years of her incarceration, much has been written in the United
States about Lori Berenson, on how the daughter of liberal, academic parents turned a
youthful concern for social justice into a committed passion. Although there have been
some reports focusing on Berenson's work with leftist organizations in Central America,
little is known about the circumstances of her arrest in Peru. Tomany of her US
supporters, Berenson's story features a good-hearted pacifist who makes a naive wrong
turn and finds herself the victim of a deeply unfair justice system:
But mention the name Lori Berenson to Peruvians, and the face most of them see in their
minds is the one that appeared on their television sets on January 8, 1996, when she was
presented to the press by the police, making her first public statement since her arrest, It
was less what she said, defending the MRTA, than how she said it, her voice defiant, her
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eyes blazing. For most ordinary Peruvians, too exhausted after fifteen years of warfare to
distinguish between sympathizers, guerrillas and terrorists, the contempt in that face was
enough to convince them that Berenson was guilty. Of what, they didn't much care. In
their version of the story, she is a Beauty who slouches from New York to Latin
America, only to turn into a terrorist Beast, eyes wide open.
***
Now, documents have surfaced that shed light on Lori Berenson's case. These papers,
never before seen by the public but obtained by The Nation in collaboration with
Peruvian journalists, include a 100-page transcript of the police investigation of
Berenson and her co-defendants (called "Atestado Nro. 140--DIVICOTE II-
DINCOTE"), and Berenson's signed fifteen-page interrogation Together they appear to
compose the DINCOTE's complete record of her case (minus the exhibits), which, as in
all cases of terrorism in Peru, has been unavailable even to her lawyers.
The story that emerges from the documents is one of unusually hasty police surveillance,
negligent interrogation and reckless reliance on one witness whose testimony was neither
challenged nor corroborated. The documents give a crude demonstration of how
hyperinflation can be applied to a police charge, raising Berenson. in its final pages, from
the obscurity of a minor suspect to the limelight of a major leader of the MRTA. At the
same time, there are troubling discrepancies between Berenson's own account, as it
appears in the documents, and other available evidence.
Berenson's parents and her US lawyer, former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, question
the authenticity of these records. They argue, further, that since they were unable to
cross-examine witnesses, it is impossible to know whether the statements of those
witnesses were coerced. Nevertheless, sources intimately familiar with the workings of
the DINCOTE--including Berenson's Peruvian lawyer, Grimaldo Achahui, who was
present during her interrogation--believe the documents to be genuine. As such, the new
information is a significant addition to an understanding of how the DINCOTE built its
case against Lori Berenson.
The charges hinge on the testimony of Pacífico Castrellón, a man with whom she shared
a house in Lima and whom she identifies in the transcripts as her conviviente, usually
translated into English as "lover." All accounts agree that in November 1994, almost a
year before the police operation in La Molina, Lori Berenson met Castrellón, a
Panamanian twenty years her senior, at the airport in Panama City, where they were both
preparing to board a plane to Quito, Ecuador.
The genesis of that encounter, and its aftermath, are matters of dispute. Berenson's
parents say that Lori has always denied a romantic relationship with Castrellón.
Although she was not allowed to be interviewed directly for this article, she recently
offered the following account: "I have never, ever, ever been or signed any document
stating that Mr. Castrellón had been at any moment my significant other, lover, and
much less conviviente," she said. She explained that an unnamed acquaintance in New
York, who knew that she wanted to go to Peru, had recommended Castrellón as a
traveling companion.
According to other sources, however, a romance blossomed soon after their meeting at
the Panama airport, a meeting that Castrellón claimed was carefully orchestrated by the
MRTA. In the Atestado, he tells a tale of shadowy Peruvians and Panamanians who
hired him both as an architect and an escort. It was in Quito, Castrellón says, that
Berenson spoke with Néstor Cerpa, then the leader of the MRTA, and a woman they
called Ysabel. That was the first time, he stated, that he heard of the MRTA.
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The MRTA, a traditional Latin American Marxist guerrilla organization, was
significantly smaller and less complex in structure than the more ruthless Sendero
Luminoso (Shining Path), which took its ideology from Mao and fought a war of terror
with the Peruvian government from 1980 through the capture of its messianic leader,
Abimael Guzmán, in 1992. The MRTA had been known for much of its career, more for
its theatrical escapades-distributing free food in shantytowns and breaking out of prison-
-than for its few dozen killings and kidnappings. Jeremy Bigwood, a war photojournalist
who has covered armed conflicts in Central America since the eighties, spent
considerable time in Peru with the MRTA while represented by Gamma Liaison. "They
were extremely pleasant people," Bigwood says, "but much less competent than [El
Salvador's] FMLN. I call them The Gang That Can't Shoot Straight. One time, two of the
MRTA leaders were walking along the street and saw an old man pushing a car that had
broken down. They had just helped him get the car in front of a bank, when the old man
ran away. Suddenly it hit them--the man was a member of Sendero, and they had been
helping him push a car bomb!"
