About the Committee to Free Lori Berenson
- The Committee
- About The Committee
- Directors
- Steering Committee
- Regional Coordinators
- Advisory Board
- National Office
- Acknowledgements
About The Committee
The Committee to Free Lori Berenson, a project of the Committee for Inter-American Human Rights, was formed in order to defend the basic human rights that Lori has been wrongfully denied while she was defending the rights of others. Our goal is to pressure the United States government to act to secure Lori's release from her wrongful incarceration, and to spread the word about the human rights abuses that still occur in Perú.
With this goal in mind, we are:
- Working to coordinate the efforts of thousands of Lori's friends and supporters
- Publicizing the facts and news about her case
- Striving to educate others on the inadequate state of human rights in Perú
- Reaching out to the business, education, labor, human rights, and religious communities for support
Directors
Lori's parents, Rhoda and Mark Berenson serve as the Directors of the Committee. As Directors, they keep the Committee informed of Lori's situation and have final approval of all strategies and actions followed by the Committee.
The Berensons may be contacted at:
Rhoda & Mark Berenson
Committee to Free Lori Berenson
320 East 25th Street, #2AA
New York, NY 10010
E-mail: berenson@freelori.org
Steering Committee
The services of the Steering Committee are vital to the Committee to Free Lori Berenson. Drawing upon their vast knowledge and experience in the human rights field, they provide critical opinions and advice on major issues. They are also a tremendous source of ideas for strategies and actions.
-
Blase and Theresa Bonpane
Directors, Office of the Americas -
Kristen Gardner
social activitist and personal friend of Lori -
James Lafferty
Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild (Los Angeles Chapter) -
Bob McIndoe
Managing Director, Emerson Investment Management, Inc. -
Grahame Russell
Director, Rights Action -
Freddie Schrider
former human rights activist for Guatemala Human Rights Commission
Regional Coordinators
Regional Coordinators are members of the Committee to Free Lori Berenson who act as liaisons between the National Office and supporters in their region. They are all volunteers and contribute in many different ways, based on their individual talents. Their most important role is to act as a major component of a local group that plans and organizes local Committee to Free Lori Berenson actions. The Regional Coordinators also disseminate information to local supporters and are involved in providing suggestions for strategies and actions on a grassroots level.
Advisory Board
The Committee to Free Lori Berenson is grateful to the members of its Advisory Board, made up of prominent individuals who have deep concerns for human rights, civil liberties, and social justice.
-
Rabbi Balfour Brickner (deceased August 2005)
Stephen Wise Free Synogogue, NYC -
Noam Chomsky
Institute Professor of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT -
Blanche Wiesen Cook
Distinguished Professor of History, John Jay College -- CUNY -
David Dellinger
moral dissenter and 60's activist -
Geraldine Ferraro
former U.S. Congresswoman and Vice-Presidential candidate -
Matthew Goldstein
Chancellor, City University of New York (CUNY) -
Stephen Jay Gould (deceased May 2002)
Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, Harvard University -
Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton
Archdiocese of Detroit -
Stanley H. Kaplan
prominent education specialist and humanitarian -
Reverend James Lawson
Holman United Methodist Church, Los Angeles -
Maurice Paprin(deceased November 2005)
Founder, Fund for New Priorities in America -
Katha Pollitt
Associate Editor, The Nation -
Reverend Lucius Walker
Director of IFCO/Pastors for Peace, NYC -
Elie Wiesel
Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Humanities, Boston University and Nobel Peace Prize recipient -
Peter Yarrow
musician and song writer (Peter, Paul, and Mary)
National Office
Located in New York, the national office of the Committee to Free Lori Berenson is responsible for organizing and coordinating all efforts of the Committee. The office is managed by Rhoda and Mark Berenson, who also interact with members of the government and the human rights community.
The Committee to Free Lori Berenson
320 East 25th Street, #2AA
New York, NY 10010
E-mail: berenson@freelori.org
Acknowledgments
We wish to express our thanks to those who have assisted our efforts on Lori's behalf throughout these long
and difficult years. So many people have devoted countless hours in the hope that, by combining their efforts
with those of others, Lori may finally obtain the justice and freedom she so deserves. For trying to make the
world a better and more humane place, we thank them all.
We also want to express appreciation to Jim Salem, Bill Wedemeyer, and Ken Dubberly for developing, refining, and maintaining this web site and our heartfelt thanks go to the investigative reporters who risked their lives to document Perú's human rights violations.
Thank You!