Friday, March 18, 2011

Indigenous Coalition on Behalf of Leonard Peltier: UN Human Rights Council


Human Rights Council
Sixteenth Session
at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland
28 February - 25 March 2011

Agenda Item 6. Consideration of UPR-reports, United States of America, 18 March 2011

Oral Statement by the Society for Threatened Peoples [Special]

Confronted with the realities of an absence of protection to Indigenous Peoples and political dissidents in the U.S., the Society for Threatened Peoples International wishes to bring the case of Leonard Peltier to the attention of this Council as a well documented example of consistent patterns of gross violations of human rights: abuse of criminal process, exclusion or withholding of evidence, prosecutorial misconduct, prejudicial publicity, and systematic brutality including but not limited to medical maltreatment.

Native American activist Leonard Peltier was wrongfully convicted in connection with the deaths of two agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Despite the courts' acknowledgment of FBI and prosecutorial misconduct in the case, Peltier has been imprisoned since 1976, currently at the U.S. Penitentiary at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

On September 23, 2010, before the United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Barack Obama stated that part of the price of our own freedom is standing up and speaking out for the freedom of others.

Millions of people worldwide—all profoundly disturbed by his continuing unlawful imprisonment and ill treatment—have stood up and spoken out for Leonard Peltier. In 2010, seven persons—myself included—advocated for Mr. Peltier during five of the listening sessions hosted by the U.S. State Department in preparation for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Concerned peoples of the world—Native Americans, in particular—have noted the failure of the U.S. government to mention our concerns in its submission to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in conjunction with the UPR, and its presentation to the UPR Working Group in November.

The evidence shows that the FBI was the aggressor in the firefight that occurred on June 26, 1975. From 1973 to 1976, Indigenous People on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota were victims of beatings, drive-by shootings, and stabbings carried out by local vigilantes who collaborated with the FBI. Peltier and other Indigenous activists were forced into a defensive posture to protect not only their lives, but the lives of others who were present—elders, women, and children. Indeed, Mr. Peltier’s co-defendants, tried separately, were acquitted on grounds of self-defense.

The evidence clearly shows that the U.S. government's goal was to orchestrate Mr. Peltier's conviction by any means—including falsifying extradition documents and intentionally committing fraud on a Canadian court, as well as suppressing evidence of Mr. Peltier's innocence during his trial. By the government's own admission, the critical part of the prosecution’s case against Mr. Peltier was the ballistics testimony which, years after his conviction, was discovered to be false. Simply, the jury verdict in Mr. Peltier's case was obtained illegally.

Despite the U.S. government's own admission that it did not and cannot prove his guilt, Mr. Peltier has been denied a new trial. According to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Mr. Peltier was to have served a sentence of 200+ months. Mr. Peltier has now served more than 400 months in a federal penitentiary—over 35 years. In 2009, although Mr. Peltier has met all eligibility requirements, he was again denied parole. Mr. Peltier won't be given another full parole review until 2024.

On 05 November, the world heard the U.S. government claim that it is "unequivocally committed to the humane treatment of all individuals in detention, including criminal detention". Yet, Leonard Peltier has suffered numerous beatings while in U.S. custody—most recently sustaining injuries from an attack in 2009 at Canaan Penitentiary. A physician who conducted an independent review of Mr. Peltier’s medical records in 2000 concluded that Mr. Peltier’s overall medical treatment also is below a reasonable standard of care. Nearly 67 years of age, Mr. Peltier continues to suffer from severe diabetes, high blood pressure, and a heart condition. According to an affiliate of Physicians for Human Rights, he risks blindness, kidney failure, and stroke due to his inadequate diet, living conditions, and health care.

In recent years, Mr. Peltier has presented with symptoms commonly attributed to prostate cancer. In the U.S., a man dies from prostate cancer every 16 minutes. The cure rate for prostate cancer is high, but only if detected early. In November 2010, to make a proper diagnosis, a prison physician ordered that a biopsy be performed. The biopsy was performed on 23 February, over four months later.

But strategies to only ameliorate his conditions of confinement will not remedy the many years of human rights violations suffered by Mr. Peltier. The U.S. government's case against Leonard Peltier collapsed years ago. His continued imprisonment only serves to prolong a grave injustice. The U.S. claims to support universal principles of freedom and justice because, as it says, it is the right thing to do. It is time for the U.S. government to free Leonard Peltier because it's the right thing to do.

Before the General Assembly, President Obama rightly acknowledged that "Human rights have never gone unchallenged—not in any of our nations." Freedom and justice for all, he said, must begin with freedom and justice in the lives of individual human beings. For this very reason, Amnesty International has designated Mr. Peltier a political prisoner who should be immediately and unconditionally released. Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, 55 Members of the U.S. Congress and many others—including a judge who sat as a member of the court in two of Mr. Peltier’s appeals—have all called for his immediate release. Repeated appeals also have been brought to the U.N. on his behalf since Mr. Peltier's imprisonment.

We strongly urge the Council to adopt and the U.S. to implement UPR Working Group Recommendation Numbers 92-153 and 92-154. According to the principles of justice, democracy, and respect for human rights, we ask that this Council use every mechanism at its disposal and within its mandate to demand that the U.S. comply with its human rights obligations and that Leonard Peltier and other political prisoners be released.

