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As Americans celebrate their myth of freedom and justice for all, Leonard Peltier is moved without warning or notification to Terre Haute, Indiana, USP and is held in solitary confinement at least through the long holiday weekend.
At a time when this country seeks understanding for its obvious wrongs around the planet and cannot understand why the global village mistrusts it, the U.S. government is mistreating and using extraordinary domestic rendition upon the most beloved contemporary Native American warrior. Leonard Peltier, whom - again in defiance of the global opinion - this country refuses to acknowledge as a political prisoner, today sits in a tiny cell without windows and human contact as the American people prepare to celebrate their myth of justice and freedom for all.
After twenty nine years in prison for a crime he didn't commit he was moved without rhyme or reason, and without notification to his family and attorney, from Leavenworth USP to Terre Haute Indiana USP. He was immediately placed in solitary confinement, "the hole". Leonard is sixty years old, he suffers from arthritis, bone spurs, all the discomforts associated with diabetes, and recently had a stroke.
The Bureau of Prisons may argue that placing a transferred prisoner in solitary confinement is a routine procedure until all the appropriate paperwork is processed, but the timing of this action adds to its cruelty since it was carried out right before the long weekend preceding this 4th of July. In addition, this development comes at a time when Peltier’s legal team is successfully arguing very important motions and the US Courts might be obligated to release him. It is no too far fetched to imagine that to prevent his release, he is subjected to this psychological and physical torture in hope that it will break his body and spirit, and literally kill him. As seen in the world stage today, the U.S. concepts of freedom fighters, terrorists, illegal combatants, murders, and battle casualties, are relative at their best, and duplicitous, deceptive, and capricious in their application. The same government that manipulated Canadian sovereignty and false affidavits to obtain the extradition of Leonard Peltier, our freedom fighter, today protects Jose Posada Carriles, a real terrorist, and denies his extradition to Venezuela where he was involved in the bombing of a Cuban airliner resulting in the murder of all its passengers. On the other hand, the “crime scene�?in which they have framed Peltier is a battle in which armed and trained US government combatants, illegally entered non-US territory, and attacked a group of armed civilians defending their land and families, and they, as well as one of those civilians (Joe Stuntz), became casualties of war. Why must then Peltier pay with his life? Does the FBI feel any remorse for any of its victims: Joe Stuntz, Buddy Lamont, or Frank Clearwater? How about Pedro Bissonette or the Jimmy Little Incident? Both murdered by US backed forces, using deadly force, and bludgeoning Jimmy Little in front of his family. His son Jimmy, Jr. witnessed this terrible act and when he reached 21 committed suicide--a note revealed that he missed his Dad and saw no reason to live. Jimmy, Jr was an Olympic cross-country talent when he was at Loneman School as a 7th grader. He was the next Billy Mills but the trauma of the US invasion and its violence killed him before he had a chance to mature, he really was dead before he lived. Who pays for our dead? Or are our lives still as worthless to the American people as when they would pay money for our skins red with our blood (hence the term redskins so celebrated by this culture). Our wounds are deep, and the torment that created them is unforgettable. We know we cannot go back in time, but what can be done today is to put an end to the assault on indigenous people, that has been taking place without reprieve since the beginning of this country. Enough is enough America! Basta ya! Honor our treaties, stop taking and destroying our land and resources, respect our sovereignty and our culture, rectify the language of your history, and free our warriors! Free Peltier!
