Message From: bayou@blarg.net (arthur) Date: Thu,
Feb
18, 1999, 8:16am To: peltier-fast@iww.org Cc:
bayou@blarg.net Subject: Four days of phone calls for
Leonard Peltier
please post widely
From: NORTHWEST LEONARD PELTIER SUPPORT NETWORK
P.O. BOX 5464
TACOMA, WA 98415-0464 USA
e-mail; bayou@blarg.net
FOUR DAYS OF PHONE CALLS FOR LEONARD
PELTIER
FEBRUARY 19, 22, 23 AND 24
END THE TORTURE OF LEONARD
PELTIER
NOW!
The Bureau Of Prisons (BOP) stated last week
that
they would post a response to our campaign on their
web
site. So far they have not done that. They are trying
to
give us the runaround in the hope that our spirits
are weak
and that we will give up. Leonard has never given up
in 23
years and neither has those that actively support
him. The
BOP needs to understand that we will not give up
expressing
our concern over their refusal to allow medical
treatment
for Leonard at the Mayo Clinic.
Starting on Friday Feb. 19 and continuing on
Monday Feb.
22 through to Wednesday Feb. 24 we are calling on all
supporters to call the Bureau Of Prisons at:
202-307-3198
and inquire about why Leonard has not been sent to
the Mayo
Clinic for the treatment he needs. Please ask as many
questions a possible and if they say they do not have
an
answer ask them to get back to you with the answer.
We also ask that people continue to send daily
e-mail
messages to: Ms. Kathleen Hawk, Director, Bureau Of
Prisons
at: khawk@bop.gov and swolfson@bop.gov.
In
Solidarity
Arthur J. Miller
NWLPSN
AN URGENT APPEAL TO END THE TORTURE
OF
LEONARD PELTIER
American Indian Movement activist and political
prisoner Leonard Peltier has been framed by the U.S.
Government for a crime he did not commit. His
constitutional rights were denied. His appeals for a
new
and fair trial were denied. All of this happen
because the
U.S. Government sought to distract the people from
the
truth and to cover-up the U.S. Government's
continuing
policies against indigenous people and the
suppression of
those that resisted.
The government believed that by placing Leonard in
prison that they had neutralized his resistance and
spirit.
But they were wrong. Leonard continued to speak out
against
the injustice that had been done to him, to his
people and
he became a strong voice for social justice.
To try to silence Leonard, the prison authorities
have
continuously harassed him and even tried to
assassinate
him. Now they are refusing him medical treatment.
Leonard is currently suffering from complications
of a
previous maxilla-facial surgery at the Springfield
Medical
Prison facility. In that surgery Leonard almost died.
Not
only did that surgery not improve Leonard's
condition, it
made it far worst. Leonard is now in continuous,
excruciating pain. He cannot open his mouth enough to
bite
his food, nor can he even chew. Leonard, for very
good
reasons, does not want to go back to Springfield. The
renowned maxilla-facial surgeon Doctor Keller of the
Mayo
Clinic has written to the prison telling them that he
is
willing the treat Leonard. But so far, the federal
Bureau
Of Prisons (BOP) has refused to let Leonard be
treated. If
the government, for political reasons, causes and
allows a
prisoner to suffer great pain, there is no other word
for
that than torture.
We are calling upon all people who believe in
social
justice to help in the campaign to end the torture of
Leonard Peltier NOW! Please send e-mails to: Ms.
Kathleen
Hawk, Director, Bureau Of Prisons at:e-mail;
khawk@bop.gov
or swolfson@bop.gov, or write to her at: 320 First
St.NW,
Washington, DC 20534, or fax: 202-514-6878, or call:
202-307-3198 and ask that Leonard be allowed
treatment by
Dr. Keller at the Mayo Clinic.
Whereas; everyday that Leonard is refused medical
treatment is another day in which Leonard must
suffer.
Therefore; We, the undersigned, appeal for your
support.
We know that the forces against Leonard are strong,
but we
believe in the power of the people when they stand
unitied
in a bond of solidarity. Please stand with us and
support
the end of the torture of Leonard Peltier by sending
messages to Ms. Kathleen Hawk, Director of the Bureau
Of
Prisons and by supporting this campaign by getting
this
message out widely.
IN THE SPIRIT OF CRAZY
HORSE
Arthur J. Miller, Tacoma, WA Coordinator Northwest
Leonard
Peltier Support Network, IWW.
Elizabeth Vocat, Riehen, Switzerland Cea-CISA. Steve
Orel,
Birmingham, Alabama, Birmingham Human Rights Project
Bruce
Allen, St.Catharines, Ont., Canada, St Catharines
District
7
Labor Council.
Ron --Saquuiyona-- Dunning, Tupper Lake, New York
Shelli
Allen "Medicine Hawk", Des Moines, Iowa Denise A.
Maney,
Madison, WI
Mary Avery, Seattle, WA, Green Party
Paolo Chiocchetti, Trento, Italy
Dale Pfeiffer, Elizabeth Anne Payne, Clarkston,
Michigan,
IWW Jesse Alt, Ithaca, New York, Ithaca Anti-Racist
Action
Pilar de La Serna, Iosu Fernandez, Yadaba (Javier Del
Cerro), Jose Javier Bermudez, Pamplona-Irunea, Basque
Country, Seven Sioux Kolektibo, Leonard Peltier
Support
Group-Basque. John Hammer, Dorothy Foote, Mt. Airy,
North
Carolina Dan Lockhart, Big Rapids, Michigan
Trudi Blue, Midlothian, Virginia
Theresa Laino, Brooklyn, New York, Brooklyn Leonard
Peltier
Support Group
F.D. Divittorio, Newton, Massachusetts, Soaring Eagle
Flutes Cathie Dever, Rochester, Michigan
Tina Eveans, Deer Park, Texas
Alexis Buss, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
International
Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Darlene Holland Hayter, Crystal River, Florida,
Recording
Secretary Native American Indian Center of
Citrus/Levy
Counties. Lois Brooks, Novi, Michigan
White Feather Siouxsun, Napa, California William
Boemmels,
Stratford, Connecticut Rebecca Overmyer-Velazquez,
San
Barbara, California Xanti Garij, Pamplona-Irunes,
Basque
Country, Salhaketa Prisoners Support Group
Philip J. Church, Tempe, Arizona
Richard van Schelven, Delgany, Ireland
Shari White, Dublin, Ireland
Mark Overmyer-Velazquez, New Haven, Connecticut, GESO
Yale
University.
Barry Wilkinson, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Karl
Ericson,
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Chis Pelton, Knoxville, Tennessee, IWW.
Scott One Bear Wheeler, Laurie Good Hands Wheeler,
Florence, Alabama, O.N.E.
