http://freepeltiernow.blogspot.com

Thursday, April 2, 2009
By Friends of Peltier


Transfer. Part 1: Political Concerns

The Indigenous Peoples have known Indian Removal for what it is�a weapon of war.

The Kiowa, Cheyenne, Comanche and Arapaho can attest to this. Their chiefs and warriors were detained as prisoners by the U.S. Army, transported across the country, and held from 1875 until 1878 at Fort Marion in Saint Augustine, Florida.

Under the cover of law, the Indian Removal Act of 1830, President Andrew Jackson employed Indian Removal on a large scale when he removed eastern tribes to Oklahoma. Jackson's policy culminated in the infamous death march, the Trail of Tears. Many Native Americans suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while en route to their destinations, and many died, including, for example, 4,000 of the 15,000 relocated Cherokee. In 1831 the Choctaw were the first to be removed, and they became the model for all other removals. After the Choctaw, the Seminole were removed in 1832, the Creek in 1834, then the Chickasaw in 1837, and finally the Cherokee in 1838.

In more recent times, during the Eisenhower Administration, a resolution was passed by Congress to "terminate" all Indian reservations and "relocate" Indians off their lands and into the cities.

Another example of Indian Removal is Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier who, against his will, has lived far, far from home for over 33 years.

Wrongfully convicted and illegally imprisoned in 1977 in connection with the shooting deaths of two agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI, the new occupying force following the departure of the U.S. Army from Indian lands), Peltier has been designated as a political prisoner by Amnesty International which has called for his immediate and unconditional release.

Peltier is currently imprisoned at the maximum-security penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, i.e., in the custody of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP). According to its regulations (Program Statement 5100.08), the BOP is to make every effort to keep prisoners within a 500-mile radius of their homes so that prisoners can maintain their ties to their families and home communities.

The following is a list of the institutions in which Peltier has lived (even briefly) over the past 33 years. Note their distances relative to his home reservation in North Dakota:
Marion, IL -- 1,162 Miles
Springfield, IL -- 1,109 Miles
Lompoc, CA -- 1,946 Miles
Waymart, PA -- 1,613 Miles
Lewisburg, PA -- 1,515 Miles
Oklahoma City, OK -- 1,121 Miles
Terre Haute, IN -- 1,082 Miles
Leavenworth, KS -- 830 Miles


Plainly, the 500-mile guideline has never been applied in Leonard Peltier's case.

The BOP's explanation for this isolation? "...[S]pecific security, programming, or population concerns," we're told.

But like Geronimo, for example, who was removed from his home (located in modern day Arizona) in 1886 and transported first to Pensacola, Florida, and then to Alabama, the intent in Peltier's case is actually political. Geronimo was removed to prevent him from "stirring up the Indians". In like manner, the federal government thinks keeping Peltier 1,000 and more miles from home will diminish or eliminate Peltier's influence in Indian Country.

The Bureau of Prisons apparently believes that Peltier deserves "special treatment".

We wholeheartedly agree.

In 1924, Native Americans became citizens of the United States. What most Americans don't understand is that the Indians hadn't asked to be made citizens and didn't agree to or welcome the new status. It was simply another status forced upon them. For this reason, Mr. Peltier doesn't consider himself a U.S. citizen. Specifically, Leonard Peltier is an enrolled member and citizen of a sovereign nation, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.

Recently, exercising its sovereign rights, that Nation requested that Peltier be transferred to the tribe's custody. That resolution has been sent to President Obama.

Before folks get to thinking this is an odd occurrence, they should consider the request made by another sovereign nation -- Australia -- to have Guantanamo prisoner David Hicks returned to serve his sentence in his homeland. The Bush Administration, during its so-called "War on Terror", granted that request in May 2007. Hicks was allowed to serve out the remaining time of his sentence in his home country.

But Peltier isn't a prisoner of war/enemy combatant, you say? We beg to differ.

Throughout 1973-1976, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the FBI conducted a full-fledged counterinsurgency war against the American Indian Movement (AIM) -- complete with death squads, disappearances and assassinations -- not dissimilar to those conducted in third world countries such as El Salvador and Guatemala. During this "Reign of Terror" some 64 local Native Americans were murdered and nearly 350 were subjected to non-lethal but serious physical assault. These conditions set the stage for the shootout at Oglala on June 26, 1975, and the subsequent conviction and imprisonment of Leonard Peltier.

Geronimo, imprisoned for 27 years, never made it back to his homeland. This fate cannot be allowed to befall Leonard Peltier.

If he's going to fulfill the promises he made to Indigenous Peoples during his campaign, President Obama must create real change. As a first step to achieving that change -- and towards greatly improving relations between the U.S. government and Indigenous Peoples -- President Obama must recognize the sovereignty and honor the request of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.