Thank you.

Signatories:

Society for Threatened Peoples International
Incomindios
Indigenous Peoples and Nations Coalition

On March 18, 2011, an abbreviated oral statement was presented to the UN Human Rights Council by Len Foster on behalf of the signatories of the above statement (submitted earlier):

If the Universal Periodic Review is to be an effective mechanism for human rights accountability, civil society consultations should promote dialogue. However, when [Indians] called for the release of Mr. Leonard Peltier, a recognized political prisoner, the United States did not mention this concern and rejected the recommendation that he be released. Mr. Peltier had been imprisoned for more than 35 years and has suffered numerous beatings while in prison, most recently sustaining injuries from an attack in 2009 at Canaan Federal Penitentiary. [We] urge that Mr. Peltier be released immediately.


Thursday, March 17, 2011

Human Rights Situation in the USA: Indigenous Rights Activist Leonard Peltier


Invitation to Side Event - In the framework of HRC 16

Human Rights Situation in the USA: Native American Prisoners - Indigenous Rights Activist Leonard Peltier

Thursday, 17th of March, 11 am - 1 pm, Room XXII

The indigenous rights activist Leonard Peltier is an innocent man wrongfully convicted in connection with the shooting deaths of two agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The evidence shows that the FBI was the aggressor in the firefight that occurred on June 26, 1975. Despite the U.S. government's own admission that it did not and cannot prove his guilt, Mr. Peltier has been denied a new trial. According to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Mr. Peltier was to have served a sentence of 200+ months. Mr. Peltier has now served more than 400 months in a federal penitentiary – over 35 years. In 2009, although Mr. Peltier has met all eligibility requirements, he was again denied parole. Mr. Peltier won't be given another full parole review until 2024.

Hosts of the side event are Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) and INCOMINDIOS Switzerland together with the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee (LPDOC) and the Indigenous Peoples and Nations Coalition.

Opening remarks:

Helena Nyberg, INCOMINDIOS Switzerland

Contributions:

Leonard Foster, traditional spiritual advisor for Leonard Peltier and Indigenous prisoners in the United States

Ambassador Ron Barnes, Chair Indigenous Peoples and Nations Coalition

Introduction of the documentary "Warrior - The life of Leonard Peltier,” by Suzie Baer, Cinnamon Productions, Inc. (DVD)

Refreshments (sandwiches and water) will be served. Interpretation "english-spanish” will be provided.

For more informations please contact Helena Nyberg, Incomindios Switzerland, Tel: +41 44 383 21 31, textart@windowslive.com or Yvonne Bangert, Society for Threatened Peoples, +49 551 499 06 14, indigene@gfbv.de.

Monday, March 14, 2011

NW Leonard Peltier Clemency Campaign: Kickoff on May 21


THE NEW NORTHWEST LEONARD PELTIER CLEMENCY CAMPAIGN

As individual fingers we can easily be broken, but all together we make a mighty fist. — Sitting Bull

REGIONAL MARCH AND RALLY FOR CLEMENCY FOR LEONARD PELTIER

SATURDAY, MAY 21, 2011, TACOMA, WA.

12:00 NOON: MARCH FOR JUSTICE Portland Ave. Park (on Portland Ave. between E. 35th & E. Fairbanks. Take Portland Ave. exit off I-5 and head east)

1:00 PM: RALLY FOR JUSTICE U.S. Federal Court House, 1717-Pacific Ave.

For information or to offer your assistance with planning and managing the event, please contact Arthur Miller at the LPDOC Northwest Regional Organizer's Office, P.O. Box 5464, Tacoma, WA 98415-0464 or send an e-mail to: bayou@blarg.net.

More details forthcoming.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Peltier: Equal justice does 'not enjoy support'

Media Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 10, 2011
Contact: Delaney Bruce, Legal Team Liaison, Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Commmittee, 701/235-2206, contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info


Peltier: Equal justice does 'not enjoy support'

In November 2010, before the United Nations Working Group for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva, U.S. State Department representatives spoke specifically of the U.S. Constitution and the protections afforded to individuals accused of committing crimes in America.

The U.S. State Department today, in response to the Working Group's recommendation for the release of Leonard Peltier, stated only that such an idea does not "enjoy our support."

Yet, previously, the government claimed, "We are committed to continued vigilance in our effort to enforce the law in a manner consistent with the Constitution and with the rights and dignity of all citizens."

The U.S. government has failed to address the staggering number of constitutional violations in Leonard Peltier's case or the indignities to which he has been subjected, including but not limited to substandard medical care and physical abuse while in U.S. custody.

Native American activist Leonard Peltier was wrongfully convicted in connection with the deaths of two agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Despite the courts' acknowledgment of FBI and prosecutorial misconduct in the case, Peltier has been imprisoned since 1976, currently at the U.S. Penitentiary at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

The evidence shows that the FBI was the aggressor in the firefight that occurred on June 26, 1975. From 1973 to 1976, Indigenous People on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota were victims of beatings, drive-by shootings, and stabbings carried out by local vigilantes who collaborated with the FBI. Peltier and other Indigenous activists were forced into a defensive posture to protect not only their lives, but the lives of others who were present—elders, women, and children. Indeed, Mr. Peltier’s co-defendants, tried separately, were acquitted on grounds of self-defense.