Elsie Herten, Brussels, Belgium, KOLA International
Campain
Office. Lisa Visconti, Cape Canaveral, FLorida
Corrie L. Craig, Renton, WA
Paul Poulos, Fly Creek, New York, IWW
Andrea Brown, Baltimore, Maryland
Mary Pendleton, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, Women
of
the Waterfront
Pam Nishikawa. Santa Barbara, California, Mirage
Design
Gorka Ramos Hervella, Barcelona, Catalunya (Spanish
State),
Clandestin@ (prison support & against prisons
anarchist
group) Susan Hubbard, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Franes Danforth, Tenants Harbor, Maine
Rachel Carey-Harper & Edward Harper, Dennis, MA,
Society of
Friends
INTERNATIONAL LEONARD PELTIER SOLIDARITY FAST/HUNGER
STRIKE
On February 6th, the INTERNATIONAL LEONARD
PELTIER
SOLIDARITY FAST/HUNGER STRIKE
began. The purpose of this fast is to end the torture
of
Leonard Peltier NOW! Some people will be fasting in
teams
and others will be fasting for longer times. We plan
to
continue this fast until the torture of Leonard ends.
On
each day of the fast, different fasting people will
be
issuing statements calling for the end of the
torture.
Starting on the first day of the fast, we are asking
that
supporters daily send e-mail messages to: Ms.
Kathleen
Hawk, Director, BOP at: khawk@bop.gov or
swolfson@bop.gov
asking that Leonard be sent to the Mayo Clinic and
thus end
his torture. It make also be a good idea to send
copies of
messages to elected or government officials in your
area.
At this time there are over 73 faster across the
U.S.,
Canada, France, Basque Country, Russia, Spain and
South
Africa
Those who wish to be a part of this by either
fasting or
getting the statements of the fasters, please contact
the
NWLPSN at: bayou@blarg.net.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information on Leonard's case and what
you can
do to help please contact: The Leonard Peltier
Defense
Committee, P.O. Box 583, Lawrence, KS 66044 USA.
Phone
number (785) 842-5774. fax (785) 842-5796, e-mail
lpdc@idir.net (ask to be put on the LPDC e-mail list)
Web
page:
http://members.xoom.com/freepeltier/index.html.
We wish to thank everyone who has helped in this
long
struggle and those who helped by reposting this
message.
In Solidarity
Arthur J. Miller
NWLPSN-Tacoma Office
Message From: bayou@blarg.net (arthur) Date: Thu,
Feb
18, 1999, 7:36am To: peltier-fast@iww.org Cc:
bayou@blarg.net Subject: Leonard Peltier Solidarity
Fast/Hunger Strike Statement
PLEASE POST WIDELY
From; NORTHWEST LEONARD PELTIER SUPPORT NETWORK
P.O. BOX 5464
TACOMA, WA 98415-0464 USA
bayou@blarg.net
FEBRUARY 18th, 13th day of
fast/hunger strike END THE TORTURE OF
LEONARD
PELTIER NOW!
THE LEONARD PELTIER SOLIDARITY FAST/HUNGER
STRIKE
STATEMENT
Whereas, the medical condition of American
Indian
Movement activist and political prisoner Leonard
Peltier is
severe and could become potentially life threating,
the
repeated denials by the federal prison system, for
two and
a half years, of the necessary medical treatment
offered by
the Mayo Clinic is nothing other than politically
motivated
torture. Leonard Peltier has been, and is, living
daily in
excrutiating pain. The U.S. Government should be held
accountable for this act of torture. Should Leonard
Peltier's condition become critical, the denial of
medical
treatment offered for free by the Mayo Clinic should
be
viewed as an act of attempted murder.
Therefore, THE LEONARD PELTIER SOLIDARITY
FAST/HUNGER
STRIKE will begin on February 6th, and has the
purpose of
calling attention to and helping to mobilize support
to end
the torture of Leonard Peltier. This campaign will
continue
until Leonard is undergoing treatment in the Mayo
Clinic.
Upon February 6th, we are asking those who can to
join
us on this hunger strike. Each day of the fast two
different fasters will issue a statement, one in the
morning and one in the evening, in their own words
calling
for the end of the torture. We are also asking people
who
support this campaign to help widely distribute these
statements.
Furthermore, we are asking that supporters on each
day
of the hunger strike e-mail messages to: Ms. Kathleen
Hawk,
Director, Bureau Of Prisons at: khawk@bop.gov,and
swolfson@bop.gov, asking that Leonard be allowed
medical
treatment at the Mayo Clinic. We are also asking
supporters
to take whatever positive local actions will advance
this
campaign.
In The Spirit Of
Crazy
Horse
Fasters/Hunger Strikers
Dale Pfeiffer, Clarkston, Michigan, IWW Delegate,
novelist
Arthur J. Miller, Tacoma, Washington, coordinator of
the
Northwest Leonard Peliter Support Network, IWW
Delegate,
publisher of Bayou La
Rose, marine pipefitter.
William Boemmels, Stratford, Connecticut, Malecite,
Engineer Gina Chiala, Lawrence, Kansas, International
Office of the Leonard
Peltier Defense Committee.
Keith McHenry, Lawrence, Kansas, International Office
of
the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee.
Ron (Saquiiyona) Dunning, Tupper Lake, New York,
Shawnee,
Adult Basic Education Teacher NYS Dept. Of
Corrections,
jewelry maker, traditional story teller, ornamental
gardener/contractor.
Lois Brooks
Barbara Fortier, Atlanta, Georgia, Leonard Peltier
Support
Group- Atlanta, ballet dancer, teacher and dance
school
director.
Waabnong Kwe, Toronto, Ontario, Tsalagi and Ojibway
Nations, AIDS Educator.
Becky Delaney, Rushville, OH
Darlene Holland-Hayter, Crystal River, Florida,
Choctaw/Cherokee, Recording Secretary Native American
Indian Center of Citrus/Levy counties of Florida.
Pilar de La Serna, Basque Country, Spain, Se Ven
Sioux
Kolektibo, Leonard Peltier Support Group-Basque
Country.
John Rosania, Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade.
Rachel
Ann Carey-Harper, Dennis (Cape Cod), Massachusetts,
Yarmouth Friends Meeting, Sisters of the Light,
volunteer
with Homes For Seven Generations, Clothesline
Project.
Debbie Hagopian
Quwahia Whisperingfire, Saint Petersburg, Florida,
Navajo
Artisan, poet.
Reid Freeman Jenkins, Atlanta, Georgia, Coordinator
Leonard
Peltier Support Group-Atlanta, printer.
Kyle Browning, Lawrence, Kansas, President Amnesty
International local chapter/group #172.
Jeff Parente, State College, Pennsylvania, Student
Brooke
Sluder, Hartfort City, Indiana, Mohawk & Osage,
Autoworker,
Photographer, writer.
Cliff Alles-Curie, Leonard Peltier Support Group-West
Michigan Cathie Dever, Rochester, Michigan
Dmitri Ryabinia, Krasnodar, Russia, Federation
Anarchists
Koban, Pressman
Ioso Fernandez Albeniz, Pamplona, Basque Country
Spain, Se
Ven Sioux Kolektibo, Leonard Peltier Support
Group-Basque,
cereals merchant.
Bernard Blanc, Lorques, France, writer, translator.
Teresa
Carr, Student, Spartanburg Tech.
Trudi Blue, Midlothian, Virginia
Laurie Nape wastewin Wheeler, Florence, Alabama,
Lakota,
American Indian Movement.
Scott sa wu-yo- nv Wheeler, Florence, Alabama,
American
Indian Movement.