Wanbli Watakpe aka Russ Redner Executive Director, LPDC
Paula Ostrovsky Media PR Officer, LPDC
What can you do to help Leonard? Send letters to Congress people Senators and politely demand Leonards Freedom. Local media coverage is another way to educate people about this political injustice towards Leonard Peltier contact the LPDC chapters for assistance. We are asking anyone and everyone to get on the phones and get out their pens and paper. Let's flood the telephones with calls regarding Leonard! Let's stuff their mailboxes with letters about Leonard! Urge the prison to allow Leonard to contact his family as soon as possible. Ask how he is, ask where to write, ask if he's OK, ask about his health, his privileges (phones, letters, visits, religious rights, ability to paint, etc.) inquire as to his safety-anything-just keep calling and let the prison know that the entire world is watching and is concerned about Leonard. Please be sure to be courteous and professional, as LPDC does not wish to complicate Leonard's situation. The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, Peltier Legal Team and Leonard's family are working hard to ensure Leonard's safety and they will keep you informed as things develop. Mitakuye Oyasin. LPDC, Inc USP Terre Haute U.S. Penitentiary 4700 Bureau Road South Terre Haute, IN 47802 Phone-812-244-4400 Fax----812-244-4789 THP/ [email protected] Federal Bureau of Prisons 320 First Street NW Washington, DC 20534 202-307-3198 [email protected] House Of Represenatives http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml Senators http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm http://www.freepeltier.org/ |
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Boycott Ebay & Paypal! FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Sign this PLEDGE Boston group calls for boycott of PayPal & parent company eBAY On this day of celebration of "freedom" & "democracy," the Boston Area �?Leonard Peltier Support Group is calling for a boycott of PayPal & parent company eBAY. The modest funds raised through the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee (LPDC) & selected support group Web sites are used for public education programs, political & lobbying actions, & legal strategies undertaken on behalf of Leonard Peltier. We do these things to keep Peltier's hope for freedom alive. While such activities are likely inconvenient for the U.S. government, they are not illegal. On the contrary, these activities represent free exercise of our constitutional rights. We've come to expect interference with our Web-based services over the years, i.e., interruption of service at critical times, for example. However, last week, both the LPDC & the Boston support group received notification from PayPal (our Web site credit card verification & payment processing service) that we are in violation of its Acceptable Use Policy. Designating Leonard Peltier as being "notorious for committing murderous acts," PayPal has now deprived us of our online fundraising capability. Our accounts have been closed preventing us from receiving donations electronically & we have been told that our funds collected through the online service may be frozen for up to 180 days. What is PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy? Read it for yourself. Please note that PayPal doesn't monitor Web sites but depends on "members of the community" to bring alleged violations to its attention. We can only speculate as to who those "members of the community" were in this case. An Indigenous Rights activist & prisoner of conscience, Leonard Peltier has been imprisoned for the past 28 years for a crime he did not commit. U.S. prosecutors have admitted that they did not & cannot prove that Peltier committed the crime of which he was accused. In fact, it was proved long ago that Leonard Peltier was convicted through the use of fabricated evidence & false testimony. Under nonpolitical circumstances, the courts would have been compelled to release Peltier due to prosecutorial misconduct & a flagrant abuse of power. Instead, 28 years later, Peltier languishes in the maximum security prison in Leavenworth, Kansas. The U.S. Government even now refuses to release Peltier despite his becoming eligible for parole over a decade ago. In violation of their own congressionally mandated guidelines, Peltier won't even be considered for parole until he has served over twice the normal term for his alleged offenses. Due to his political prosecution/persecution, Leonard Peltier has been called the Nelson Mandela of the United States. He has garnered worldwide support. Amnesty International & other human rights organizations have repeatedly called for his immediate & unconditional release. He is supported by numerous luminaries throughout the world, including Mandela himself, as well as past & present members of the U.S. Congress. In 1991 & again in 2000, Judge Gerald Heaney (formerly of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals) & author of one of the appellate decisions in the Peltier case wrote to Senator Daniel Inouye to recommend a grant of Executive Clemency to Peltier. PayPal also claims to have done an exhaustive evaluation of the LPDC & Boston sites for "offensive" material. What did they find? - The announcement of Leonard Peltier's nomination for the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.
- The legal updates concerning Leonard's case, including information on Peltier's recent victory over editor Paul DeMain in a defamation lawsuit filed in 2003.
- The position paper submitted by the Peltier legal team to the Committees on the Judiciary of the U.S. Senate & U.S. House of Representatives on official misconduct in Indian Country, in particular that against the American Indian Movement & Leonard Peltier.
- Material to mobilize support for the release of hundreds of thousands of documents still withheld after nearly 30 years by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, despite repeated Freedom of Information Act actions brought by Peltier's attorneys.
- Announcement of Leonard's presidential nomination for the Peace & Freedom Party in California.
- Political action materials as regards the upcoming presidential election, in general, & encouraging Indigenous & other U.S. voters to use their votes to help win Leonard's freedom, in particular.
