From: "LPDC" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Tue, 5 Jun 2001 17:55:15 -0500 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: URGENT PELTIER ACTION URGENT ACTION IN SUPPORT OF LEONARD PELTIER! NEW DEVELOPMENT - WE ARE GETTING CLOSER SENATE LIKELY TO INVESTIGATE FBI PUSH FOR INCLUSION OF PELTIER CASE! Dear Friends, There was a short announcement on NPR this morning stating that the Senate is planning to investigate the FBI. Congress has already been holding hearings on the withholding of documents in the McVeigh case and on FBI abuses in Boston. However, it seems there is a good chance that the Senate will investigate the FBI on a broader basis (as called for by Senators Grassley and Schumer) and we want to make sure Peltier gets included, if investigations indeed come to light. We called the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning and they said no investigations have been scheduled yet, but that Senator Schumer is vigorously pressing for them. Senator Schumer's office confirmed the same. Lucky for us, the Senate majority has shifted from Republican to Democrat, leaving Senator Leahy, who has an excellent human rights record, in charge of the Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee has the power to initiate the investigations and Senator Leahy is a likely candidate to assure that the Peltier case is examined..with our encouragement. Here is the action: 1. Write to Senator Leahy and encourage him to initiate the investigation and to assign time for a full examination of the Peltier case. (sample letter is pasted below) 2. Monitor the news - keep an ear out for any announcement of investigations. If investigations are announced before we receive confirmation that the Peltier case will be on the agenda, we will need to flood the judiciary committee phone lines. But until then, please stick with letters to Leahy and not phone calls (unless he is your Senator). He is a potentially powerful ally and we don't want to disrupt their office with thousands of phone calls right now -especially since things are chaotic for them with the sudden switch of power. 3. As before, send copies of your letters to Senator Schumer, Senator Grassley, and to the two senators of your state and the representative of your district. We know it's a lot to mail out - but this is an advantage we cannot pass up! 4. If possible, attach the following documents to each of your letters: 1. FOIA Status Report - download from our site: http://www.freepeltier.org/foia_status_request.htm#top (letter to Senator Dole) 2. Special Prosecutors Conspire to Withhold Evidence - download from our site: http://www.freepeltier.org/peltier_trial2.htm#top (FBI document) 5. Continue to organize and carry out phone campaigns one day a week, focusing on your two Senators and your district's representative. THANK YOU for all of your work. We have received copies of several of your letters to the editor which were printed in your local papers (if your letter was printed, we would appreciate a copy for our files) - and surely your letters to Congress are helping to push this along. Keep up all the great work and let us know how your Senators and Reps are responding. (If you are located outside of the U.S., please follow the International Action on our home page: www.freepeltier.org - thanks!) In Solidarity, LPDC Date The Honorable Patrick Leahy United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator Leahy, I want to begin this letter by thanking you for all of your fine work in support of civil rights and justice. Your courage and integrity are admired by many. I also want to congratulate you on your new position in the Judiciary Committee. I am very encouraged to see that you will be overseeing such an important government duty. I am writing today to express my firm support for "top to bottom" investigations of the FBI as called for by both Senator Schumer and Senator Grassley. There is an obvious pattern of FBI misconduct involving the withholding of evidence and obstruction of justice which must be examined and halted. Such conduct puts in jeopardy our nation's concepts of democracy, open government, and equal justice. I am especially concerned with the FBI's treatment of Leonard Peltier, the Native American rights activist who Amnesty International calls a "political prisoner" who should be "immediately and unconditionally released." Mr. Peltier has been imprisoned for over twenty-five years, following his highly controversial conviction of the 1975 murders of two FBI agents. During Mr. Peltier's trial, the FBI and U.S. Prosecutors emphatically swore that every FBI document had been handed over to the defense. Yet, years later a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit would force the release of over 12,000 FBI documents which had in fact been withheld. Had the jury been able to consider this evidence at trial, I have no doubt that Mr. Peltier would be free today. Among the documents was a formerly concealed ballistic test, which proved that the fatal bullets could not have come from the gun tied to Mr. Peltier at trial. The exposure of the test prompted the U.S. Prosecutor to admit during subsequent oral arguments, "we can't prove who shot those agents". Yet, a new trial was denied on technical grounds, even though the court found that, "There is a possibility that the jury would have acquitted Leonard Peltier had the records and data improperly withheld from the defense been available to him in order to better exploit and reinforce the inconsistencies casting strong doubts upon the government's case." The judge who authored the denial now supports Mr. Peltier's release. To make matters worse, the FBI continues to withhold over 6000 documents pertaining to the Peltier case today, come twenty- six years after the incident. We are convinced that these files contain even more critical information. We also note that Mr. Peltier's conviction is deeply rooted in the Pine Ridge "Reign of Terror." During this period, the FBI cooperated with vigilantes who killed over 60 members and supporters of the American Indian Movement and terrorized, assaulted and battered scores of others. Given all of the above, I am asking you to initiate a Senate investigation of the FBI, which will include a comprehensive examination of the Peltier case, including the subpoena of 6000 FBI documents still withheld today. Thank you for your time and consideration to this matter. Sincerely, (name) cc. Senator Grassly Senator Schumer Your Senators Your Representative Leonard Peltier Defense Committee PO Box 583 Lawrence, KS 66044 785-842-5774 www.freepeltier.org _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
