Petition for the release of Leonard Peltier case documents under FOIA

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Docs2008?e

For anyone not familiar with this case, Leonard Peltier was one of the leaders of AIM, (American Indian Movement); a group founded by native americans that stood up for their rights and encouraged the newer generations to embrace the traditions of their culutre that the american government tried so hard to rob them of.
As recently as the 1970's, native American men were forced to leave their families in order for their wives to receive federal assistance. most reservations are on land that was of little use to the us government, which is why they were given to the native's as compensation for their loss. The lands they live on are mostly barren, unsuitable fror growing any type of food, and economically depressed. For those reasons, among others, Native's were left with little choice but to accept whatever meager handouts they were given in order to sustain themselves and their children. Again, in the 1970's, children were often taken from their homes to christian boarding schools, where they were forced to cut off their braids (a symbolic and sacred part of their identification) under the ruse of delousing. The children's traditional clothing was burned, and they were forced to wear the clothes provided to them. From then on, they lived in the school, which taught them the basics, and also forced them to convert to christianity. Speaking in their native tongue or practicing any semblence of cultural traditions were banned, and any offending child caught was often beat with a horse buggy whip.
During the same time, native women were encouraged to give birth in hospitals, instead of in their homes, as was their tradition. Many had little choice if the labor had complications, and from there, they often found themselves sufferring in agony for hours while trying to get to the nearest hospitals (far from the isolated badlands the reservation was on). In the hospitals, they were treated as less than human, and systematically sterilized after giving birth without their consent or their knowledge.
Poverty breeds disconetent, and there is no arguing that during the 70's, the Pine Ridge reservation, which was inhabited by a collective number of tribes referred to as the Lakota; tension, violence and crime was high. The murder rate on the reservation was extremely high, alcoholism was rampant, and unemployment was a way of life. Dick wilson, a native himself who shunned the traditional ways of his people, was made Oglala tribal chairman of the Pineridge Reservation. there, he used his power to intimidate, threaten and murder any native who dared to speak up for their rites. He was infamous for only giving the few employment opportunities that were available to his friends and families; his "goon" squad (Guardians of the Oglala Nation) was a group of men hired and paid with embezzled tribal funds. He used them do the bulk of his dirty work.
In particular, Dick hated the members of AIM, and vowed to take them down.
AIM was an organization of all native tribes, who were interested in regaining their traditions. They encouraged their men & women to stop drinking, stop talking, and get out there and do something. Dick Wilson, in arms with the FBI, managed to turn the entire Pine Ridge reservation into a hostile environment, in which peole constantly lived in fear. Unsolved murders abounded, the government gave dick and his goons CIA intelligence on the members of AIM, FBI presence, and armour piercing amunition. The traditional natives of Pine Ridge called on AIM for protection and help, which they readily gave, by sending a small group of them and setting up camp in the Jumping Bull family ranch.
At this time, 2 FBI agents, unknown by reservation residents, set out one night to pick a native on a warrant they had for a theft charge. They drove in two umarked cars, wore plain clothes, and were said to have been speeding up to isolated Jumping Bull family ranch at excessive speeds. In keeping with the current political tension, the jumping bull camp all expected they were about to be murdered. Women and children, elders and men were all milling around, and a gun fight broke out.
In the end, the 2 FBI agents were killed. According to the FBI, 40 natives participated in this gunfight, but only 3 were arrested- all three were members of the AIM group sent there to help. Knowing that they would likely pay with their lives, the three AIM members initially went on the run. Then two of them were arrested when found in the US, and Leonard was arrested later in Canada.
Over the course of the first trial, which was for the other two members, it became evident there was no proof that they had shot the FBI agents, due to ballistic contradictions with their locations. Furthermore, it was also deemed an act of self defense, in regards to the political tension.
During this trial, jury members were brought in by bus and kept as isolated as possible from the natives there to see the trial. the trial took place in a middle class, predominantly- white city, in Iowa- factors which weighed against the defendents. Some native women recalled walking with their children one day down the main street, when they were told by police they would have to go around - three blocks out of the way- claiming it was for their own protection. Later they found out the jury bus was passing that way to be taken to lunch; it's believed the prosecution did not want the jurors to see these women and children, as it might give them the impression that the men on trial were also real men, with families.
Other acts occurred during this trial to sway the vote- people were warned to lock cars, not carry cash, and not go out alone after dark b/c there were prominant AIM members on trial, and their supporters may decide to rob, murder, etc. to spread their message. These things were told to members of the jury, among others, pre-trial- creating early bias. Prosecution members claimed jurors came to them with complaints that AIM members were seen following them and their families; asking neighbors about them, and even just parking across the street from their houses to intimidate them- however, after the trial, jurors came out and said nothing of the sort ever happened- it was yet more propaganda of the courts to keep the AIM members in jail.
To everyone's surprise, justcie prevailed though- the first two AIM members were found not guilty, and their involvement in the altercation was considered self defense.
Leonard Peltier, however, was in Canada- when the US extridited him, he was unable to stand trial with the other 2 members, and forced to go it alone. His trial was perhaps one of the greatest travesties of our courts. He was found guilty and sentenced to 2 life terms. As of now, he's been there for 29 years. Many things at his trial were obviously unjust- for starters, one of the primary problems for the prosecution was that they had no physical evidence linking peltier to the shootings- one of the prosecution's initial witnesses was a native woman by the name of Myrtle Poor Bear, and another person put on the stand was a man leonard shared a cell with the night of his arrest- a convicted felon, who claimed leonard told him that night he indeed shot the FBI agents, and planned to blow up the prosecution's hotel when trial came about.
A few days later, the felon's landlord came forward- an elderly white woman who had not come in defense of leonard, per say, but instead came to tell the courts that her tenant was basically, squirrely, and had told her that he had been reading up on both, the charles manson murders, and this incident at oglala, so that should he get picked up on some old warrants, he could claim he had valuable information about the crimes.
The other witness, Mary Poor bear had submitted several affadavits/witness statement over the course of the trial- the first which stated she had not been at the actual pine ridge shoot out, but was merley peltier's girlfriend, so while peltier had supposedly admitted he murdered the fbi agents, she did not see it. The second statement was identical, except that in this one she claimed she was there, and saw leonard shoot them first hand.
Later Mary came forward and admitted she had never met Leonard or even saw him before the trial; the police had threatened to take her childsren away did she not cooporate. Mary was also believed to be somewhat mentally handicapped and prone to intimidation.
These examples are only a small drop in the bucket. There are so many more findings that have come out, but leonard is still languishing in his cell to this day. Even after they were able to prove that the rifle the prosecution tried to link to peltier had not been in his hands, and that there may have been tampering with the rifle evidence, the court refused to grant a new trial, claiming that the rifle discrepancy alone did not prove that he would have been found innocent had the tampering not ocurred.
At this time, there are countless more documents that have not been released, even after the freedom of information act was passed. Many people, including Nelson mandela, Amnesty International, NCAI, The Robert F Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Jessie Jackson, have deemed Leonard Peltier a political prisoner who should be released.
Many members of the original prosecution; judges and jurors have also come out and spoken against the injustices.