Dru Schisn, Denver, Colorado, Graduate Social Work
Student.
Sarah Adesiji, Coon Rapids, Minnesota, Customer
Support
Rep. at Minnegasco.
White Feather Siouxsun, Napa, California, Sioux,
Holistic
Nurse. John Moss "Crow Wolf", Millbrook, Alabama,
Oglala,
Susquehennock Church of Native Spirituality.
Theresa Laino, Brooklyn-New York Leonard Peltier
Support
Group Joann Magers, New Jersey Leonard Peltier
Support
Group Denise Maney, Madison, WI
Elizabeth Anne Payne, Clarkston, Michigan, IWW,
co0founder
of the Evansville Domestic Violence Task Force. Jim
Lawler,
Atlanta, Georgia, cartoonist, sculptor, house-painter Bob Manross, Atlanta, Georgia, Maintenance man Fulton Arrington, Tate, Georgia, Cherokee, Mechanic Rob
Ervin,
Atlanta, Georgia, Cherokee, Roofer, Student Jose
Javier
Bermudez, Pamplona, Basque Country, Se Ven Sioux
Kolektibo,
Leonard Peltier Support Group-Basque Country. Fermin
Martin, Pamplona, Basque Country, Se Ven Sioux
Kolektibo,
Leonard Peltier Support Group-Basque Country Mike
Branum,
Detroit, Michigan, Leonard Peltier Support
Group-Detroit.
Christopher Domhnall Mag Uidhir, Providence, Rhode
Island,
Irish
Republican Socialist Committee of North America,
Graduate
Student Jesse Alt, Ithaca, New York, Student
Keyga Ohda Sweetcorn, Sisseton Wahpeton
Gorka Ramos Hervella, Barcelona, (Catalunya) Spain,
Clandestin@ (prisoner support & against prisons a
Message From: lpdc@idir.net (LPDC) Date: Tue, Apr 20, 1999, 9:47am (PDT+2) To: White_Feather@webtv.net Subject: URGENT! Day 2 of letter Campaign - Please add your name to this letter
PLEASE POST WIDELY
The April 19-22 Peltier write-in campaign started today.We will continue adding to this sign-on letter all through the week. Please cut and paste this letter, along with your own comments into emails, faxes and snail posts to the following addresses. Or, if you really want to bother the Bureau of Prisons, call them and read the entire letter to them with all the signatures. We will update the letter every day of the campaign.
If you are interested, please sign onto this letter and take it to your friends as well. Send your signatures to this address: email: peltiercampaign@hotmail.com (this address is operating simply as a mail dump to keep other addresses from being cluttered).
BOP CONTACT INFORMATION:
Ms. Kathleen Hawk, Director, Bureau Of Prisons at: e-mail: khawk@bop.gov or swolfson@bop.gov, or write to her at:
320 First St.NW,
Washington, DC 20534,
Phone: (202) 307-3198
Fax: (202) 514-6878.
OTHER OFFICIALS TO CONTACT:
Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Eric Holder, 950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C., 20530,
Phone: (202) 514-2000,
Fax: (202) 514-0467
Warden Booker, Leavenworth Federal Prison, Box 1000
Leavenworth, KS 66048
Senate Judiciary Committee,
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC 20510-6275
Phone: (202) 224-5225
Fax: (202) 224-9102
House Of Representatives Judiciary Committee 2138 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3951
Fax: (202) 225-7682
President Bill Clinton
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington DC 20500
202-456-1111
Email: president@whitehouse.gov
Write the Congressperson from your district HOUSE WEB PAGE for addresses and contact numbers http://www.house.gov/
The Honorable (full name )
United States House of Representatives
Washington DC 20515
Write the Senators from your state
SENATE WEB PAGE for addresses and contact numbers http://www.senate.gov/
The Honorable (full name )
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>
The United States is currently engrossed in a supposedly humanitarian war overseas, intervening to put an end to ethnic cleansing in Serbia, and yet the Unites States continues to wage war against American Indians and other minorities within its own boundaries. A case in point is the treatment of Leonard Peltier, who has been unjustly imprisoned for twenty-three years now. President Clinton recently stated that we take care of our own. A first step in living up to these words would entail sending Leonard to the Mayo Clinic for medical treatment.
We call upon the Bureau of Prisons to fulfill their commitment and send Leonard to the Mayo Clinic for treatment by Dr. Keller. We are well aware of Leonard's medical condition, and we know that your own doctors at the Springfield Prison Medical Facility have told you that they cannot treat Leonard. You no longer have any excuse not to send Leonard to the Mayo Clinic. For two years now, he has suffered after a botched maxilla-facial operation at Springfield--an operation in which he
almost died and after which he lay in a coma for eighteen hours. For two
years he has existed in constant, excruciating pain. For two years he has been unable to eat except by forcing the food through a narrow gap between his teeth and crushing it with his tongue. It is time to end his torture.
The United States Constitution guarantees every prisoner the right to medical treatment. We call on you to honor this Constitution or stand in defiance of the republic. Leonard has been offered free treatment at the Mayo Clinic and your own doctors have admitted that they can do nothing for him. Send Leonard Peltier to the Mayo Clinic now.
