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Today's
Stories
December
3, 2004
Sasan
Fayazmanesh
The EU, the US, Israel and Iran
December
2, 2004
Tito
Tricot
No Justice in Chile: I'm a Torture
Survivor in a Country Where Torturers Still Run Free
Behzad
Yaghmaian
The Murder of Theo Van Gogh and Muslim Migration
Dr.
Susan Block
Lana and Me: Meetings with Remarkable Apes
Frank
/ Chowkwanyun
Liberalism and Its Bounds
Lee
Sustar
Standoff in Ukraine: the Bad v. the Corrupt
Patrick
Cockburn
Another Grim Record in Iraq
Mark
Engler
Seattle at Five
Michael
Donnelly
Something Stinks in South Bend: the Firing of Tyrone Willingham
Nate
Collins
The Bay Area Mall on an Ohlone Burial Grounds
Saul
Landau
The Assassination of Danilo Anderson
December
1, 2004
Phillip
Cryan
Associated with Whom? Rightist Bias
in Wire Coverage of Colombia
Dave
Zirin
What's the Matter with "Leon"?:
Budweiser's Racist Commercial
Ghali
Hassan
Iraq's Health Care Under the Occupation:
200 Children Die Every Day
Donna
J. Volatile
Beware Western Nations Threatening "Democracy"
Patrick
Cockburn
How Saddam Tried to Arm the Insurgency
Nick
Meo
Chemical War Over Afghanistan
Mike
Ferner
The Battle of Toledo
Mokhiber
/ Weissman
Shame and Determination on Global AIDS Day: 40 Million and Rising
Kathy
Kelly
Looking the Other Way: the Real Crimes
of the UN in Iraq
November
30, 2004
Jennifer
Van Bergen
The Veil of Secrecy
Toni
Nelson Herrera
Meeting Kurtz: When Art is a Crime
Paul
Craig Roberts
The Bush Delusions: Successful at Incompetence
Patrick
Cockburn
The Insurgency Strikes Back: There Are No Safe Havens in Iraq
Chuck
Munson
WTO Protests Five Years Later: Seattle Weekly Trashes Anti-Globalization
Movement
Adam
Williams
Citizenship Sold: Back to Business in Indiana
Gregory
Elich
A Dangerous Turn in the US Plans for
North Korea
Website
of the Day
Read Lynne Cheney's Lesbian Novel Online!
November
29, 2004
Dave
Lindorff
Blowback in Ukraine: The Hand of
the CIA?
Omar
Barghouti
"The Pianist" of Palestine:
Roadblock Concerto at Gunpoint
Mike
Whitney
The US Media and Fallujah: How to
Market a Siege
Uri
Avnery
The Abu Mazen Style: "Give Me
Some Credit!"
Matt
Vidal
Globalization and Economic Inequality: a Look at the Numbers
Patrick
Cockburn
An Interview with Iraq's Foreign
Minister
Alan
Farago
Sex Change and Salvation: God, Girly Men and Endocrine Disrupters
Justin
Huggler
Bhopal 20 Years Later
Antony
Loewenstein
How Australia Reported Arafat's Death and Legacy
Gary
Leupp
Ukraine: Poll Results Aren't the Real
Issue
Website
of the Day
Mosul: Images from a Kill Zone
November
27 / 28, 2004
Peter
Linebaugh
Torture & Neo-Liberalism with
Sycorax in Iraq
Alexander
Cockburn
What Happened to O'Reilly's Loofa?
Fred
Gardner
Ashcroft v. Raich: Medical Marijuana and the Supreme Court
Kathy
Kelly
What We Can Control
Diane
Christian
The Other Cheek: "Empire Doesn't Analyze, It Acts"
Gary
Leupp
One More Neocon Target: South (Yes, South) Korea
Lenni
Brenner
Equality and Rights of Return: Jefferson Instructs the New York
Times
Ron
Jacobs
Death Squads and Iraq's Elections: the Mysterious Murders of
the AMS Clerics
Joshua
Frank
An Interview with Kevin Zeese on Nader, Kerry and the ABB Crowd
Toni
Solo
The Murder of Danilo Anderson
Saul
Landau
Fallujah, the 21st Century Guernica
JoAnn
Wypijewski
Matthew Shepard Case 6 Years Later: Why Hate Crimes Laws are
No Cure for Homophobia
Justin
Taylor
Empire's Lawless Opportunities
Amos
Harel
The Case of Captain R.
