Posted by Kymmie at 170.ash.fr.studentenwohnheim-bw.de on June 11, 2003 at 18:54:12:
In Reply to: Why Free Leonard Peltier? posted by freeleonardpeltier on June 11, 2003 at 18:45:23:
So i skimmed thru the post since its like 1 am here and im not functioning, but i think its
awesome that you choose a name after this guy. . . are you also a native, why do you feel so
strongly about this? not that i dont have sympathy for it or anything, but how did you come
across this?
: If you have never heard of Leonard Peltier, and want to learn something, read this.
: "Amnesty International considers Leonard Peltier to be a political prisoner whose avenues
of redress have long been exhausted.... Amnesty International recognizes that a retrial is no
longer a feasible option and believes that Leonard Peltier should be immediately and
unconditionally released."
: -- Amnesty International, April 6, 1999
: "I have been reading in Leonard Peltier's book, and about an hour ago I spoke with him ....
He is a remarkable person and the depth of his spirituality shows .... I would hope that the
campaign to have him freed will succeed. I certainly support it very passionately .... Because
it is a blot on the judicial system of this country that ought to be corrected as quickly as
possible."
: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, April 18, 1999
: "Doing time creates a demented darkness of my own imagination; doing time does this
thing to you. But of course, you don't do time. You do without it. Or rather, time does you.
Time is a cannibal that devours the flesh of your years day by day, bite by bite."
: --- Leonard Peltier
:
: Leonard Peltier has been incarserated for nearly 27 years despite clear indications of
misconduct, and even falsafacation of evidence by various U.S. officials. He is now 58 years
old, and his health is starting to deteriorate, due to the lack of proper medical attention by
the prison system. Leonard Peltier, a citizen of the Anishinabe and Lakota Nations, is a
father, a grandfather, an artist, a writer, and an Indigenous rights activist. He is a political
prisoner who should have been released a long time ago.
: To many Indigenous Peoples, Leonard Peltier is a symbol of the long history of abuse
and repression thier people have endured. Leonard Peltier is 58 years old and was born on
the Anishinabe (Chippewa) Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota. He came from a
large family of 13 brothers and sisters. He grew up in poverty, and survived many traumatic
experiences resulting from U.S. government policies aimed to assimilate Native Peoples.
Leonard Peltier's participation in the American Indian Movement led to his involvement in
the 1972 Trail of broken Treaties which took him to Washington D.C., in the occupation of
the Bureau of Indian Affairs building.
: Eventually his AIM involvement would bring him to assist the Oglala Lakota People of the
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in the mid 1970's. On Pine Ridge he
participated in the planning of community activities, religious ceremonies, programs for
self-sufficiency, and improved living conditions. He also helped to organize security for the
traditional people who were being targeted for violence by the pro-assimilation tribal
chairman and his vigilantes. It was here that the tragic shoot-out of June 26, 1975 occurred,
leading to his wrongful conviction. Despite the harsh conditions of imprisonment, Leonard
Peltier has continued to lead an active life.
: From behind bars, he has helped to establish scholarships for Native students and special
programs for Indigenous youth. He has served on the advisory board of the Rosenberg Fund
for Children, and has sponsored children in Central America. He has donated to battered
women's shelters, organized the annual Christmas drive for the people of Pine Ridge
Reservation, and promoted prisoner art programs. He even wrote his first book, despite the
lack of pencil and paper. ?My Life, My Sundance?was written on his bedsheets, sometimes
with his own blood.
: During his time in prison he has suffered a stroke which left him partially blind in one eye.
For many years he had a seriously debilitating jaw condition which left him unable to chew
properly and caused consistent pain and headaches. The prison medical facilities could not
properly treat this condition, and two prison surgeries have only worsened matters. A Mayo
Clinic physician offered to repair the jaw for free, but was turned down again and again until
the United Nations Raporteur sharply rebuked the United States for subjecting Mr. Peltier to
inhuman conditions. Today, Mr. Peltier contninues to suffer from diabetes, high blood
pressure and a heart condition. According to an affiliate of Physicians for Human Rights, he
risks blindness, kidney failure and stroke in the future, given his inadequate diet, living
conditions, and health care.
: Leonard has never seen his daughter. His girlfriend was pregnant at the time of Leonard?s
conviction. He was robbed of his entire future, and only asks to be set free. He hold?s no ill
will toward the judge who sentenced him, only to later jump to Leonard?s cause. He just
want?s to be human like everyone else.
: Supporters:The Dalai lama, Nelson Mandela, Rage Against the Machine, Anti Flag,Ani
Defranco, Ed Asner, Correta Scott King, Rev Jessee Jackson, and 1000?s more.
: Sources, or ways to further your knowledge:
: 1.My Life is my Sundance, Leonard Peltier
: 2.In the sprit of Crazyhorse, various
: 3. www.freepeltier.org