Name Address
1. Dale Allen Pfeiffer - Michigan
2. Elizabeth Anne Pfeiffer - Mchigan
3. Ishgooda Tewehshon'on - Michigan
4. Nancy Thomas - Michigan
5. Robert Connors - Michigan
6. Tina Evans - Texas
7. MaryAnn Dark - Texas
8. Jan Conley - Wisconsin
9. Cathie Dever - Michigan
10. Debbie Cope - Colorado
11. Barbara Fortier - Georgia
12. Trudi.... BlueT5 - Virginia
13. Valarie Scott - United Arab Emirates
14. Richard van Schelven - Ireland
15. Shelley van Schelven - Ireland
16. Lois Brooks - Michigan
17. Leslie St.Pierre - Florida
18. Bob Monroe - New York
19. Sharon Moles Kirk - Florida
20. Phyllis von Miller - Wyoming
21. Sally Clark - California
22. Billy Clark - STT - USVI
23. Kristi Day - Illinois
24. Jennifer Roberts - Oregon
25. Lona Hinckley - Washington
26. Maraha MacDonald - California
27. Lisa Greene - Florida
28. Julie Heyer- Washington
29. Lois Robinson - Washington
30. Scott MacDonald - California
31. SHARI WHITE - Dublin, Ireland
32. Andrew Johnston - Dublin, Ireland
33. Dan Lockhart - Massachusetts
34. Edward Harper - Massachusetts
35. Keith McHenry - Kansas
36. Elizabeth Creely - San Francisco CA
37. Dave Lacey - Fairbanks, AK
38. Candy Rotering - Arizona
39. Pio Celestino - Texas
40. Jackson Nighthorse - Oklahoma
41. K. Marshall - Delaware
42. Azôn Dockum - Vermont, Missisquoi
43. Jody Peiffer Willett - Alabama
44. Amanda Peiffer - Alabama
45. Autumn Peiffer - Alabama
46. Carol Gaines - Kentucky
47. John Stevens - California
48. David Born - Minnesota
49. Lee A. Booth - Michigan
50. Philip A. Booth - Michigan
51. Arthur Medicine Eagle - Ohio/Indiana border
52. Brian Klopotek - Minnesota
53. Shadiin Garcia - Minnesota
54. Bcomanche - Texas
55. Dineke Grundel - Netherlands
56. Agnes Wittmann - Belgium
57. Christophe De Nockere - Belgium
58. Pauline Brooks - Great Britain
59. Peter Brooks - Great Britain
60. Ron Reardon - Great Britain
61. Elsie Herten - Belgium
62. Ann Herten - Belgium
63. Aanta Forsgren - Sweden
64. Torbjorn Doj - Sweden
65. Bengt Arne Johansson - Sweden
66. Richard Doj - Sweden
67. Russ Bomhof - Michigan
68. Albert Eissing - the Netherlands
69. Dineke Elzinga - the Netherlands
70. Tineke Buwalda - the Netherlands
71. Ineke Dijkema - the Netherlands
72. Bill Skelly - Minnesota
73. Waste Winyan Cikala - Germany
74. Agneta Behrens - Germany
75. Petra Jentzsch - Germany
76. Christina Behrens - Germany
77. Eileen Van Tassell - Michigan
78. Elizabeth Pamp - Michigan
79. Judy Pamp - Michigan
80. Miengun Pamp - Michigan
81. Jacqui Koomar - England
82. Pattie Mills - NYC USA
83. Jim Mills Jr - NYC USA
84. Andrew Smith - Illinois
85. J.D. DeWitt - Florida
86. LaVaughn Collins - Ohio
87. Shala Campbell - Ohio
88. Kimberly Sheppard - West Virginia
89. Virgil McIntire - Ohio
90. Ben Park Terrell - North Carolina
91. Bernd Damisch - Germany
92. Ed EagleMan McGaa-Oglala
93. Lyn Moodie - Great Britain
94. Sharon Murrey - Scotland
95. Connie Hayward - England
96. Jacqui Koomar - England
97. White Feather Siouxsun - Napa, California
98. Jan Baumgartner - St. Louis, MO
99. Rosemarie Benson - Massachusetts
100. Edwin Wayne Richardson - Arizona
101. Saskia Timm - Germany
102. Laura Haskell Mississippi
103. Craig Presson - Alabama
104. anne marshall - Mississauga,Ontario,Canada
105. Lori Grba - Michigan
106. Norman F. Commo - Texas
107. Doug Gravestock - Ontario, Canada
108. Bill Stout - Ontario, Canada
109. Karen Anderson - Ontario, Canada
110. Dana Bellagamba - Ontario, Canada
111. Francine Hornbeck - Buffalo, NY
112. Bernard J. Rock, Sr. - Minnesota
113. Feather S. EagleRock - Minnesota
114. Nancy Lee Torrey-Hesse - Massachusetts
115. John A. Hesse - Massachusetts
116. Theresa Louise Hesse - Massachusetts
117. John Q. Hesse - Massachusetts
118. Shanna Gonzales-Hesse, Massachusetts
119. Isaiah J. Hesse - Massachusetts
120. Michael R. Hesse - Massachusetts
121. Katherine G. Wilson - Massachusetts
122. Lori M. Marhefka - Massachusetts
123. Aaron N. Marhefka - Massachusetts
124. Melanie Rose Marhefka - Massachusetts
125. Donald Jack MacDonald
126. Diane Addington
127. Judy Boucher - Massachusetts
128. Kathy Kenyon - California
129. Jim Mills, Sr. NYC, USA
130. Rita Griffie Whitworth - Alabama
131. Carol Slechta- North Carolina
132. Lance Wolf-South Dakota
133. Ken Bates
134. Corinne Hackett - Maryland
135. Maria Bradley-California
136. Judy Klinger - Riesel, Tx
137. PJ Carter - New York
138. Pamela Ellis - Georgia
139. Lis Prüssen - Luxembourg
140. Bonnie(Crickette)Carpenter - Florida
141. Sjaniek Schaap - Netherlands
142. Rogier Geertsema - Netherlands
143. Frits F. Terpstra - Netherlands
144. Evert Winkel - Netherlands
145. mel medhus
146. lucrecia medhus
147. Skye Kamide - Chicago
148. Pat Poland - Texas
149. Miikka Pyykkönen, Finland
150. Freedom Heart Rising - Illinois
151. Craig Presson - Alabama
152. Linda Snow - Alabama
153. V Norris--Florida
154. Lynne Delamere - United Kingdom
155. Richard Pearce - Alabama
156. Becky Cockrum - Texas
157. Awi uneg usdi Shelar - Georgia
158. Steve Silcox - New Mexico
159. Lynn Fields-Arkansas
160. Carol Gaines - Kentucky
161. Mike Mitchell - Michigan
162. Dan Smith - Michigan
163. Lauri Benedict - Michigan
164. Eric Nelson - Michigan
165. Judy Black - Ohio
166. Fernando M. Gonįalves - Adelaide, South Australia
167. Felicity Hill - Australia
168. Irene Gale - Australia
169. Ron Gray - Australia
170. Solange Fernex - France
171. Lena Bartenstein - New Hampshire
172. Melanie Taylor - Alabama
173. Pam Barbour-Tx
174. Pat Barbour-TX
175. Kim Carnes-Tn
176. Beth Booker-AR
177. Lauri Tignor - Oh
178. Jeff Boltz - Oh
179. Sam Foreman - Oh
180. Larry Matthews - Ga
181. Scott Adams - Mi
182. adrian bartha - Ontario, Canada
183. Pamela Ellis - Georgia
184. JC Greene - Georgia
185. Ann Greene - Georgia
186. Daniel Metivier - Garden Grove, California
187. Jacqueline Brown - Gainesville, Florida
188. Hermon Brown - Gainesville, Florida
189. Mazie E. McNeal
190. Erin Maher - New York
191. Chrys Ingraham - New York
192. Marilyn Clement - U.S.
193. sandra murano - West Virginia USA
194. Michele Riekert - France
195. Gottfried Riekert - France
196. Vanessa Schaepman - France
197. Christophe Roche - France
198. Marion Pack - California
199. Mimi Quesada - California
200. john shadoweagle dowdy
201. Jackie Strubel - Oregon
202. Bruna Nota - Canada
203. Carol Jahnkow - U.S.A.
204. Jay Price - U.S.A
205. Kim Carpender - U.S.A.
206. Cathe Beck - Illinois
207. June Brashares- San Diego,CA
208. David Larom, Ph.D. - San Diego, CA
209. Perry Ann Eyler - California
210. Deb Kilgore (Ravenhawk) Sylvan Springs, Alabama
211. Micheal Anderson- Cherokee Tn
212. Chuck Reutter, Sun City, California
213. Nanette Pratini, California
