17 legislative faculties to the Executive to undertake a reform of the legislation in order to comply with the ruling of the Constitutional Court (File number 0102002-AI/TC). Currently, draft laws are before the Justice and Human Rights Commission designed to compensate victims of terrorism and of the State’s excesses; they are at the stage of review, consultation and discussion, before an opinion is issued. Finally, in relation to the proceeding against Lori Berenson in the civil court, the witness added that Congress had respected the principle of the separation of powers and had not intervened in any way in this judicial proceeding. c. Testimony of Dennis Jett, United States Ambassador to Peru from 1996 to 1999 Following the March 2002 meeting between President Bush and President Toledo, Secretary of State Powell told the press that, during the meeting, President Bush referred to the Lori Berenson case, noting that her second trial had respected the rules of due process of law. Also, during a press conference in the White House Press Secretariat on March 26, 2002, when asked about the President’s position in the Lori Berenson case, Ari Fleisher, Press Secretary, replied that, as he had said in Peru, the President noted that due process of law had been ensured during the second trial and that an international commission was reviewing the matter. Consequently, he considered that the United States Government’s official position with regard to Lori Berenson’s second trial in a civil court could be concluded from the two statements; namely, that Lori Berenson had an “acceptable trial.” d. Testimony of Valentín Paniagua Corazao, former Constitutional President of the Republic of Peru He assumed the presidency of the Republic of Peru on November 22, 2000, under Article 115 of the Peruvian Constitution, owing to the removal from office of Alberto Fujimori, due to “lack of moral competence,” and the successive resignations of the First and Second Vice Presidents of the Republic. His Government’s goal was to initiate a process of transition towards democracy, following the authoritarian period experienced by the State, adapting its institutional structure to international standards for human rights, respect for legality, political stability and economic equilibrium. The acceptance of the contentious jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court, following the Fujimori Government’s declaration of July 8, 1999, that it would not acknowledge this jurisdiction and would not comply with the judgments delivered by the Court, were steps in this direction. The judgments included those relating to the Castillo Petruzzi et al. case, which referred to the terrorism legislation and decided that the State was obliged to submit the defendants to a trial before an ordinary, independent and impartial court. The State responded to this decision by annulling Legislative Decree No. 27,152 of January 18, 2001, and informed the international community that it had complied with its human rights commitments. The Castillo Petruzzi et al. case