Walter
A. Davis
Tabloid Justice
Stephen
Hendricks
God's Kind of Men
Poets'
Basement
Albert, LaMorticella and Ford
November
26, 2004
Peter
Feng
Gavin Newsom: Man or Machine?
Greg
Moses
It's the White Vote, Stupid
Liaquat
Ali Khan
The Devil's Work: Bush's Minority Appointments
Michael
Mandel / Gail Davidson
Why Bush Should Be Banned from Canada: a Memo to the Ministry
of Immigration
Dave
Lindorff
Nation of Sheep, Turkey of an Election: Urkrainians Show the
Way
Gary
Corseri
When Black Friday Comes...
Paul
Craig Roberts
Whatever Happened to Conservatives?
Website
of the Day
Iraq Pipeline Watch
November
25, 2004
Willliam
Loren Katz
Giving Thanks to Whom?: "Thanks
to God We Sent 600 Heathen Souls to Hell Today"
Mitchel
Cohen
Why I Hate Thanksgiving
Mike
Ferner
An Uncommon Mom
November
24, 2004
Gila
Svirsky
License to Kill: the Example of Violence
is Set by the State
Winslow
T. Wheeler
The
Other Mess in Congress
Christopher
Brauchli
The Company He Keeps: the Syndicate of Tom Delay
Dave
Lindorff
Double Standards on Exit Polls: Hypocrisy Sans Irony
Ron
Jacobs
The Occupation of Iraq is the Root of t he Problem
Ken
Sengupta
Witnesses: War Crimes in Fallujah
Diana
Barahona
The Final Holocaust or Why I Voted for Ralph Nader
John
L. Hess
Safire the Shameless
Jason
Leopold
Did Harvard Hire (Another) War Criminal?
Jeffrey
St. Clair
The Mark of McCain: the Senator Most Likely to Start a Nuclear
War
Map
of the Day
Now and Then: 2004 v. 1860
November
23, 2004
Forrest
Hylton
Bush and Uribe at the Beach
November
22, 2004
Dave
Zirin
Fight Night in the NBA: Selective Outrage
in Detroit
Paul
Craig Roberts
On to Iran: We Won't Get Fooled Again?
Michael
Mandel / Gail Davidson
Why Bush Should be Banned from Canada
Kathie
Helmkamp
Our Son: a Marine Who Won't Kill
Ken
Sengupta
The Triangle of Death: "This is Now the Most Dangerous Place
in Iraq"
Mike
Whitney
Greenspan's Hammer
Roger
Burbach
Why They Hate Bush in Chile
Website
of the Day
Fed Up with Government Lies and Corporate Spin?
November
20 / 21, 2004
Alexander
Cockburn
The Poisoned Chalice
Todd
May
Religion, the Election and the Politics of Fear
Abbas
Ahmed Ibrahim
The Horrors of Fallujah: a First-Hand Account
Kevin
Zeese
Mishandling Nader
Landau
/ Hassen
After Arafat
Tom
Barry
The Vulcans Consolidate Power: The Rise of Stephen Hadley
Fred
Gardner
Pot Shots: Ask Dr. Todd
Justin
E.H. Smith
Triumph of the Will: the Sequel
Carl
Estabrook
Where We Are Now
Gary
Leupp
Imperial History-Making vs. Reality-Based Thought: a Dialogue
Dave
Lindorff
Apocalypse Soon
Jenna
Michelle Liut
Plans Colombia and Patriota: Wanton Wastes of Money, Manpower
and Lives
Mickey
Z.
The Granma Moses of Radical Writing: an Interview with William
Blum
Greg
Moses
The Same Old Struggle Against Imperial America
Sharon
Smith
Abortion Rights and the Election: What Now?
