TITLE: Proposal for Resolution Concerning Leonard Peltier

AUTHOR:

ORG: The Belgian Parliament

DATE: January 2, 2000

Defender of Human Rights for the North-American Indigenous Peoples (filed by Mr. Lode Vanoost & c.s.) Résumé: Leonard Peltier, member of an American Human Rights Movement, served already 24 years of imprisonement for the murders of two FBI-agents. The petitioner believes that there are concerns about tha fairness of Leonard Peltier?s trial. In his proposal he asks the government to insist with the American President to grant presidential clemency to Leonard Peltier. Furthermore, he request the government to support the Members of US Congress' initiative for Congressional Hearings about Mr.Peltier's case. Elucidation The Belgian House of Representatives, having regard to its previous resolution 603/6-95/96 - unanimouly adopted on March 13, 1997, requests the Members of the United States Congress to organize a hearing into the circumstances which led to Peltier's charge and conviction of two life sentences, for the murder of two FBI agents. The trial and sentence of Leonard Peltier is the most controversial case in the postwar judicial history of the United States. Since his sentencing, Leonard Peltier has become a symbol of the way in which the government and the white majority of the U.S., deals with the indigenous population of what is known today as the United States. In most U.S. States, and also in a great number of other countries, the Leonard Peltier Defense Committe (LPDC) and Leonard Peltier Support Groups (LPSG), have been active for 24 years of continuous struggle for justice for Leonard Peltier. In depth documentation concerning the trial can be found in the following publications: *Churchill, Ward & Vander Wall, Jim. The Cointelpro Papers, Documents from the FBI's Secret War Against Dissent in the United States. South End, Boston, 1990. This book situates the event leading to the firefight on the Pine Ridge Reservation in the broader political context of the persecutions of civil rights organisations during the 1960s and 1970s throughout the U.S. *Matthiessen, Peter. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. The Story of Leonard Peltier and the FBI's war on the American Indian Movement. Penguin, New York, 1991 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) withheld the release of that book for eight years. In the end, the FBI was sentenced to pay all legal expenses. Important to note is that the theorem of the author remains without prejudice, and that in 1991 the book was republished in its original version. *Sklar, Holly (ed). Trilateralism. The Trilateral Commission and Elite Planning for World management. South End, Boston, 1980, Chapter IV. Inside the United States: Carter is No Hypocrite to the Trilateralists: 3. The U.S.Colonial Empire is as Close as the Nearest Reservation (Michael Garrity). In this chapter the author explains why the FBI accorded so much attention and effort to stop AIM in its struggle against mining on the Pine Ridge Reservation, and how the FBI purposefully targeted the AIM leaders. Within a few years, judges involved in Peltier's trial admitted there was no evidence concerning Peltier's involvement in the murder of the two FBI agents. The only established fact is that Peltier was involved in the firefight with the FBI agents as well as three other individuals. For reasons never clarified by the court, one of the four people involved, was never brought to trial. The two others, Robideau and Butler, in a separate trial, were acquitted for reasons of legal self-defense. It is also important to note that Peltier, nor Robideau nor Butler have ever denied participating in the firefight. They have always claimed to be acting out of legal self-defense, returning fire to individuals whom they couldn't identify at that time. This is not surprising since at the exact moment of the facts, dozens of indigenous peoples on the Pine Ridge Reservation had been murdered by death squads. None of these murders have ever been investigated. In those circumstances, the people involved had sufficient reason to fear for their lives. The major obstacles in this case do not implicate the basic reasons for the case, but rather its institutional and ideological grounds. The release of Leonard Peltier implicates following: *the admission that the FBI was indeed guilty of organizing political repression in the 1960s and 1970s, however, this was already acknowledged by a congressional investigation committee headed by Douglas Pike, which ascertained a political repression campaign called COINTELPRO (Counter intelligence Program), *the admission that the North American court system has structural shortcomings, especially the facts that in some states judges are not elected and not appointed based on their competence, the fact that appeal procedures are held by the same judges as in the court of first instance, and the fact that a judge can autonomously decide which witnesses for the defense or for the prosecution will be heard. All examples of facts that were systematically used in Peltier?s case to prevent a fair trial. These ffaws are also copiously reviewed in the last report of Amnesty International "Right for All" which in 1998 analyzed the respect for human rights in the United States; and which quotes besides the Peltier case also several similar