Transfer. Part 2: Humanitarian Concerns

We have heard President Obama's words to the country... about working together, listening to and having concern for one another, learning to compromise... So let's give that a try.

As an alternative to transfer to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, it would be acceptable to Leonard Peltier and his family if he were to be transferred to FCI Sandstone (MN) or FCI Oxford (WI) -- both Bureau of Prison (BOP) facilities albeit each with a lower security level.

The status of these facilities shouldn't be an issue. Mr. Peltier has been a model prisoner for the past 30 years and his security rating has been greatly reduced by the BOP. Peltier shouldn't be imprisoned in a maximum security facility anymore, that is, and either of these two facilities would be appropriate places of confinement according to the BOP's guidelines.

Whichever option the U.S. government chooses, supporters want that decision made forthwith and there is absolutely no valid reason for delay.

Remember that due to a change of mission at the prison at Lewisburg, PA, earlier this year Leonard was transferred from the penitentiary at Lewisburg to USP-Canaan. There, on January 13, he was brutally attacked. Only an international uproar caused the BOP to transfer Mr. Peltier back to the relative safety afforded by the prison at Lewisburg.

The move back to Lewisburg, however, is only a temporary measure. We know that Mr. Peltier will soon be moved to yet another prison.

We also know that the BOP has a duty to provide for Mr. Peltier's safekeeping, care, and protection.

According to attorney Michael Kuzma, "...the BOP has not fully fulfilled its responsibility under the law. By transferring Mr. Peltier to Oxford... or Sandstone... the BOP can take a positive step toward ensuring its legal obligation to Mr. Peltier."

Legal and political issues aside, we have serious humanitarian concerns as regards Leonard's situation.

Each time Peltier is moved, his family members have to pick up and resume their lives elsewhere so as to remain in close proximity to their relative, or else travel a greater distance to visit with Leonard. In the best of economic times, this creates an extreme hardship for folks with very limited means.

Mr. Peltier, who is nearly 65 years old and in poor health, doesn't now and never has had many opportunities for contact visits with most of his family members. In addition, Leonard has little or no access to tribal leaders, beloved elders, spiritual advisors, and his overall extended family at the Turtle Mountain reservation.

This issue isn't about what Peltier wants. It's about what Peltier needs. We know he will always yearn for freedom -- any person would -- but this transfer is necessary for Leonard's wellbeing.


Friends of Peltier
www.FreePeltierNow.org

Date: Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:09:29 GMT
From: "BioGems News" biogemsnewsletter@savebiogems.org
Subject: NRDC's Save BioGems News, April 2009
e victories you're helping to achieve



 






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www.survival-international.org/news/4432

Indigenous organization slams uncontacted tribes meeting

Survival International
7 April 2009


Yaminahua girl, Yurua River, Peru - © David Hill/Survival


Peru’s national indigenous organisation, AIDESEP, has slammed a recent government meeting about new uncontacted tribes’ reserves.

Despite receiving an invitation to the meeting, AIDESEP’s president, Alberto Pizango Chota, was barred from attending. ‘I received a letter and thought I was going to participate. We’re the ones who know about indigenous peoples’ rights,’ said Pizango Chota.

One of the outcomes of the meeting was to create a ‘Multisector Commission’ on uncontacted tribes in which only one indigenous representative is permitted to sit. AIDESEP called this decision a ‘mockery.’

Another outcome of the meeting was to ‘accept the proposals for the creation of new reserves’ for uncontacted tribes, but not adopt any specific measures to actually create them. AIDESEP called this a ‘dirty trick’. The proposals for the reserves were first made to the government years ago.

The meeting was coordinated by Peru’s indigenous affairs department, INDEPA, and held last week in Iquitos, a city in northern Peru. All together, the five new reserves would total more than 4 million hectares.


Act now to help the Uncontacted Indians
Your efforts are crucial in defending the Uncontacted Tribes. Get involved in this urgent effort.

--sample letter--

To: S.E. Alan Garcia
Presidente de la República del Perú
Palacio de Gobierno
Plaza de Armas
Lima 1
Peru

[Date]

Your Excellency,

I am extremely concerned about the future of uncontacted tribes in Peru. They are exceedingly vulnerable to outsiders' diseases and they make it clear they want to be left alone. They have the right to live on their lands and to remain in isolation. These rights have been recognised by international law.

I strongly urge the Peruvian government to protect uncontacted tribes by removing all loggers from their land, by stopping the entry of any other outsiders, and by prohibiting any form of natural resource extraction on their territories.

I also call on your government to set up an emergency medical plan in case of contact between the uncontacted Indians and outsiders, and conform to international law by recognising the tribes as the rightful owners of their land. At present these tribes are at huge risk and could well be wiped out.

Yours sincerely,
(your full name + address)

--end sample letter--

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