After 35 years as a model prisoner, American Indian activist Leonard Peltier has been thrown into solitary confinement for what can only be called the most dubious of alleged infractions, in an attempt to continue his punishment for what Amnesty International calls a politically-motivated trial and conviction. The infractions themselves are vague and puzzling - receiving a 20 pound note from a Scottish supporter (although he reported and returned it as required) and "exposed wires." What is less puzzling is that this took place the day after the 36th anniversary of the deaths of the federal agents he is accused of killing.
His defense committee reports:
"Amnesty International has repeatedly voiced serious concerns over the fairness of the legal proceedings which led to Leonard Peltier’s conviction and sentence, and believes that political factors may have influenced the way in which the case was conducted,” the organization said of the 1977 federal trial in Fargo, North Dakota.
The U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals said of Peltier's trial:
"Much of the government's behavior at the Pine Ridge Reservation and in its prosecution of Mr. Peltier is to be condemned. The government withheld evidence. It intimidated witnesses. These facts are not disputed."
Still a subject of heated controversy, at issue is Peltier's alleged killing of federal agents during a shoot-out with members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) on Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975. The shoot-out is the subject of the documentary "Incident at Oglala" produced and narrated by Robert Redford. A fictional treatment is rendered in the movie "Thunderheart" starring Val Kilmer as a part Native American FBI agent undergoing a spiritual awakening. (This is one of my desert island flicks, Sam Sheppard, Graham Greene, if you haven't seen it...)
Peltier was convicted of shooting a federal agent execution-style. But prosecutor Lynn Crooks, during oral arguments before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, in stark contrast to his summation to the jury at Peltier's trial in 1977, stated: "We can't prove who shot those agents." Crooks argued that Peltier had been "proven" to have "aided and abetted" the killings of the agents.
Peltier and AIM had entered the war zone of the Pine Ridge reservation after 3 years of what can only be called a civil war had begun in 1973. During the three year period there had been 60 unsolved murders, mostly of AIM members and supporters, in an ongoing dispute over the use of Indian land and resources.
The FreeLeonard.org website summarizes:
The tribal chairman hired vigilantes, self titled as “GOONS,” to rid the reservation of American Indian Movement (AIM) activity and sentiment. Evidence indicated GOON responsibility in the majority of crimes but despite a large FBI presence, nothing was done to stop the violence. The FBI supplied the GOONS with intelligence on AIM members and looked away as GOONS committed crimes. One former GOON member reported that the FBI supplied him with armor piercing ammunition.
Leonard Peltier was an AIM leader and was asked by traditional people at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, to support and protect the traditional people being targeted for violence. Mr. Peltier and a small group of young AIM members set up camp on a ranch owned by the traditional Jumping Bull family.
Truthout.org article"Torture in the US Prison System: The Endless Punishment of Leonard Peltier"
On June 27, the day after the 36th anniversary of the FBI agents' deaths on Pine Ridge, Peltier was abruptly moved from a cell among the general prison population into solitary confinement. The reasoning for the move was hidden from his legal team and supporters for days, and concern for his well-being grew.
Peltier, age 66 and in declining health, now faces at least another month in what he describes as “a steel and concrete box with no ventilation.” Federal prison officials initially indicated that Peltier would serve six months in “the hole,” but reduced his penalty to 60 days (from the July 11 hearing date) after an outcry from his legal counsel and international supporters.
The American Indian Movement of which Peltier was a leader traveled to Mt. Rushmore in 1970, in order to protest the illegal seizure of the Sioux Nation’s sacred Black Hills in 1877 by the United States federal government, in violation of its earlier 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. In 1980, the US Supreme Court ruled that the federal government had illegally taken the Black Hills after gold had been discovered. The government offered financial compensation, but the Oglala Sioux have refused it, insisting on return of the land to their people.
In 1972, activists marched across country on the "Trail of Broken Treaties" in which the tribes demanded a review of treaty commitments and violations and opportunities for Indian leaders to address Congress directly.
In 2008 AIM led the Longest Walk 2, which arrived in Washington in July 2008. This 8,200-mile walk had started from the San Francisco Bay area, and had representatives from more than 100 American Indian nations, and non-indigenous supporters such as boxer Muhammad Ali, US Senator Ted Kennedy and Marlon Brando. The walk highlighted the need for protection of American Indian sacred sites, tribal sovereignty, environmental protection and action to stop global warming. Walkers picked up more than 8,000 bags of garbage on their way to Washington.
Before he left office, Amnesty International urged Bill Clinton to grant Peltier a pardon, which he denied.
Contacts:
The White House
President Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Comment Line: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
Fax: 202-456-2461
Web Form: http://www.whitehouse.gov/...
Bureau of Prisons (Be certain to always reference "Leonard Peltier #89637-132" when contacting the BOP)
Warden Bledsoe
USP Lewisburg
U.S. Penitentiary
2400 Robert F. Miller Drive
Lewisburg, PA 17837
Phone: 570-523-1251
Fax: 570-522-7745
E-mail address: LEW/EXECASSISTANT@BOP.GOV
Peltier "Offense" Committee official website
http://www.democracynow.org/...