In 1990, the MRTA had its biggest publicity coup, digging a tunnel into Miguel Castro
Castro prison on the outskirts of Lima and freeing, among many others, its top leader,
Victor Polay Campos. But the kidnappings of several businessmen turned public
sentiment against the MRTA, especially when, in early 1993, the dead body of David
Ballón, once a robust 200-pounder, was found emaciated. Quickly the heroic aura
evaporated as the need for cash morphed the image of the MRTA from a band of Merry
Men (and Women) into a gang of common kidnappers who associated with drug dealers.
It was during this period, according to the police transcripts, that Lori Berenson had her
first contact with the MRTA. After the alleged meeting with Cerpa in Quito and a brief
sojourn in Ecuador, Castrellón and Berenson decided to take a bus to Lima. A short stay
in two hotels finally led them to rent a house, one month after their arrival, in La Molina;
Castrellón signed the lease. "We rented a big house to be able to receive guests,"
Berenson says in her testimony.
Castrellón told the police that in January of 1995, Ysabel put them in touch with a man
the DINCOTE wanted almost as badly as it wanted Cerpa--Miguel Rincón, Rincón
moved into the house. Then, according to the transcripts, the Casirellén/Berenson
relationship ended, although both continued to live there (in August Berenson rented an
apartment in the less-well-hceled district of San Borja). "After my separation [from
Castrellón], I continued living in that place [La Molina]," says Berenson's testimony.
Soon another woman, called Francis, arrived. Castrellón slept next to the garage, while
Berenson, Francis and Rincón had rooms on the third floor. The pecking order,
Castrellón said, was clear: With money from Rincón, Berenson bought a computer to
which only she, Francis and Rincón had the password. Castrellón was relegated to the
role of chauffeur.
In March, Castrellón began picking up young MRTA militants and installing them on the
fourth floor, where they received political and military instruction. Occasionally, Cerpa
himself came to the house, Castrellón told the police. Castrellón said he was forbidden to
touch the computers, speak with people on the fourth floor, enter the fourth floor without
wearing a hood that covered his face (he said this was also a requirement for Berenson,
with whom he occasionally served meals to the top-floor guests) or enter the third-floor
rooms at all. Berenson, he claimed, wrote on the computer, cooked and served.
Castrellón also reported that he constructed a model of the Peruvian Congress based on
information provided by Berenson.
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Castrellón's testimony not only contributed to Berenson's arrest but was used by police to
foster the Peruvian myth of her as an international terrorist. "Castrellón was still in love
with Lori," recalls a former MRTA member who shared a prison cell with Castrellon in
-1998. "He was sad and bitter."
***
Berenson's account in the transcript differs starkly from Castrellón's. She denies meeting
Cerpa. either in Ecuador or Peru. She identifies herself as a journalist. She recognizes
none of the fourth-floor inhabitants and says she had no idea there were arms and
ammunition in the house, as Castrellon claimed she did. She denies ever having seen the
pair of army uniforms the police found in her closet in San Borja or the four scraps of
paper bearing cryptic computer passwords and notes like "20 long ones, 2 short ones."
Above all, she denies being a member of the MRTA.
Since her imprisonment, Berenson has continued to protest her innocence, as have her
parents. "President [Alberto] Fujimori has micromanaged Lori's case since the day of her
arrest, when he waved her American passport on television," Rhoda Berenson says. She
not only doubts the authenticity of the documents but insists that journalists could not
have obtained them without Fujimori's knowledge. After five years of watching elements
of the Peruvian police, government and press attack their daughter as everything from an
arms dealer to an assassin, the Berensons' skepticism is understandable.
But Grimaldo Achahui, Berenson's Peruvian lawyer. who was present during her eleven-
hour interrogation and was shown the DINCOTE documents, believes they faithfully
represent the questions of the police and Berenson's answers Achahui attests to the
authenticity of both his and Berenson's signatures on the testimony and his memory of
the interrogation, and says he did not witness any coercion. When asked about the
relationship between Berenson and Castrellón, Achahui verified Berenson's use of the
word conviviente. "Of course," Achahui said, "she could have misinterpreted the word to
mean 'housemate.