Ron
Jacobs
Sandwiches and Car Bombs
Ben
Tripp
Raising d'Etre: Finding Money in Hollywood These Days
Richard
Oxman
Basketbrawl Two Pointer: Iraq Rules!
Gilad
Atzmon
Politics and Jazz
Poets'
Basement
LaMorticella, Albert, Ford, & Anon.
Website
of the Day
Voice of the Forest
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click
Here for More Stories.
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December 3, 2004
A Bewildering
Decision
Human
Rights Court Fails Lori Berenson
By
MATTHEW B. RILEY
The unexpected decision of the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights (CIDH), based in San José, Costa
Rica, to uphold the severe prison sentence of American journalist
Lori Berenson, who has been detained in dingy prison facilities
in Peru for the last nine years, must be seen as a profound blow
to standards of human rights and justice within the hemispheric
community. In some ways, the Court's decision was merely an academic
exercise, as Peruvian authorities have consistently made clear
that they would renege on their previously firm assurances to
comply with the CIDH's findings had the Court ruled otherwise,
by vehemently insisting that they did not intend under any circumstances
to release a "proven" terrorist. Toledo's surprise
announcement leaves many questions to be answered, as the Court
has not yet shared the details of its official decision.
Peru's Flawed
Judicial System
Berenson's 1995 arrest and
subsequent trial by a "star chamber court" comprised
of hooded military judges, usually with scant or no legal training
and being granted no right of habeas corpus, resulted in her
being sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of holding a
leadership role in the rebel Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement
(MRTA), which, at that time, purportedly was involved in plotting
to abduct members of the Peruvian Congress. That the trial was
rife with judicial malfeasance and that due process of law was
blatantly denied is irrefutable. In fact, not only was Berenson's
defense team prevented proper access to evidence, it was not
able to cross-examine witnesses. Only due to heavy international
pressure was a public retrial held in 2001 that reduced her sentence
to twenty years on charges of abetting a terrorist organization,
which in themselves was a violation of outdated and unconstitutional
anti-terrorism laws implemented under former political strongman
Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000). These laws provided the basis for
many of the later trial's flaws.
An Appeal
to Human Rights
In response to this second
tainted conviction, Berenson appealed to the Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights (IACHR) for judicial review. The 2002 issuance
by that body stated that Berenson's trials were clearly unfair,
arguing that the state did not provide her with due process.
Maurice Paprin, the Council on Hemispheric Affairs' (COHA) chief
investigator of the Berenson case noted, "The report also
found that she originally had been charged under flawed provisions
of Fujimori's illegal and repressive anti-terrorism laws, which
even Peru's Supreme Court later declared unconstitutional in
early 2003." In fact, the report found that Peru must restore
full rights to Berenson, provide monetary compensation for damages
incurred while in prison and enact a detailed overhaul of the
nation's anti-terrorism policies. To this day, Toledo has failed
to fully repeal these antiquated laws or consider any restitution
for Berenson.
Peru instead rejected the Commission's
recommendation and decided to take the case to the CIDH. In the
course of a July 16, 2002 press conference at the Peruvian Embassy
in Washington, D.C., then-Minister of Justice Fernando Olivera
challenged the finding of the IACHR, announcing his country's
plan to take the case to the Inter-American Human Rights Court.
In responding to a question posed by a representative of COHA,
and with the hopeful expectations that the Court would reject
the findings of the Commission, Olivera responded by insisting
that Peru is a civilized country "and would accept the [Court's]
ruling on the Berenson case and release her if this is what the
Court ordered."
Toledo's
Cronies Carry Out His Dirty Work
In spite of this former high
official's comment at the time, two of Toledo's senior officials
recently rejected the possibility that Peru would have abided
by the Court's decision if it had ruled in Berenson's favor.
Astonishingly enough, Peru's foreign minister, Manuel Rodriguez,
told reporters on November 20 that regardless of the CIDH's final
ruling, Lima would not release Berenson: "In no case would
any ruling be observed that recommends freedom of people accused
of terrorism." Eliminating any possibility of a misinterpretation
of Rodriguez's statements are the words echoed by another top
Peruvian official, Carlos Ferrero, Toledo's head of Cabinet.
