August 19, 2010 at 10:07 A.M. I was saddened to learn that Ms. Berenson was ordered to return to prison in Peru. The rationale for this order was, ostensibly, failure to comply with notice or difficulty about her address, something which seems incredible to persons in Lima and elsewhere. Everyone seems to know Ms. Berenson's location.
One suggestion is that C.I.A. (or ex-C.I.A.) operatives, from Miami, may have exerted "pressure" -- or purchased local influence, as in New Jersey -- to force the return of this idealistic, brave and good young woman to an unmerited prison cell. ("Abuse and Exploitation of Women in New Jersey" and "Foucault, Rose, Davis and the Meanings of Prison.")
I suspect that this is the fate desired by such persons for all women, imprisonment of one kind or another. America's home-grown fascists desire the subjugation of women and the elimination of dissent, domestically and internationally. Fascism will never succeed for long. I can only hope that Ms. Berenson also has many friends in the world who will continue to do what they can to see that this grotesque injustice is ameliorated with the release of Ms. Berenson and her child -- a child born in prison along with billions of others in this world, who will be confined with his mother until age 3. Please reconsider this decision in Lima.
June 23, 2010 at 10:38 A.M. I am very happy for Ms. Berenson and her family in light of this young woman's recent release in Peru. We hope that Ms. Berenson will be home soon.
March 15, 2009 at 3:02 P.M. Continuing defacements of this essay by Cubanoids favoring the execution of this young lady (this is a serious suggestion made in the neighborhoods of Union City and, probably, Miami) make it necessary for me to correct the text, again. I may be prevented from writing at any time. Although cyberharassment is illegal -- even criminal -- American authorities will allow this cybercrime to continue with the goal of inducing my collapse through frustrations or stress. I have now made identical corrections of this essay approximately seven times. I will continue to write.
A young New Yorker named Lori Berenson has been detained in a Peruvian prison notorious for harsh conditions for over a year. Ms. Berenson is facing what amounts to a life sentence for treason. Along with many Americans, I feel great concern and sympathy for this young woman. Ms. Berenson's parents, New York city, students and teachers at schools all over the world -- many of us are hurt by Ms. Berenson's misfortune.
It seems clear to me that Ms. Berenson was a very young, idealistic and compassionate young woman when she visited Peru, becoming passionately interested in the plight of the poor and Latin American politics. She may have been manipulated or used for antigovernmental activities by opposition forces on the assumption that, as a young American, Ms. Berenson would not be incarcerated in Peru.
Ms. Berenson was convicted of "treason." Jurisprudentially -- Peru is a Civil Code jurisdiction -- this sentence is somewhat puzzling. Ms. Berenson is an American citizen. She has not abandoned her American citizenship. Hence, whatever the determined "facts" of her case -- it is highly doubtful that Ms. Berenson would knowingly risk the life of the very people she hoped to assist and serve -- the degree of specific intent necessary to establish a charge of "treason," or even aiding in treason, against one's country must be difficult to satisfy with the available proofs.
Treason requires a high degree of culpability, deliberation and intent are essential elements -- especially when the country charging the crime is not the nation where the defendant resides or is a citizen. Once again, this essay has been defaced then corrected by me. (See "New Jersey is the Home of the Living Dead" and "Law and Ethics in the Soprano State.")
Ms. Berenson's youth, foreign nationality, lack of sophistication or familiarity with the governmental context all argue against such a finding by Peru's appellate tribunals. Even more problematic, however, is the fact of citizenship. Peru is a signatory to a number of International Conventions that are binding on "municipal legal structures" (i.e., Peru's domestic laws), including the UN charter and International Human Rights conventions.
It is well-settled in international law doctrine that -- in the absence of violence -- a foreign national apprehended committing actions against the government of the "host nation" should be expelled or deported from that nation and returned to his or her own jurisdiction. To my knowledge, Ms. Berenson is not alleged to have killed or assisted in the killing of anyone.