***
So which Lori is the real Lori? The Lori who innocently traveled with an older
companion to Peru, or the Lori of the ramparts, who led a man she had just met down a
revolutionary path? The evidence doesn't support either view. Castrellón's portrayal of
her as a ringleader is uncorroborated, and he may have had ulterior motives, including
the reduction of his own sentence (he is currently serving a thirty-year sentence in Lima's
Castro Castro prison); yet the story Berenson tells in the transcripts raises serious
questions. First, there is the issue of her occupation. Her press passes were real, if the ink
on them barely dry. It had been only two months since she had received letters from the
small, progressive magazines Third World Viewpoint and Modern Times identifying her
as a correspondent, and she had yet to publish any articles in them. Second, there is the
question of how she could live in a house with fifteen other people and not be able to
identify a single one: knew there were people upstairs, she says in her deposition. I
don't know who let them in Although I used the kitchen, I never noticed anyone
preparing a large quantity of food." Many of the fifteen supported Berenson's story,
saying they had never met her. Two of those arrested, however, identified her as the
woman who served them meals, although they also said she was wearing a hood that was
supposed to conceal her face. Francis, a 30-year old veteran of the MRTA, claims in the
Atestado that Berenson, along with Castrellón, served as the "fronts" for the house in La
Molina.
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As for Rincón, Berenson said that although she had seen him living in the La Molina
house and knew that he was linked to the MRTA, she never knew his name. "I used to
call him compañero," she said. She said in her statement that all she knew about the
MRTA was what the four letters stood for, and that she did not know it was a terrorist
group. Yet a month later, when presented to the press, she stated that "in the MRTA
there are no criminal terrorists. It is a revolutionary movement." The police inventory of
arms found in the house included seven automatic rifles with over 8,000 rounds of
ammunition, 100 hand grenades and more than 2,000 sticks of dynamite. When asked
how this cache of weapons, along with forged documents bearing her photo, ended up in
the La Molina house, which Berenson told police was still one of her two residences, she
said, "I have no idea."
These issues made it problematic for Berenson's natural allies to come to her defense.
The US Embassy presented her parents with several unenviable choices for lawyers. At
the time, the Berensons were delighted with Achahui--especially Lori, who, her parents
report, was thrilled at the choice of an "indigenous" lawyer who had represented many
people accused of terrorism. It was only later that they learned that Achahui had never
won a case, and moreover had represented MRTA leader Victor Polay, an association
that they did not believe would help their daughter. (Achahui continues to represent
Berenson, although he is not as active as he once was.) The Committee to Protect
Journalists, which had successfully sprung Jeremy Bigwood when he was arrested for
photographing the MRTA, found it difficult to make more than a token protest on behalf
of a woman who had yet to publish a single piece of journalism. And Berenson's
emotional statement to the press, broadcast repeatedly over the Peruvian and
international airwaves, made her appear to be a committed sympathizer of a guerrilla
organization. For these reasons, her fate turned out to be considerably different from that
of Italian journalist Gabriela Guarine, who came to Peru in 1994 to shoot a documentary
film on the MRTA and wound up carrying the baby of a regional MRTA leader. "There
was more hard evidence against Gabriela," one former MRTA member says, "than there
ever was against Lori" Yet just two months before Berenson's arrest, Guarino was
expelled from Peru after serving only seventeen months in prison. "The difference," the
former MRTA member says, "was that Gabriela claimed that she was innocent. But
when you saw Lori on TV you thought--this is a terrorist."
***
While the DINCOTE documents paint an incomplete portrait of Berenson's role, they
clearly demonstrate irregularities in the police surveillance and investigation. Although
the accepted period of police observation at DINCOTE was at least two weeks, the
Atestado shows that the surveillance at La Molina lasted less than twelve hours.
At 9 am on November 30, the day of the police assault, a member of the DINCOTE, in a
routine surveillance operation, saw Miguel Rincón. Excited, he followed Rincón as
Castrellón drove him back to the house at La Molina. When Castrellón pulled out of the
garage at 4 o'clock that afternoon, his passenger, Lori Berenson, made her inaugural blip
on the DINCOTE's radar screen. Castrellón dropped her off at a shopping center. One
surveillance team followed him, another trailed her. After Berenson met a woman whom
she had hired as a photographer (a woman she knew as Rosa Mita Calle but who was, in
fact, Nancy Gilvonio, the wife of Néstor Cerpa), both women headed downtown to the
Congress. At 6:30, the police arrested Castrellón.