cases such as, for example Mumia Abu-Jamal, who received the death sentence. Furthermore, this case painfully reveals that the white population in the U.S. still poignantly discriminating the indigenous population in all aspects of society. Judge Gerald Heany admitted in a letter dated April 18, 1991, to Senator Daniel Inouye, 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 doubt upon the government?s case." Furthermore, the United States Government over-reacted at Wounded Knee. Instead of carefully considering the legitimate grievancess of the Native Americans, the response was essentially a military one which culminated in a deadly firefight on June 26, 1975. While the government's role in escalating the conflict into a firefight cannot serve as a legal justification for the killing of the FBI agents at short range, it can properly be considered as a mitigating circumstance. Peltier was not the only individual involved in the firefight, an action of the President was recommanded to start the "healing process". "We as a nation must treat Native Americans more fairly" Judge Heany. Furthermore, it seems that this case severely suffers from the usual belittling and bias on inadequate understanding that generally rules when the issue of North American Indigenous Peoples is brought forward. The stereotypical image of ?cowboys and indians? is so deeply rooted in Western psyche that people hardly realize it concerns people whose ancestors have suffered one of the most bloody genecides in human history. In the 1950's one assumed the Americas in 1492 counted a mere population of about eight million people, of which approximately one million lived on what is today known as the United States. Recent scientific studies at North American universities, however, say that a more accurate extimation would be arround 145 million indigenous peoples, of which 18 million were living north of Mexico. (David E.Stannard, American Holocaust. The Conquest of the New World. Oxford University Press 1992 p 11). The argument that the mass mortality during the colonization is due to a lack of immunity against European diseases appears to be a myth. These past years, historian analysts are more drawn to the theory that there was indeed, without a doubt, an organized campaign to annihilate the indigenous population of the Americas. The recent readness of the Belgian government to critically investigate its own responsibility in the murder of Patrice Lumumba, and the recent book of the North American historian Adam Hochschild, (King Leopold?s Ghost. A story of Greed, Terror and heroism in Colonial Africa, 1998) concerning the slaughter of an estimated 10 million people in Freestate Congo remind us of our own past. These and simular initiatives should make us realize that the struggle for peace and justice is a plight of all times, that respect for human rights cannot be selectively enforced but should equally be in force in hostile as well as allied countries, in dictatorial as well as democratic countries. History is irreversible. However, what is happening today falls under own responsibilities. This resolution is an attempt to live up to the responsibility for a rather concrete case. For 24 years a fellow human being is incarcerated for a crime of which his guilt has never been proven. He is imprisoned because he stood up for the rights of his people. This resolution does not enuciate guilt or innocence of the person involved. This document only asks the U.S.President to grant executive clemency for humanitarian reasons, and that the U.S. Congress would review the entire case. With this resolution Belgium joins the European Parliament, numerous governmental officials such as Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, José Ramos-Horta, numerous non-governmental organisations such as Amnesty International, as well as dozens Members of the U.S.Congress, who have been asking justice for Leonard Peltier for years now. Lode Vanoost (AGALEV-ECOLO) Proposal for resolution The House of Representatives, -Considering the House of Representatives resolution 603/6-95/96 adopted on March 13, 1997, -Considering the resolutions of the European Parliament adopted on December 15, 1994 and February 11, 1999; -Whereas Mr.Peltier in his efforts to obtain a new trial is being supported by numerous religious leaders, and a considerable number of Members of the U.S.Congress; -Whereas several Members of the U.S.Congress have proposed to hold investigative hearings into the circumstances that led to Mr. Peltier?s indictment and sentence; -Whereas the request for executive clemency still has not been heard by the U.S. President; The Belgian Government requests : -to pursue the President of the United States to take an early decision concerning Mr.Peltier's request for clemency, based on humanitarian reasons; -to support the Members of the U.S.Congress in their endeavors to open investigative hearings in this case; -to forward this resolution to the President and the Congress of the United States, to the European Parliament, the European Council and the Secretary General of the United Nations. 18th January 2000 Lode Vanoost (AGALEV-ECOLO), Daniel Bacquelaine (PRL-FDF MCC), Hugo Coveliers (VLD), Martine Dardenne (AGALEV-ECOLO), Erik Dereycke (SP), Jacques Lefevre (PSC), Patrick Moriau (PS), Marc Van Peel (CVP), Ferdy Willems (VU & ID) END top