Ms. Berenson, if she is guilty of antigovernmental activities -- as a non-Peruvian, it is legally impossible under the doctrines of treason that I am aware of, for Ms. Berenson to be guilty of treason against Peru -- she must be expelled from the "offended nation" and sent back to her own country. There are intermediary countries that would be willing to accept this young American and send her home, I am sure, even if the United States does not recognize this person as a wicked CIA agent. The US policy is to respond to any accusation concerning individuals alleged to be CIA agents with the statement: "No comment."
These agreements and binding conventions between countries date from the seventeenth century and are not the work of those nefarious Americans. International law doctrines, substantive principles, are largely the achievement of clever Spanish Jesuits in the early modern period enjoying a respite from the strictures of the Holy Inquisition, kind of like the OAE in New Jersey.
Peru's legal system should not be seen as Draconian or aligned with something comparable to the Inquisition. The nation that gave the world Mario Vargas Llosa should be identified with the highest levels of civilization and legal morality. I am sure that, at its worst, the Peruvian legal system is superior to what exists in New Jersey. Sadly, the Garden State is an American jurisdiction -- allegedly. This is an opportunity to demonstrate Peruvian juridical acumen to the world, while giving the US a black eye in P.R. damage. All of this could be accomplished by releasing Ms. Berenson.
Since writing the foregoing paragraph, I have learned of the Nobel Prize for Literature awarded to Mario Vargas Llosa. What better way to celebrate this achievement than with a humanitarian gesture of liberation for Ms. Berenson and her family? I am sure that Mr. Vargas Llosa -- a fellow Manhattan apartment dweller -- joins in my request for freedom for Ms. Berenson. New Yorkers stick together.
Once more, "errors" were inserted in the foregoing paragraph. I have corrected them until next time. Ideally, hackers will seek to reinsert the previously corrected "errors" to maximize frustration value. I will focus on the bizarre sexual habits "alleged" against persons like Anne Milgram and Deborah T. Poritz as well as their friends. I will focus on one such judge's or official's sex life for each occasion when I find it necessary to make corrections of inserted "errors."
The US has been unable to deport the politicians and judges of New Jersey. I am confident that America would be delighted if Peru were to accept the "Jersey Boys" as guests at this harsh prison in exchange for Ms. Berenson. The continuing defacements of my texts, censorship, suppression of writings made possible by corrupt officials from New Jersey or Florida makes it clear to me that we are hardly in a position to criticize other nations' legal systems for hypocrisy, mendacity, or human rights violations, not to mention incompetence.
I can never prevent further attacks against my writings or denials of access to my own work. Hence, if more than two days pass without a new post, it means that I am prevented from writing. If MSN groups still exists, I urge readers to examine my essays at Critique.
The purpose served by these conventions regarding what used to be called "espionage" but is now known as a "healthy interest in the science and culture of other countries" is to ensure that, when Peru's own spies or "students" are caught in "creative information-gathering" by, say, Cuba or Venezuela, they will also be sent back to Peru to continue with their interesting work. For this reason, several Cubans serving prison sentences in the U.S. for "information-gathering" should be deported, saving the American taxpayer the cost of their upkeep.
Ms. Berenson's well-known and respected family of New York teachers and other professionals is not the breeding ground for international terrorists. This bright, intellectually curious, highly moral young woman's concern for the suffering of the poor should be encouraged in her counterparts in this country. Ms. Berenson has suffered far too much for what, I believe, was an innocent action that expressed her affection and respect for the Peruvian people. A great humanitarian gesture of compassion on the part of Peru's judiciary and legal profession would earn the admiration of intelligent people all over the world.
We respectfully request that Peru's President as well as the nation's Supreme Tribunal consider and respond favorably to these feelings and genuine doubts as to the legitimacy of this conviction and sentence by returning this young woman, Ms. Berenson, to her family and community, demonstrating (once again) the progress made on the road to human rights improvements and democratization in Lima and other ancient territories of the inheritors of the Incas.