In only a few minutes he presented them with a long and complicated story. "He
indicated," the report says, "that the house served as a meeting place for the MRTA and
that there was a group of approximately fifteen people, some of whom were armed, a fact
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that indicated that it was a base for this terrorist organization." Half an hour later, the
team tracking Berenson and Gilvonio confronted them on the public bus they were
riding. "Then they drove us to this police station," Berenson testified, "without telling us
a thing A man came up to me and identified himself as a captain and after I asked told
me I was in the custody of the DINCOTE." At 8:30 pm the attack on No. 1049 Alameda
del Corregidor began. "There was no intelligence operation," said Col. Benedicto
Jiménez in a recent interview. Jiménez, in a 1992 DINCOTE operation etched into the
Peruvian consciousness, captured Sendero's leader, Abimael Guzmán, without any
casualties after two years of intelligence work. In La Molina, he says, "They came, they
saw and they attacked."
***
The operation may have been rushed simply because of pressure to make a quick arrest
of Rincón, who had slipped past the police before. But another factor has now become
clear, based on interviews with several top antiterrorist police officials: The DINCOTE's
commanding officer, Gen. Carlos Domínguez, needed to deflect attention from a
spiraling scandal, Just nine days before the La Molina operation, the police had been
forced to admit publicly that seven police generals, including Dominguez, were living in
luxurious houses and apartments confiscated from convicted drug traffickers. The
scandal not only cost Dominguez a fifteenth floor beachfront acrie in the fashionable
district of Miraflores, it also threatened his career. He turned to his subcommanders.
They told him they were searching for Rincón. "He said, 'OK,''' one of them remembers,
"Drop everything else and get me Rincón."
"There was tremendous political pressure in the Rincón case that didn't exist when I was
pursuing Guzmán," said Benedicto Jiménez. "The reputation of the police was in
question Circumstances contrived to accelerate the operation," he says dryly. One year
later, Domínguez felt the irony of his haste. On December 17, 1996, Domínguez and
Gen. Máximo Rivera, the new head of the DINCOTE, were taken hostage along with
more than 400 others when Néstor Cerpa and thirteen MRTA militants seized the
Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima. "Cerpa told Dominguez," Rivera recalls,
"General, if you had waited two more days, you would have arrested all of us who are
here, because we were due to arrive at the house in La Molina." (Cerpa and the other
militants were killed when, on April 22, 1997, government forces stormed the residence
and freed the hostages.)
Hasty surveillance was followed by sloppy investigation after the La Molina arrests. The
main charge against Berenson- "treason against the fatherland" was based on the theory
that her press access aided the plot to take over Congress. Yet according to the transcript,
the police asked her only two questions related to Congress to identify who took some
photographs of congressmen (she couldn't) and to admit that a list of congressmen was in
her handwriting (she wouldn't).
Said Rincón in his statement, "There were no concrete operative plans for the taking of
the Congress," although he conceded later that "it was a goal for the near future" in order
to create the conditions for an end to the armed conflict and to obtain the release of
MRTA prisoners. The most detailed discussion of the MRTA plan appears on page 80 of
the 100-page Atestado and charges Cerpa with meeting with Rincón, Gilvonio, Berenson
and Castrellón "with the goal of directing and supervising the plans and tasks related to
the attack on the Congress." Although Rincón concedes that Cerpa came to the house, he
says nothing about any such meeting. Two additional charges against Berenson
materialize only toward the end of the police document. One is the accusation of moving
weapons, although the only support for this is Castrellón's statement that Berenson
helped him transfer closed sacks from his van to the house. Another is that she was a
political and tactical instructor for the combatants in the La Molina house; the only proof
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offered is a drawing of escape routes for the house, but again, there is no evidence that
the drawing is Berenson's.
***
The past five years have seen some activity around Berenson's case, to little effect. The
government of President Alberto Fujimori has continued to insist that she was convicted
and sentenced properly. When the Inter-American Court of Human Rights called for a
retrial of four Chilean members of the MRTA, Fujimori simply pulled Peru out of the
court's jurisdiction, and Berenson's pending case with the court was left in limbo, While
Berenson's parents have lobbied vocally to bring US government pressure to bear for her
release, the US Embassy in Lima claims that it has been toiling quietly. "A number of
people were working for a very long time to find a way out of the Berenson case," an
international businessman says. "I think they had gotten quite close to a solution that
would have permitted Lori to be expelled from Peru." Then a couple of factors
intervened. One was "the strong response the US was forced to make to the blatant
manipulation of the electoral process," a reference to the massive irregularities leading
up to the recent elections, in which Fujimori won a third term after a dubious
constitutional ruling in 1996 permitted him to run again. The other was a comment by
opposition presidential candidate Alejandro Toledo, a Stanford-educated economist. In
New York on April 28, Toledo said that he was going to look seriously at [Berenson's]
case," The response back in Lima from certain members of the Fujimori campaign was
instantaneous and harsh--Toledo is soft on terrorism, they charged. "In twenty-four
hours," the businessman says, "what had been very painstakingly achieved over months
went out the window, when the government came out with its strongest terms. and said
'Never!"