The evidence clearly shows that the U.S. government's goal was to orchestrate Mr. Peltier's conviction by any means—including falsifying extradition documents and intentionally committing fraud on a Canadian court, as well as suppressing evidence of Mr. Peltier's innocence during his trial. By the government's own admission, the critical part of the prosecution’s case against Mr. Peltier was the ballistics testimony which, years after his conviction, was discovered to be false.

"Simply, the jury verdict in Mr. Peltier's case was obtained illegally," a Peltier supporter said today.

The absence of fairness in every stage of Peltier's case troubles many people around the world and compels foreign governments and international human rights organizations to question Peltier’s continuing imprisonment.

"Obama once said that freedom and justice for all must begin with freedom and justice in the lives of individual human beings. Why not Leonard Peltier? How can the U.S. hold itself up as a beacon of freedom and justice when it ignores the Constitution and doesn't comply with its human rights obligations?"


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Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Reflections on COINTELPRO: Past and Present

OREGON JERICHO AND PDX COALITION OPPOSING POLITICAL REPRESSION PRESENT

Reflections on COINTELPRO: Past and Present

Saturday March 12th 2011
Time: 6:30-8:30pm
Portland State University
Smith Memorial Building
Cascade Room: 236

*Event is free, open to the public and disability affirmative

Peter Bohmer-Activist scholar and former COINTELPRO target
 
Arthur Miller-NW Regional Organizer, Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee
 
Kent Ford-Co-founder of Portland Black Panther Party and father of Political Prisoner Patrice Lumumba Ford

Panelists will explain their personal experiences with the FBI’s counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO) dating back to the 1960’s. The full story and implications of COINTELPRO still have yet to be discovered and resolved including the gross reality of contemporary impacts. Today, in a time of FBI raids and subpoenas, from Minneapolis to Chicago starting in the fall of 2010, more awareness of the countries quickly dwindling and diminishing civil liberties must be understood in historical context. As civilians deserve redress for the illegal activities of COINTELPRO, hearings must be reopened and amnesty granted for U.S.-held Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War. All of this and more will be discussed.

Co-sponsored by the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee and LPDOC Chapters in Portland and Washington State; Students for Unity; Student Animal Liberation Coalition; Bmedia Collective; Portland Central America Solidarity Committee; Portland International Socialist Organization; NW Student Coalition; Portland Coalition Opposing Political Repression; Oregon Progressive Party; Cascadia Rising Tide; Portland Animal Defense League; and PDX APOC.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Leonard Peltier Must Be Transferred: Write Those Letters

Sun Dance, an Opera on Leonard Peltier

Dear supporters of Leonard Peltier,

We are writing to let you know about a new vehicle for awareness and activism regarding Leonard Peltier’s continued imprisonment. Sun Dance, an opera composed by Matthew J. Walton, with a libretto by Leonard Walton, sets Leonard’s story within the historical context of oppression and abuse of Native Americans by the US government (www.sundanceopera.com). The opera challenges audiences to engage with contemporary themes of social justice, cultural and national identity, and collective responsibility. It begins with Leonard’s description of life in prison, then flashes back through several historical scenes, including the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890 and the Native American occupation of Alcatraz in the 1970s. The second act brings the story into the present, through the interactions of several women at a rally to support Leonard. They struggle with issues of anger and forgiveness as they flash back to segments of Leonard’s trial, and reflect on his transformation during his years in prison.

The opera was written with Leonard’s approval and in consultation with many of the individuals and primary sources connected to his case. You can find out more about Sun Dance at www.sundanceopera.com, which contains audio excerpts, score excerpts, a synopsis and full libretto, educational materials, performance history, a press kit, and background on the subject matter, and will soon include video excerpts from previous performances.

Some of you may remember that Sun Dance was premiered in 2005 by the Syracuse Society for New Music. At that time there was also a live webcast of one of the performances that was broadcast to a global audience. Since then, the composer and librettist have significantly revised the piece, based on feedback from audiences, performers, Native American organizations and individuals, and people connected with the incidents described in the opera. We feel that the revisions have made the opera a much stronger work musically and dramatically, and that the piece is now more effective in sharing Leonard’s story with a wider and more diverse audience.

We hope that you will go to our website, http://www.sundanceopera.com/, to learn more about the opera. Please feel free to link to our page on your own site, and to spread the news to Leonard’s supporters through your preferred social networking method. If your area has an opera company or a university with a music program, please consider contacting them and suggesting that they program Sun Dance. We would like to emphasize that the composer and librettist of this opera do not profit from any performances of it, and have created it as a vehicle for continuing to spread awareness of Leonard’s imprisonment, the situation of political prisoners, and the continued oppression of Native communities in the US. We welcome comments, questions, and suggestions through our website.

Regards,

Matt Walton and Lenny Walton
http://www.sundanceopera.com/