There is so much more to the story- and if you want to know more about it, i'll be happy to tell you some more, just ask. In the meantime, I'm asking all of you to sign this petition if you agree that the documents should be released to the public. The way I see it, when someone has something to hide, it's b/c they know they've done something wrong- and the only people hiding things here is the government.
We live in a country that OUR ancestors came to under the presumption and dream of freedom- a place to practice their beliefs, whatever they be, freely; a place where everyone is equal, and has basic human rights. But in doing so, we demolished the very echo of it in our souls. I know many of you believe that there is some guilt that lies with the members of AIM b/c there were 2 men killed- and I agree, violence begets violence- but this is not simple retaliation for past wrongs. Those men were frightened, with good reason- they had children and wives and were in their own homes/tents, when two men out of uniform came in at breakneck speed in unmarked cars; during a very politically tense time on the reservation. They believed they were coming to kill them. They had little choice but to protect themselves & their families.
During the years surrounding this incidence, violence was going on every day- dick wilson and his goon squad committed heinous acts while the FBI looked the other way. Mysterious deaths popped up left and right. Annie Mae Aquash, a young mother and member of AIM was found one day in a snowy ravine. the goon squad and dick wilson determined it an accidental death from exposure- her body was beaten so badly they were unable to identify her, although the family knew it was her, as she had been missing. When they tried to get some justice, and asked why no one had looked into her murder, they were told it was b/c they didn't know who she was- a jane doe to them- and when the people asked again, the goons and the FBI resolved the matter by cutting off her hands and sending them to washington for fingerprint id. When they buried her handless body, the family, and the witnesses learned the real cause of her death- a .38 caliber slug in her head. Exposure indeed.
Pine Ridge was a war zone, under seige by the FBI, outnumbered and undernourished. But I have never been so humbled, so in awe, and so inspired in my life, as I am by the grit and the warrior spirit of these people. In 1973, the lakota and AIM members had a 71 day stand off again to reclaim the spot of wounded knee.
I don't know about you guys, but knowing there are documents out there being withheld from the public eye, makes me furious. It isn't even a matter of native american vrs government right now- the matter is that those documents have information that could prove this man's innocence- and still, incredulously, we don't get to see them. What if this was you? So please, please, help make this right and sign the petition.
If you want to know more info, just ask- or if you want to do more, let me know and I'll try to get you the names of some people who could use letters supporting peltier.
Thanks again for taking a minute to read this-
love and light




At the end of the petition, you'll have a chance to write a personal comment that will be included with the petition- I encourage you to write something- the greatest action is inaction; and adding your thoughts will show you're more than just a signature on a piece of paper- you're a person, who refuses to stand by and watch your countrymen suffer.

Once again, the link to the petition:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Docs2008?e