And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
From: "LPDC" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Trent Lott wants broad investigation of the FBI
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 22:43:03 -0500
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Dear Peltier supporters,
Please address the following to your Senators and Congressional Reps along
with a short, personal note from yourself. Please send it and fax it to
them right away. Please cc copies to Janet Reno, the media and all other
relevant government officials and agencies. You might want to down load the
"statement of FAQ" from our website to send along with it. Let's jump on
this while it's hot!!! Thank you!
----LPDC
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said that renewed congressional
inquiries into Waco should expand to other instances in which Justice
Department officials may have withheld information about government conduct.
“I think it’s going to have to be broader than just Waco itself,” said Lott,
a Mississippi Republican. “There are a number of investigations that they
are basically either not doing or they have stiffed us on. So we need to
find out what’s going on.” ---AP press
RESPOND!!!
Dear members of congress,
We are very encouraged that Senator Trent Lott recognizes the need for
congressional inquiries to expand beyond FBI misconduct in regard to Waco
and we agree that there have been numerous incidences and patterns of FBI
misconduct that have remained unanswered, uninvestigated, and unaccounted
for. Meanwhile, victims of such continue to await justice and we, the
American public, are asking you to take immediate action.
We wish to bring to your attention to a particularly urgent and disturbing
example, that being the ongoing incarceration of Native American activist,
Leonard Peltier who has been in prison for some twenty-three years. Mr.
Peltier, convicted for the shooting deaths of two FBI agents on the Pine
Ridge Reservation, has been declared a political prisoner by Amnesty
International who is demanding his immediate and unconditional release.
The pattern of FBI misconduct involved with the investigation, extradition
from Canada, and trial of Leonard Peltier is well documented. Senior court
judges, members of congress, and human rights watch groups alike have
repeatedly admonished the FBI for their handling of the Peltier case.
However, no action by the justice department or congress has ever been taken
to remedy or hold the FBI accountable for their shocking abuse of power and
secrecy which has cost several Native Americans their lives , and has left
the life of Leonard Peltier in the balance.
From the beginning, the FBI has withheld information that both documents
their misconduct and establishes Mr. Peltier’s innocence. Today the FBI
continues this pattern by withholding 6000 documents relating to the Peltier
case for reasons of “National Security.”
.Mr. Leonard Peltier was extradited from Canada on the basis of an affidavit
signed by a Myrtle Poor Bear, a local Native American woman known to have
serious mental problems. She claimed to have been Mr. Peltier’s girl friend
at the time, and to have been present during the shoot out, and to have
witnessed the murders. In fact she did not know Mr. Peltier, nor was she
present at the time of the shooting. She later confessed she had given the
false statement after being pressured and terrorized by FBI agents. A third
Poor Bear affidavit which had clearly contradicted the two used to extradite
Leonard Peltier had been withheld by the FBI. Upon hearing this issue on
appeal, the 8th circuit court stated, “the use of the affidavits of Myrtle
Poor Bear in the extradition proceedings was, to say the least, a clear
abuse of the investigative process by the F.B.I.” No action has ever been
taken to hold the FBI accountable for this illegal conduct.
Freedom of Information Act documents which were released, revealed that the
main evidence used to convict Mr. Peltier had in fact been manufactured and
exculpatory evidence relating to it, withheld. On appeal, the 8th circuit
stated “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.” Yet, the
appeal was denied and Mr. Peltier remains in prison. (When faced with the
above, U.S. prosecutor, Lynn Crooks admitted and later established that they
could not prove who killed the agents.)
Prior to the shoot-out which led up to Mr. Peltier’s conviction, the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence had set forth an investigation into FBI
activities and misconduct on the Pine Ridge Reservation where the shoot out
took place. But, after the two agents were killed this investigation was
brought to a halt and never reconvened.
Today we are asking that the U.S. congress include the Peltier case in it’s
investigation of FBI abuses. We insist that the remaining 6000 documents
still being withheld from Mr. Peltier, be released to Congress, to Mr.
Peltier, and to his attorneys. We request that the U.S. Congress continue
its investigation into the FBI’s role in the massive violence and loss of
life that took place on the Pine Ridge Reservation between 1973 and 1976.
It's 1999, why is Leonard Peltier still in prison???
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
785-842-5774
http://members.xoom.com/freepeltier/index.html
