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.

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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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.

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/