214. Danny Walters-Indiana
215. Pia Altieri, Chicago, IL.
216. Elsie Dean - British Columbia
217. Dale Allan Jackson - Kodiak, Alaska
218. T .Cody Weeks - Missouri
219. Donna EagleEye - Tennessee
220. Tammy Fisher -Kansas
221. Marilyn Jacobi - Indiana
222. Thomas Jacobi - Indiana
223. Sandra Mitchell - Michigan
224. Robert Glattau - Austria
225. Joel D. Davis - Georgia
226. Patricia Roberson - Texas
227. Darren Roberson - Texas
228. Darius Cox - Texas
229. Chania Cox - Texas
230. Cheyenne Packard - Texas
231. Rodne Packard - Texas
232. Pamela Gooden - Texas
233. Damon Gooden - Texas
234. Jamilla Johnson - Texas
235. Simone Johnson - Texas
236. Maureen Schenck - California
237. June Brashares- San Diego, CA
238. Ken Dow - San Diego, CA
239. Linda Rabinowitz - Maryland
240. Paul Fraser - New York
241. Michael G. McGrath - Tennessee
242. Sean M. Conners - Santa Barbara, CA
243. Tim Meeks - Murfreesboro, Tennessee
244. Julie Cordero, California
245. Georgie A. WalksWith Horses - Ridgely, MD
246. Jeanine Newhouse - Queens, NY
247. Tom Bates - Attalla Alabama
248. Terry Bullock - Texas
249. Tiffany Bullock - Texas
250. Jeni Rodriguez - Pennsylvania
251. Malinda Fryberger - Pennsylvania
252. K.N. Colee - Alabama
253. Vikki Wilkins - Alabama
254. Karan A. Wilkins - Alabama
255. William R. Colee - Alabama
256. Jailyn B. Godwin - Alabama
257. Velma N. Weaver - Alabama
258. Cindy Hadley- California
259. Donald Blackfox- MA
260. Judith Nieter - New Jersey
261. Patricia Whitley - NC
262. Raymond Blackeagle - Charlotte, North Carolina
263. Bronwyn Clark - Canada
264. Jennifer Olaranna Viereck - Tecopa CA
265. Billy White - Tecopa, CA
266. Corbin Harney - Tecopa, CA
267. Larry Levy - Tecopa, CA
268. Ross Young
269. Devery Fairbanks - Ames, IA
270. Joe BigBear, White Earth - Ojibwa
271. Davina E. A. Ridley - Canada
272. Bonni Perry - Germany
273. ThunderHawk Barbour
274. Margaret Fields
275. Mel Charlton - West Virginia
276. Valerie Stone - West Virgina
277. Tony White - West Virginia
278. S.I.Brightstar Thompson-Virginia
279. Daniel August-Virginia
280. Michael Calautti-Virginia
281. Steven Epstein - Lebanon, Pennsylvania
282. Kathleen Taylor - Arnold, PA
283. David Quintin Brown - Tennessee
284. Cathy Lynn Brown - Tennessee
285. James J Kelly - Georgia
286. Olivia Kelly - Colorado
287. James I Kelly - Georgia
288. Jerry M. Kelly - Georgia
289. Anna Judd-King - Limerick Ireland
290. Adrian Walsh - Limerick Ireland
291. Marylia Kelley - Livermore, CA, USA
292. Sally Light Albany, California, USA
293. Beki Light - Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
294. Suzanne Whitaker-Texas
295. China Brotherson-USA
296. John GrosVenor --Washington State
297. Gerri GrosVenor---Washington State
298. Richard Pyle - Alabama
299. Cheryl Strak - Mississippi
300. Ben Balser - Louisiana
301. Pamela Jean Owens - U.S.A.
302. F. Witherspoon - U.S.A.
303. Teresa Kitchens - Pa
304. Jax Overturf - PA
305. Richard A. Hudkins - Arkon, OH
306. Jackie Wood - Willow Springs MO
307. Karen Webb- Pennsylvania
308. G.D.Power-Washington
309. Cindy Power- Wa
310. Judi Barrett - Maryland
311. Meghan Hospes - Louisiana
312. Belinda Finn - Alabama
313. Paul Lueders - Wisconsin
314. Cheyenne Barnett - London Ontario, Canada
315. Debra Moose- North Carolina
316. Jeanne Calling Crow Chadwick - Hiram, Maine
317. John Baumann - California, USA
318. Anna Huett--Indiana
319. Bob Mills - NYC, USA
320. Carol Mills - NYC, USA
321. J.Twofeather Mills - NYC, USA
322. Jane Welford - Berkeley, CA
323. Joy Vincent-Killian - USA
324. Barry Price - USA
325. Sarah Johnston - USA
326. Keith Locke - Auckland, New Zealand
327. John Hallam - Friends of the Earth Sydney Australia
328. LaCata Starr-Texas
329. Geoff Miles
330. Keef Miles
331. Di Miles
332. Wm. Standing Bear-Lehr
333. James L. Wilson - WA
334. Lauri Nelson - Ga
335. Shelly Black - Mi
336. Jeff Moore - Oh
337. Eric Scott - Mi
338. Rick Jeffreys - In
339. Larry White - Mo
340. Linda Williams - Ill
341. Jeff Pierce - Oh
342. Scott Newman - Mi
343. Angela Friesner - Tennessee
344. Lisa Valanti-Pittsburgh, Pa.
345. Paul Davidson - London, England
346. Therese King - Oh
347. Don Smith - Ky
348. cherylturner-GA/NC
349. Thomas Steakley - Alabama
350. John Grim - Lewisburg, PA, USA
351. Jean-Yvon Landrac - Germany
352. Alain Bellec - France
353. cynthia burkhardt boulder,co
354. Maurice Laffin, Somerville, MA
355. Kathy Unger, Somerville, MA
356. Renate Domnick, Hamburg, Germany
357. Connie m. Ammons - Core, WV
358. Mickey Stefanic - Florida
359. Carol Jahnkow - U.S.A.
360. Larry Laframboise - U.S.A.
361. Renee Lottridge - Canada
362. Kathy A. Miller
363. Zoltan Grossman
364. Midwest Treaty Network, Madison, Wisconsin
365. Keith Rabin - Colorado
366. Linda Gale - Australia
367. Ellen M. Starbird - Oakland, CA
368. kathy moore - north carolina
369. Jacki-Marie Irons
370. Larry Hall
371. Gimone Hall
372. Marianne Laino, Glenside, PA
373. carol heindl - Nevada, USA
374. Martha Lewis-Alabama
375. thomas trott lejeune - texas
376. Valerie Sheehan - Minnesota
377. Mona M. Smith- Minnesota
378. Kim James - California
379. Bonnie Ward - St. Paul, MN
380. Catherine Sloan - Alabama
381. Pamela Jean Owens - U.S.A.
382. Vanesscia Bates - U.S.A (Arizona)
383. Angela Weathers - Columbus,Ohio
384. Denise Whited - Alabama
385. Samantha Ellis - U.S.A.
386. Annette Lewis-Texas
387. Patricia Roberson - Texas
388. Darren Roberson - Texas
389. Darius Cox - Texas
390. Leona Halley Henderson - USA
391. Brent Gill-Indiana
392. Marjorie Millman - Indiana
393. Kenneth J. Chester- Michigan
394. Judy Jackson - Delaware
395. Clarence E Standsblack - Oklahoma
396. Lorrie Plummer - Delaware
397. George McCauley - Minneosta
398. Garnet McMillan - New Mexico
399. Andrea Plaza - New Mexico
400. Tim McGivern - New Mexico
401. Clay Campbell - New Mexico
402. Mary Erwin - New Mexico
403. Jarred Bloch - New Mexico
404. Sibby Burpee - New Mexico
405. Marc Oullette - New Mexico
406. Elaine McGivern - Pennsylvania
407. Patrick Mcgivern - Pennsylvania
408. James McGivern - Pennsylvania
409. Mike Sapunor - California
410. Anton McCabe - Omagh, Northern Ireland
411. Molly Morgan - USA
412. Suzanne Marshall - Jacksonville, AL
413. Michael Marvinny - Jacksonville, AL
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Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
785-842-5774
Message From: lpdc@idir.net (LPDC) Date: Fri, Apr 30, 1999, 10:23am (PDT+2) To: White_Feather@webtv.net Subject: Kansas City Star interviews Leonard Peltier at Leavenworth
Mitterrand is visiting Leonard as this is being posted. The Kansas City Star interviews Leonard. Here is the story.
