I will truly be happy if President Obama (via Al Gore, possibly) can secure the release of Lora Ling and Euna Lee, the two journalists who were sentenced to 12 years hard labour by North Korea. I truly was happy when journalist Roxana Saberi, was released from prison in Iran. These women journalists were targeted and convicted by governments more interested in using them for political reasons than in pursuing justice.
Does anyone remember Lori Berenson? Ms. Berenson has been imprisoned in Peru since her arrest in November of 1995. She was charged - falsely - by Peru as a terrorist who belonged to the "Shining Path" organization, and tried twice in court proceedings that have been condemned by human rights organizations around the world for secrecy, lack of due process, and outright lies. Her trials and the presumption of guilt violated Peru's own laws on double jeopardy and presumption of innocence. She was, in fact, a journalist with valid press credentials, whose only crime was working for social justice. From the website of the Committee to Free Lori Berenson:
- In January 1996 Lori was found guilty of treason and sentenced to life in prison by a secret hooded military tribunal while a hooded soldier held a gun to her head. There was no trial. These military tribunals have been condemned by the U.S. Department of State, Amnesty International, The Carter Center for Human Rights, and Human Rights Watch: Americas. In December 1998, the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights stated that Lori Berenson was deprived of her liberty arbitrarily and that the government of Perú must take all necessary steps to remedy her wrongful incarceration.
