[Pnews] Peltier Tribunal Judges Findings: Restoration of Justice in Indian Country
Prisoner News
ppnews at freedomarchives.org
Mon Oct 7 10:23:12 EDT 2013
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Peltier Tribunal Judges Findings: Restoration of Justice in Indian
Country
*Peltier Tribunal Findings include holding FBI agents responsible for
crimes, freedom for Leonard Peltier and an end to environmental racism *
*
**By Brenda Norrell*
*Censored News Breaking News Exclusive*
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/peltier-tribunal-judges-findings.html
<http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/>
GREEN BAY, Wisconsin -- A panel of judges at the International Peoples
Tribunal on Leonard Peltier issued an executive summary and preliminary
findings late Friday, Oct. 4, following three days of testimony from
Native Americans who described abuse inflicted by the United States
government and FBI agents.
The Tribunal concluded that US laws must be changed in order for FBI
agents to be charged for their crimes of assault and murder on Pine
Ridge Indian land in South Dakota and elsewhere. Further, the Tribunal
said justice is dependent on the immediate release of Leonard Peltier.
The Tribunal said justice depends on the admission of guilt and
systematic change regarding the FBI and their crimes against the Lakota
Oyate and other Indigenous Peoples.
"In order for the Lakota Oyate to begin the healing process, the FBI
must begin with a Statement of Remorse to the Oglala Lakota Oyate of
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation."
The Tribunal said the environmental injustices targeting Indian lands,
based on racism, must end.
In the findings, the judges said, "This Tribunal is a proceeding in
democracy, justice, and human rights. The case of Leonard Peltier goes
beyond his oppression. Leonard Peltier has become an icon for the
oppression and injustices practiced by the United States historically
and persistently upon Indigenous Peoples."
"Justice for Leonard Peltier can begin a healing process long overdue
between Indigenous Peoples and the United States of America," the
findings stated.
The Tribunal focused on the historic relationship between the Dakota,
Lakota and Nakota people and questioned who has jurisdiction on Lakotas'
Pine Ridge Indian land in South Dakota. The Tribunal questioned whether
Congress can override treaty obligations using Plenary Power, the
findings stated.
Further the Tribunal questioned whether the Fort Laramie Treaties of
1851 and 1868, or Lakota Traditional Laws have been violated during the
period of 1868 to present, including the 1973 Wounded Knee stance, the
1975 Pine Ridge Shootout, and the trials that followed these incidents,
the findings stated.
During the Tribunal, Oct. 2 --4, on Oneida land in Wisconsin, the
Tribunal heard testimony from across Indian country, including testimony
from the survivors of the Pine Ridge Shootout in 1975 and survivors of
Wounded Knee in 1973. They described the Reign of Terror carried out by
the FBI and how the US government armed locals with weapons and
ammunition who then targeted Lakotas and the American Indian Movement.
The US created a militarized zone at the same time corporations were
seizing Lakota territory for uranium mining.
Navajo Lenny Foster testified on Native prisoner rights. Foster and
Dorothy Ninham described their visits with Leonard Peltier in prison and
his failing health. Peltier called the Tribunal from prison on the first
day.
Manny Pino, Acoma Pueblo and professor, testified on the genocide
carried out by Cold War uranium mining in the Pueblos, Navajo Nation,
Spokane, Lakota lands in South Dakota, and First Nation lands in Canada.
Pino described how the US government targeted Indian lands as "sacrifice
zones" which left a trail of death for Native American uranium miners
who were not given protective clothing, and ate the radioactive food.
Dakota historian Chris Mato Nunpa from Minnesota testified on the
historic genocide of Dakota people.
The Tribunal concluded that the remedies include the immediate freedom
for Leonard Peltier. The options are a new and fair trial consistent
with due process, executive clemency or compassionate release.
The Tribunal called for the appointment, by the President of the United
States, of independent counsel to review and prosecute all murders,
assaults and acts of intimidation by all perpetrators, including the
FBI, against the Lakota Oyate of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Further, the Tribunal said that the restoration of criminal jurisdiction
in Indian country requires overturning the Major Crimes Act of 1885, and
its associated amendments, and the Suquamish v. Oliphant Decision of 1978.
In its findings, the Tribunal listed the international human rights
standards which have been violated during the pre-trial extradition,
detention, trial process and incarceration of Leonard Peltier.
The Tribunal also made the following preliminary findings and conclusions.
Describing it as "egregious US government misconduct and abuse of
power," the Tribunal said the US has continued its genocide against
Indigenous Peoples in the US through actions, laws and policies.
The Tribunal stated the facts of US government corruption in the US
legal system, including the deliberate withholding of exculpatory
evidence and the use of manufactured and perjured testimony in the 1973
Wounded Knee trials; 1977 trial of Leonard Peltier; extradition of
Leonard Peltier from Canada to the US; 1977 trial of Leonard Peltier;
appeals of Leonard Peltier, 1978, 1984, 1986 and 1993, and denial of
parole by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The Constitutional violations include the violations of the Fort Laramie
Treaty of 1851 and 1868, the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842;
fundamental right of due process; right to a fair and impartial jury of
his peers; sixth amendment right regarding compulsory processes;
religious land use and institutionalized persons act of 2000, and free
exercise and establishment clause.
The violations of international law include violations of Fort Laramie
Treaty of 1851 and 1868; UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples (2007); UN International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) signed in 1966 and ratified in
1994; the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR); the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (1948); and
Wester-Ashburton Treaty (1842).
The Tribunal said justice depends on the repeal of the Doctrine of
Discovery, Plenary Power Doctrine, and other "Extra Constitutional
Fictions by the Supreme Court."
In conclusion, the Tribunal recommended that the findings be submitted
to the National Congress of American Indians.
The Jurists are Alberto Saldamando, human rights attorney; Tatewin
Means, Oglala Attorney General and daughter of Russell Means;
James Riding In, Pawnee professor at Arizona State University;
Nise Guzman-Nekheba, professor University of Florida Law School and
Shannon Rivers, Akimel O'odham human rights activist.
The judges said this is the first of this type of Indigenous Peoples
Tribunal and the complete detailed Findings would follow.
Censored News coverage Peltier Tribunal:
Day 3 Peltier Tribunal: Findings and Testimony, Manny Pino uranium
mining genocide
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/peltier-tribunal-live-day-3.html
<http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/peltier-tribunal-live-day-3.html>
Day 2: Peltier Tribunal Lenny Foster and Dorothy Ninham, Visits to
Peltier in prison, Native prisoner rights
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/live-day-2-peltier-tribunal-thursday.html
<http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/live-day-2-peltier-tribunal-thursday.html>
Day 1: Peltier Tribunal Reign of Terror on Pine Ridge, Peltier calls
Tribunal
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/peltier-tribunal-live-oct-2-4-2013.html
<http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/peltier-tribunal-live-oct-2-4-2013.html>
Dakota written testimony by Chris Mato Nunpa, Dakota historian and professor
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/dakota-genocide-chris-mato-nun
<http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/dakota-genocide-chris-mato-nunpa.html>
pa.html
<http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/dakota-genocide-chris-mato-nunpa.html>
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<http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/peltier-tribunal-judges-findings.html>
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