Human rights activist to meet with ailing inmate Peltier By MARK WIEBE - The Kansas City Star
Date: 04/29/99 22:15
American Indian activist Leonard Peltier sat Thursday in the paneled visiting room of the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth and pondered what might come from his visit today with the widow of a late president of France.
Danielle Mitterrand, human rights activist and widow of Francois Mitterrand, is president of the human rights organization France Libertes, in Paris. She is coming to investigate Peltier's allegations that the prison has not adequately treated health problems that have stemmed from a tetanus infection. A press conference in Leavenworth is scheduled to follow her visit.
"We'll have to see what happens," said Peltier, 54. As he spoke, the hum from the room's fluorescent lights competed with his soft voice. Rarely did he open his mouth, concealed by a gray mustache, more than a centimeter. Lockjaw, he said, has kept it shut. "I'm hoping...(her visit) will bring some attention to my case and my health and perhaps get some proper treatment for my medical condition," he said. In 1977, Peltier, who has a Chippewa, Lakota and French bloodline, was convicted in the 1975 slayings of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Although Peltier admits to firing shots that day, he and his supporters, who number in the thousands and include notables such as actor Robert Redford, have long said he did not shoot FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams. "I still maintain my innocence," he said Thursday. "I didn't do it." At a 1992 appeal, government prosecutors answered charges that Peltier's case was mishandled by claiming that, although no one saw Peltier shoot the agents, there was strong evidence connecting Peltier to the murder weapon. For most of a 45-minute interview on Thursday, Peltier, who contracted tetanus when he stepped on a rusty nail as a child, discussed his health. Three years ago, Peltier began to have trouble opening his mouth, so he asked prison officials to send him to the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield. But, Peltier said, two surgeries he had in April and May that year made the condition worse.
He began to suffer headaches, earaches and watery eyes, symptoms that Peltier said continue. The only foods he says he can swallow are soft and starchy, something he thinks has caused him to gain weight. "Sure been eating a lot of pastries," he said, chuckling. In October 1996, a doctor at the Springfield medical center told Peltier he thought he could fix his problems. Peltier refused, he said, because he didn't think anything could be done at Springfield. Every six months since, Peltier said, he has asked officials at the prison if he could seek treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where the U.S. Bureau of Prisons has another medical facility. Officials have told him no.
Prison spokesman Bob Bennett said Peltier has not submitted an official written request for treatment from Mayo physicians. A written statement from the Bureau of Prisons says that a "thorough review of inmate Peltier's medical record reveals he is being provided appropriate medical attention addressing both his medical complaints and his medical condition."
The statement says that after a recent teleconference between Peltier and medical officials at Springfield and Leavenworth, Peltier's condition was determined to be "stable," and did not require "prolonged, intensive treatment."
Besides Mitterrand's support, the European Parliament passed a resolution Feb. 11 calling for Peltier to be transferred to a hospital for "appropriate medical treatment." The Parliament restated its plea for the United States to grant Peltier clemency.
The national office of the Bureau of Prisons has received thousands of e-mail messages, faxes, letters and phone calls. Some of the messages claimed to be from people waging hunger strikes to recognize the fact that Peltier has had trouble eating.
Scott Wolfson, bureau spokesman, said the messages began late last year and continued through March: "He's by far the one inmate who attracts the most attention."
To reach Mark Wiebe, Leavenworth County reporter, call (913) 371-1810 or send e-mail to mwiebe@kcstar.com
All content Đ 1999 The Kansas City Star
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
785-842-5774
Message From: lpdc@idir.net (LPDC) Date: Mon, May 3, 1999, 11:00am (PDT+2) To: White_Feather@webtv.net Subject: Widow of French leader urges release of Peltier Kansas City Star April 30, 1999
Widow of French leader urges release of Peltier By MARK WIEBE The Kansas City Star
Date: 04/30/99 22:15
With the dome-capped U.S. Penitentiary as a backdrop, the widow of former French President Francois Mitterrand said Friday in Leavenworth that the United States should release Leonard Peltier from the prison. Danielle Mitterrand, president of the human rights organization France Libertes, spoke at a 30-minute news conference after visiting with Peltier. She was there in part to investigate Peltier's claims that the prison is not providing adequate medical treatment for his tetanus infection. But Mitterrand also said the American Indian activist deserved his freedom. She emphasized that she had not determined whether Peltier was guilty of killing two FBI agents on a South Dakota reservation in 1975. She said, through a translator, "It would seem his innocence has been proven. I myself (don't) have all the evidence. All the Americans I have met seem to have that evidence, and I have all the confidence in them." But not all Americans believe that way.
FBI agent Alan Jennerich of Parkville looks at the evidence presented in Peltier's 1977 trial and concludes that Peltier killed agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams in a shootout that also left an American Indian dead. Jennerich, speaking as the central region director of the FBI Agents Association, said: "It is unfortunate that this case has become a cause celebre for the misinformed anti-law enforcement elements who continue to agitate for his release.
"If these groups are so concerned about helping those that are wronged, I suggest that they (help)...the families of the dozens of law enforcement officers who are murdered every year by the likes of Leonard Peltier." Earlier this week Mitterrand visited Mumia Abu Jamal, a death-row inmate in Pennsylvania who says he was wrongly convicted of killing a police officer. She also met with officials from the U.S. Justice Department in Washington to discuss Peltier's case, a meeting she described Friday as unproductive. These visits, Mitterrand said, are part of the efforts of French Libertes, which she founded in 1986, to "establish peace and solidarity among all peoples."
Mittterand's organization campaigns against the death penalty. She has also urged better treatment of Kurds in Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. On a trip to northern Iraq in 1992, she escaped injury when a bomb exploded near her motorcade.
To Peltier, Mitterrand is a dignitary whose international profile surpasses that of movie stars and other notables who have visited him. In a prison interview Thursday, he said he was grateful for the opportunity to meet Mitterrand and expressed hope that her presence would yield better medical treatment from the prison.
Mitterrand said that getting Peltier proper medical care should be his supporters' most urgent concern. Peltier suffers lockjaw stemming from a tetanus infection he has had since childhood. Peltier said Thursday that he was able to open his mouth no more than a centimeter.
