Posted by MTW at pa-coudersportcuda1a-436.cdp.adelphia.net on June 11, 2003 at 21:18:31:
In Reply to: Why Free Leonard Peltier? posted by freeleonardpeltier on June 11, 2003 at 18:45:23:
They talk about the mistreatment of him, but never the crime that he committed to get there.
: 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