Toledo boycotted the runoff in protest against the undemocratic nature of the electoral
process. The Organization of American States has since put some pressure on Fujimori's
government to undertake democratic reforms. Yet while anti-Fujimori demonstrations
took place in Lima and other cities around his inauguration on July 28, with the armed
forces and most of the media securely in Fujimori's corner, those protests were
insufficient to loosen his grip on power.
Nevertheless, the newfound willingness of DINCOTE officials to question the accuracy
of the charges against Berenson is itself an indication of how the country has recovered,
over the past five years, from the nightmare of terrorism and backlash that once stifled
debate, The reliance on Castrellón's testimony and the circumstances surrounding the
collection of evidence warrant. at the very least further investigation. Benedicto Jiménez
believes that Berenson was fronting for the MRTA and finds it difficult to imagine that
she didn't know about the arms. "But the charge of treason," he says, "should only be
applied if you are a leader, which she was not; or if you were a longtime activist, which
she was not; or if you have participated in military actions, which she had not. She
should have been charged with apology for terrorism, which carries a sentence of six to
twelve years." It is an opinion echoed by many, including Berenson's lawyer, Achahui.
While some, including her parents and Clark, worry that the Fujimori government might
drop the charge of treason against Berenson only to retry her on a new charge,
"collaboration with terrorism." which carries a sentence of twenty years. Achahui
believes a prosecutor would have a difficult time proving collaboration, which implies a
"conscious and voluntary role in the organization. "Apology for terrorism is the more
likely charge," says Achahui, "based primarily on her statement to the press," a
statement, the Berensons claim, that came after Lori had been held for days in a dark cell
listening to the moans of Francis, who was lying blecding from her bullet wounds only a
few feet away.
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Berenson is in the fifth year of her imprisonment, in Socabaya prison, located in a poor
neighborhood outside Peru's most beautiful city, Arequipa. Neither she nor her lawyers
have been given a chance to rebut the charges in the DINCOTE documents. No
journalist, foreign or Peruvian, been granted access to her since her imprisonment--
standard Peruvian treatment for prisoners charged with terrorism. Isolated in the
maximum-security unit, Berenson is nonetheless a favorite among the 100-odd
minimum-security prisoners, making birthday cards for the women and passing along
vitamins to the few young children who live there with their mothers. She has been
nominated as madrina of their volleyball team, although she is not allowed to play. In
classical tragedy, the quality that makes a heroine great leads equally to her fall.
Berenson may have reversed the process--she seems to be translating her fall into a
theatrical grandeur.
Rhoda Berenson recoils at the thought. "Lori has always been a very private person," she
says. "She can't wait to go back to being anonymous." A clear presentation of the facts of
her case may give her the chance to return to her former anonymity and free her, the
United States and Peru from that grandeur.
E-mail this story to a friend.
Jonathan Levi, a co-founder of Granta, is the author of A Guide for the Perplexed
(Turtle Bay). Liz Mineo was an investigative reporter for Lima's El Comercio before
moving to the United States. Research support: the Investigative Fund of the Nation
Institute. Additional reporting: Edmundo Cruz.
Send your letter to the editor to [email protected].
Copyright ©2000 The Nation Company, L.P. All rights reserved. Unauthorized
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FROM :
FAX NO. : 2126899572
Aug. 11 2000 10:04AM P2
file Bereum
Rhoda and Mark Berenson
320 East 25th Street
New York, NY 10010
Tel: 212-689-3868 Fax: 212-689-9572
August 11, 2000
Hillary Rodham Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington D.C. 20500
Dear Mrs. Clinton:
Mark, Kathy, and I want to thank you for meeting with us on Wednesday. We were very
impressed with your knowledge of Lori's case and are very grateful for your deep
concern for Lori's well being and your commitment to help. I certainly sensed that as a
mother you understood what these past four years and eight months have been like for
my family and me.
Knowing your busy schedule, we especially appreciate the generous time you granted us.
We hope that you will be able to write to Lori. We know that such a letter from you
would greatly lift her spirits.
Sincerely,
RhadaBuer
Rhoda Berenson