The condition grew worse after two surgeries in 1996 at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield. Earaches, headaches and watery eyes have plagued him every day since, he said. Mitterrand said she spoke with Leavenworth Warden J.W. Booker Jr., urging him to write a letter that would allow Peltier to seek treatment from a doctor at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons has a medical center there.
In a recent press release, the bureau said Peltier's care meets community standards, that his case has been reviewed and his condition is "stable." He does not require "prolonged, intensive treatment," the release said. Despite her focus on international human rights abuses, Mitterrand acknowledged that France has its own problems -- problems that France Libertes should not ignore: "You must sweep in front of your own door before you can sweep in front of someone else's."
To reach Mark Wiebe, Leavenworth County reporter, call (913) 371-1810 or send e-mail to mwiebe@kcstar.com
Staff writer Anne Lamoy contributed to this report
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
785-842-5774
Message From: lpdc@idir.net (LPDC) Date: Mon, May 3, 1999, 10:48am (PDT+2) To: White_Feather@webtv.net Subject: Speech addresses imprisonment of Leonard Peltier story in Kansan
Speech addresses imprisonment of Leonard Peltier By Dan Curry
Kansan staff writer
Iron bars in the Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary keep Leonard Peltier from his freedom, but they could not prevent the former first lady of France from meeting with him Friday morning.
"He spoke very little of himself," Danielle Mitterrand reported Friday afternoon to about 200 people at the Haskell Indian Nations University Auditorium. "He spoke of his family, of his community and of the life of Native Americans in the United States, and how little by little they have been obliged to give up their culture."
Speaking through a translator, Mitterrand pledged her support for Peltierīs freedom.
"I donīt think we have to sit and wait without doing anything," she said. "The French have become very mobilized around Leonard Peltierīs problem. We have people that are militants that have found out how to make the situation known. There are demonstrations. There are exhibits." Mitterrand visited Peltier at the request of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, which has its headquarters in Lawrence. Peltier is serving two consecutive life sentences for the deaths of two FBI agents in a 1975 shootout at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Four men were arrested and accused of murder. Only Peltier, who has maintained his innocence from day one, was convicted. Peltier and his supporters, who include former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, believe that he is a political prisoner. Mitterrand had spoken with U.S. Justice Department officials on Peltierīs behalf. The result had been discouraging.
"We left very frustrated," Mitterrand said. "They listened to us, but they did not give us answers."
Mitterrand said she would continue to fight on Peltierīs behalf, now that his face was imprinted in her mind.
"There is a resistance stronger than genocide. Stronger than violence. Stronger than misery," she said. "In his cause we see that today." Alex and Cyrus Peltier, grandchildren of Leonard Peltier, presented Mitterrand with a shawl. The New Dawn Dancers, danced the sneak-up dance. Cornel Pewewardy, assistant professor of teaching and leadership, played a song on the cane flute.
Although it was good to hear Mitterrand speak about Peltier, Raven Heavy Runner, president of First Nations Student Association, said it was ironic that it took foreign dignitaries to bring attention to Peltierīs plight. "People in other countries know more about whatīs going on here than we do," he said.
Mitterrandīs visit was sponsored by the LPDC, Haskell, FNSA, Food Not Bombs and several KU professors.
Edited by Steph Brewer
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
785-842-5774
Message From: lpdc@idir.net (LPDC) Date: Mon, May 3, 1999, 10:45am (PDT+2) To: White_Feather@webtv.net Subject: The Struggle against Conviction story in Kansan
The struggle against conviction
Supporters fight for Leonard Peltierīs freedom as the "political prisoner's" health continues to fail
By Pallavi Agarwal
Special to the Kansan
A large black-and-white photograph from Leonard Peltierīs younger days dominates one wall of the international office of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee in downtown Lawrence.
His eyes crinkle in a smile. Teeth flash under a bushy eyebrow, and shoulder-length hair frames a face that falls into a slight double chin. It is not the same face that an international human rights activist would find today if she visited the Leavenworth prison to examine the Native American, who is probably the best known American "political prisoner" in the world.
Peltier is serving two consecutive life sentences for the death of two FBI agents who were killed in 1975.
Twenty-three years spent behind bars has left Peltier fighting depression and bitterness. He has aged in the face and in his body. Now 54 years old, he has lockjaw due to tetanus. It prevents him from chewing food properly and is creating concern among his supporters for his life.
Gina Chiala, legal assistant at the Peltier Defense Committee, said Peltier could not open his mouth beyond 13 millimeters and was forced to eat his food by pushing the morsels through a gap in his front teeth and then mashing them against the teeth with his tongue. Peltier, who twice has undergone operation by prison doctors, has refused a third operation, saying that only specialists at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., have the expertise to treat him without endangering his life. His insistence at being treated at the Mayo Clinic and the refusal of the Bureau of Prisons to grant his request have sparked publicity campaigns by the Peltier Defense Committee. It also has prompted todayīs visit of activist Danielle Mitterand, former first lady of France and president of the France Libertes Foundation, a non-government organization. Mitterand will address the Lawrence public at 6:30 tonight at the Haskell Indian Nations University auditorium.
Peltier, in a telephone interview from Leavenworth, said he could only hope for his plight to improve.
"I need to keep trying. Although new evidence emerged, it has not helped me. It's been 25 years. In 1985, the government admitted that they didnīt know who killed the agents. And yet nothing has changed." His spirit to survive holds together a three-decade campaign to free him that has made his name synonymous with the struggle of indigenous people. Back in Lawrence, a few volunteers refuse to give up their efforts for his eventual freedom.
"He is always very cheerful," said Lisa Faruolo, who once worked with the Peltier Defense Committee.
The committee operates an international campaign from Lawrence, which Faruolo helped to coordinate until last year. The dark-haired San Francisco resident left her home in 1991 to help free Peltier and never returned.
Today, supporters like her, will hear Mitterand talk about Peltier, a man many consider to be the most famous Native American rebel since Crazy Horse and who, some add, is better known outside the country than in the land of his birth and imprisonment.
The man behind the bars
Peltier was indicted for the deaths of two FBI agents who were killed on June 26, 1975 at Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. At that time, he was associated with the American Indian Movement, which emerged in the 1960s as a radical, activist and sometimes armed group of Native Americans who fought for the sovereignty of their tribes. Pine Ridge had been the scene of shootouts and protests since 1973, and tensions ran high between the AIM and the Lakota Sioux, who ran Pine Ridge's tribal government. Some on the reservation accused the tribal superintendent of selling off the uranium-rich land land the AIM was trying to protect. On June 26, two FBI agents went looking for a man accused of stealing a pair of cowboy boots. The search lead to a car chase, a shootout and the agents never returned alive.
The government has maintained that the agents were killed in cold blood. In the crossfire, one Native American also lost his life. Four people, including Peltier, were charged in the deaths. Peltier, who had escaped to Canada, was later extradited and indicted. Charges were dropped against the third defendant. The other two faced the jury and were acquitted.
Peltier, who has maintained his innocence all along, was found guilty and sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
In 1985, a federal prosecutor admitted to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals that the FBI did not know who killed the agents. The appeals court upheld the sentence, however, calling Peltier an "aider and abettor." Jean Bordeaux-Roach, Rapid City, S.D., resident and Peltier Defense Committee spokesperson, said that Peltier was made a scapegoat in a fight between the United States government and the Native Americans that has spanned centuries.