On November 25, Ferrero reinforced the government's plan to ignore
the ruling of the Human Rights Court, stating that he "cannot
guess what resolution the Inter-American Human Rights Court will
make, but [is] sure that whatever it is, Peru will not accept
in any way the possibility that it will signify [Berenson's]
release." Such an irresponsible disavowal of Peru's solemn
responsibilities to uphold international standards of human rights
completely nullifies Toledo's claim that he has taken a strong
and principled stand against the bloody violations perpetrated
during the Fujimori dictatorship.
A Human
Rights Court that Fails to Protect Human Rights
COHA's Maurice Paprin observed
that, "The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has, for
the quarter-century of its existence, been vigilant in its efforts
to protect and guarantee human rights in this hemisphere. The
Court's ruling here is a bewildering repudiation of its well-earned
reputation for securing justice." The Toledo government's
emphatic broadcasting of its intent to not comply with the Court,
if it had ruled the other way, is a striking counterpoint from
the usual practice of states to voicelessly honor the Court's
decisions. Such actions raise the question as to whether the
Toledo government's recent statements may have in some small
way served to pre-empt the Court's jurisdiction and swayed it
to sustain rather than reverse the previous rulings of the Peruvian
judicial system.
Toledo's eagerness to trumpet
the Court's decision demonstrates his willingness to use the
Berenson case as a wedge issue to play to Peru's sense of nationalism,
even as his policies have alienated the mass of impoverished
Peruvians who had hoped he would improve their plight and repair
the damage done by the corrupt Fujimori regime. Toledo's satisfaction
with the decision will only bolster the complacency and tone-deafness
of his disappointing and error-prone administration that has
now become infamous for its scandals, lack of veracity, indolence
and incompetence.
The time has come for President
Toledo to fulfill the promise he gave to the Peruvian people
to support his country's basic human rights, a main point of
his presidential campaign. The most effective way for him to
show the people of his country and the nations of this hemisphere
that he is seriously dedicated to respecting these basic freedoms
and the need for reconciliation is to extend an administrative
pardon to Lori Berenson in light of the CIDH's recent ruling.
Few courts in the world would have handed down such a harsh penalty
in the first place, and the nine years that Berenson has already
served is ample punishment for any crimes that the Peruvian authorities
think she may have committed. Berenson's release would demonstrate
that the Toledo administration is at last willing to grant an
act of mercy and comply with the expectations of thousands of
U.S. legislators, church leaders and eminent deans and professors
of law who have signed petitions calling for Lori Berenson's
release.
Matthew B. Riley is a Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs.
Additional research provided by Nicholas Birns, Ph.D.
Weekend Edition
Features for November
27 / 28, 2004
Peter
Linebaugh
Torture & Neo-Liberalism with
Sycorax in Iraq
Alexander
Cockburn
What Happened to O'Reilly's Loofa?
Fred
Gardner
Ashcroft v. Raich: Medical Marijuana and the Supreme Court
Kathy
Kelly
What We Can Control
Diane
Christian
The Other Cheek: "Empire Doesn't Analyze, It Acts"
Gary
Leupp
One More Neocon Target: South (Yes, South) Korea
Lenni
Brenner
Equality and Rights of Return: Jefferson Instructs the New York
Times
Ron
Jacobs
Death Squads and Iraq's Elections: the Mysterious Murders of
the AMS Clerics
Joshua
Frank
An Interview with Kevin Zeese on Nader, Kerry and the ABB Crowd
Toni
Solo
The Murder of Danilo Anderson
Saul
Landau
Fallujah, the 21st Century Guernica
JoAnn
Wypijewski
Matthew Shepard Case 6 Years Later: Why Hate Crimes Laws are
No Cure for Homophobia
Justin
Taylor
Empire's Lawless Opportunities
Amos
Harel
The Case of Captain R.
Walter
A. Davis
Tabloid Justice
Stephen
Hendricks
God's Kind of Men
Poets'
Basement
Albert, LaMorticella and Ford
|