We consider this policy & PayPal's actions to be an attack on our political beliefs, interference with our right to participate in the "democratic" political process, & an intentional effort on the part of PayPal & its parent company eBAY to interfere with our (and your) constitutional rights. Such corporate actions -- as taken at the behest of the U.S. government, or not -- are an affront to activists everywhere & threaten our basic freedoms. We will NOT go away! Join our boycott of PayPal & its parent company eBAY. Spread the word to friends, family, colleagues & co-workers: - Don't use the PayPal service on Web sites you own or manage.
- Don't donate to or purchase from sites that use the PayPal service.
- Don't buy or sell/auction items using eBAY.
- Send PayPal & eBAY the message that you find THEIR policy & actions "offensive".
THE LPDC IS IN URGENT NEED OF FUNDS. WE THEREFORE URGE YOU TO IMMEDIATELY SEND DONATIONS BY SNAIL MAIL. NO AMOUNT IS TOO SMALL. LPDC PO Box 583 Lawrence, Kansas 66044-0583 USA
Thank You. Released on: July 4, 2004 Contact: Barry Bachrach, Esquire Bowditch & Dewey, LLP 311 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01615-0156 E-mail: [email protected] |
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>> article in the Lawrence-Journal World. There is a photo of Leonard with Marquette & her kids at the url mentioned below.
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/jul/13/family_plans_follow_peltier/?city_local Family plans to follow PeltierBy Janet Reid Wednesday, July 13, 2005 Marquetta Shields looks forward to the day her dad, Leonard Peltier, can join her in the park for a picnic with his grandchildren. “I always thought that hopefully by the time I had children, my dad would be out of prison,�?Shields said. Shields was just 2 years old when Peltier, an American Indian Movement activist, was convicted in the 1975 shooting death of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Shields moved her family from South Dakota to Lawrence to be near Peltier during his imprisonment at the U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth. Now she’s making plans to move again. After spending 17 years at Leavenworth, Peltier was transferred on June 30 to a maximum security federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind. A spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons said the move was necessary due to a restructuring at the Leavenworth prison. “Leavenworth is being reclassified as a medium-security institution and will no longer house high-security inmates,�?said Traci Billingsley. Peltier’s relatives said they weren’t notified prior to, or even after, the move. ‘He’s not here?�?BR>
It was Peltier’s grandson, 20-year-old Cyrus Peltier, who first learned of the transfer, after making the trip from Lawrence to Leavenworth on July 3 to visit his grandfather. “My eyes got big, my mouth dropped, and I said, ‘Really, he’s not here?’�?Cyrus Peltier said. He’s been visiting his grandfather at Leavenworth every Sunday for as long as he can remember. “He’s kind of like a father to me,�?Cyrus Peltier said. “We would just talk about cars, fishing, eating good food and I liked to ask him a lot of questions about how it was for him in the past.�?BR> Now Cyrus Peltier will have to travel nearly 500 miles to see his grandfather. “It’s going to be tough it’s going to be tough for him and it’s going to be tough for me,�?Cyrus Peltier said. “But I do plan on flying back and forth whenever I get a chance to.�?BR> The move to Terre Haute won’t stop Leonard Peltier’s supporters from fighting for his release from prison. The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, which was headquartered in Lawrence, packed up and moved last week. “It took us two days,�?Cyrus Peltier said. “We packed up the defense committee office in a U-Haul, and it’s out in Indiana, about two minutes away from the Terre Haute prison.�?BR> 2008 hearing
Supporters have been fighting for more than a quarter of a century for Peltier’s release, claiming the government framed him by fabricating and withholding evidence. Investigators have denied those claims, and his conviction has remained in effect over the decades. Since Peltier was transferred, his daughter has not been able to speak to him because he is being housed in solitary confinement. She plans to move to Indiana within the year. “I don’t want him to feel like he’s going to be there alone,�?Shields said. “It’s just basically so my kids will know him and they can see him as much as possible.�?BR> Peltier who received back-to-back life sentences in his case next gets a parole hearing in 2008. Until then, his relatives hold out hope for a resolution to the controversial case. “I don’t want to bring my dad home in a pine box,�?Shields said. “I’ll go to my grave knowing that he was innocent.�?BR> © Copyright 2005 The Lawrence Journal-World
[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.]
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