She said that if the other defendants were acquitted on the basis of self-defense, then the same argument applied to Peltier. Hillary Robinette, communications director with the Society of Former FBI agents, said that Peltier was only being tried for a crime he committed. Peltier has thrice appealed unsuccessfully for a retrial. His 1993 plea for clemency still awaits a reply from President Clinton or his successor. In 1996, the U.S. Parole Commission rejected his appeal for parole, saying he was not eligible until 2008.
Peltierīs disease
Peltierīs lockjaw problem started from childhood when he stepped on a nail and developed tetanus.
He said that the problem worsened after the two operations conducted by Springfield doctors in 1996. He said the lockjaw also was causing constant earaches and headaches on his right side.
Chiala said the bureauīs refusal to allow Peltier to be examined at the Mayo Clinic as a sign of the governmentīs ill-treatment of prisoners. "Prisoners have no rights," she said. "We deem this cruel and unusual punishment and a medical malpractice."
Meanwhile, the bureau refers all questions on Peltierīs medical condition to a press release posted on their Web site.
The press release said Peltier and the medical staff at Leavenworth and Springfield had discussed his medical condition in a recent teleconference, during which he was told that his condition was stable and that he did not require prolonged intensive treatment at the bureau medical facility. Eugene Keller, a specialist with the Mayo Clinic, has written to prison authorities, offering to examine Peltier and provide a second opinion of his condition. But Chiala said that as of now, authorities have denied the physicianīs request.
Barbara Fortier, Peltier supporter from Atlanta, sent her motherīs food chopper to the penitentiary so that Peltierīs food could be ground up, making it easier for him to eat.
The packet came back.
"They thought it was a bomb," she said.
Friends in high places
Peltierīs case often has attracted international attention. On February 11, the European Parliament passed a resolution requesting that the U.S. government grant him executive clemency. Amnesty International, a global human rights watchdog organization, considers Peltier a prisoner of conscience who received an unfair trial and sentence, and is being denied proper medical treatment. Peltier also was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Many, like Nobel Peace prize winners Rigoberta Menchu and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, have spoken in his support.
Some government officials, like former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, have turned into supporters. Clark was for several years a part of Peltierīs defense team.
Peltierīs cause has been documented in films such as the Robert Redford documentary Incident at Oglala and books like Peter Matthiessenīs "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse."
Peltier, paintings decorate the homes of celebrities like Jane Fonda, Val Kilmer and Robert Redford
This February, 76 Peltier supporters went on a hunger strike around the world as an appeal to have him transferred to the Mayo Clinic. Other supporters sent e-mail and letters, Chiala said. Mitterandīs talk will be followed by presentations from three survivors of the 1975 shootout Bordeaux-Roach, Jean Day and Edgar Bear Runner. The New Dawn Dancers, a youth group organized by the Pelathe Indian Center, will perform. KU assistant professor Cornel Pewewardy also will play the flute. The program is free to the public.
Through Mitterandīs visit, the Peltier Defense Committee hopes to whip up more international pressure for Peltierīs release. Roach said that the committee saw the international community as Peltierīs best bet.
Some like Harvey Arden, editor of Peltierīs forthcoming book, "Prison Writings: My Life is my_ Sun Dance", agreed. "Peltier is better known in Europe than in America," he said. Peltier often has been visited by celebrities in prison, but Mitterandīs visit coincides at a time when some of his supporters say that prison authorities increasingly are isolating him against the outside world so as to kill any news about him.
"They are trying to break him," Chiala said. Some, like Fortier believe, that if it were not for his supportersī constant monitoring, he would have been dead by now.
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
785-842-5774
Message From: lpdc@idir.net (LPDC) Date: Tue, Jun 22, 1999, 7:00pm (PDT+2) To: White_Feather@webtv.net Subject: Peltier's case back in court!
Dear Peltier supporters,
Here is another press release. Please fax it to your local media and pass it on to other supporters. It is extremely important we prepare to mobilize and fill the court room as soon as there is news of a hearing. We will let you know what is happening every step of the way!
---LPDC staff collective
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, June 22, 1999
FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL CHALLENGES THE U.S. PAROLE COMMISSION ON BEHALF OF NATIVE AMERICAN POLITICAL PRISONER, LEONARD PELTIER
Conact:
Contact:
Gina Chiala
Lawrence Schilling
The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee Law Office-Ramsey Clark
785-842-5774
212-475-3232
For the first time in any court, a habeas corpus petition challenging the denial by the U.S. Parole Commission of Leonard Peltier's substantive and procedural parole rights has been filed in federal district court in Topeka, Kansas. This is the first attempt to enter Peltier's case into the courts since he last appealed his conviction in 1993. Peltier, who is considered to be a political prisoner by Amnesty International who insists he be immediately and unconditionally released, has become a notorious symbol of injustice against Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. Peltier was originally convicted in 1977 for the first degree murders of FBI agents, Jack Coler and Ronald Williams.
The petition was filed by former Attorney General and lawyer, Ramsey Clark with attorneys Carl Nadler and Lawrence Schilling. It was filed on June 4, 1999 and challenges as illegal, clearly erroneous, arbitrary, capricious, and unconstitutional, the Commission's denial of parole to Peltier and its decision to schedule Peltier's next parole release hearing in December 2008 -- 15 years in the future, 17 years in excess of the Commission's applicable guidelines and 6 years after the date set by Congress for the total abolition of the Parole Commission itself. Peltier's petition also charges that as a result of changes in federal parole laws, practices and procedures since 1975, Peltier has been imprisoned longer than the law then authorized in violation of the Constitution's ex post facto clause, as well as Peltier's right to due process and equal protection of the laws. The Parole Commission is required to substantiate its reasons for denying a prisoner parole beyond the guidelines. Peltier claims the Commission's stated reasons have been based on discriminatory and erroneous reasoning..
Additionally, the petition points to the dismantling process of the federal parole commission since the Comprehensive Crime Control Act was passed in 1984 and ties this process to the denial of parole to prisoners like Peltier for reasons of self interest. Also challenged is the Commission's refusal to acknowledge Peltier's current health condition as a substantial reason to consider his release. Peltier is currently suffering from a condition that, according to prison officials, causes his jaw to be frozen open 13 millimeters.
Although government prosecutors have openly stated that there was not enough evidence to prove that Peltier was responsible for the deaths of the two agents killed during the 1975 shoot out on the Lakota Reservation, the Commission has ignored this and repeatedly refused to reconsider parole, stating that Peltier has not yet taken criminal responsibility for the deaths. After a December 1995 Interim Parole Hearing Review, the Commission stated in its subsequent decision, "The Commission recognizes that the prosecution has conceded the lack of any direct evidence that you personally participated in the executions of the two FBI agents. . . .
Later in the decision they stated that they would not reconsider parole for Peltier because of his, "evident decision not to accept criminal responsibility." Peltier, who has always maintained his innocence, is now spending his twenty-fouth year in prison.
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
785-842-5774
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