[Pnews] AIM-West at UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues - Release Leonard Peltier

[Prisoner News]

The following is a statement read by AIM-West (Indigenous Peoples 
Organization) about Human Rights Defender Leonard Peltier, in NYC at the 
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 22nd session, April 
17-28, 2023.

Meanwhile, Political Prisoner Leonard Peltier has languished 48 years 
incarcerated with five of those in solitary confinement, waiting to be 
set free and for a crime he did not commit!

I encourage everyone to call the White House at 202-456-1111 today (& 
everyday) and leave a message to President Joe Biden that it’s time to 
provide Leonard Peltier with an Executive Clemency immediately and allow 
Mr. Peltier to come home, now.

Thank you for your attention,

Ajo! All my relations!

Antonio Gonzales
AIM-West director

www.aim-west.org
www.aimovement.org
____________________________________________

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII)

22^nd Session

April 25^th , 2023

AIM-West Oral Intervention

Each year we are saddened to remind this forum that Mr. Leonard Peltier, 
Anishinabe and Dakota and an enrolled citizen of the Turtle Mountain 
Band of Chippewa Indians, has been wrongfully incarcerated by the United 
States since 1976. Leonard Peltier was a leader of the American Indian 
Movement, an historic civil rights group founded to combat the 
oppression of Native Americans in the United States.

Mr. Peltier’s case has become infamous for the procedural violations 
committed by the government throughout his trial. After Mr. Peltier’s 
co-defendants were acquitted on self-defense, the government resorted to 
using illegal tactics to ensure his conviction – concealing exculpatory 
evidence from his lawyers, intimidating witnesses with violence, and 
committing perjury on the witness stand. Mr. Peltier’s jury was 
prevented from considering key evidence, including government misconduct 
in the preparation of its case and evidence of the violent conditions on 
the Pine Ridge Reservation – all of which contributed significantly to 
the acquittal of Mr. Peltier’s co-defendants.

In its treatment of Mr. Peltier over the last 48 years, the U.S. has 
committed glaring violations of international human rights law and set a 
dangerous precedent for states seeking to silence indigenous dissent. On 
March 30, 2022, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention 
adopted a legal opinion calling for Mr. Peltier’s immediate release, 
concluding that “Mr. Peltier continues to be detained because he is 
Native American, contrary to articles 2 and 7 of the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights and articles 2 and 26 of the Covenant on 
Civil and Political Rights.” The Working Group also concluded that “the 
Parole Commission did not objectively and substantively consider whether 
parole should be granted to Mr. Peltier, in violation of article 9 of 
the Covenant.”

Mr. Peltier is 78 years old and he suffers from serious health 
conditions for which he is receiving inadequate care. Despite his 
condition, the U.S. has repeatedly denied a transfer to a lower security 
facility. Of the 48 years he has spent in prison, Mr. Peltier has spent 
5 in solitary confinement. This treatment may constitute a violation of 
the Convention Against Torture and article 7 of the Covenant, which 
prohibits cruel, inhumane or degrading punishment.

Mr. Peltier’s continued incarceration is a threat to indigenous human 
rights defenders everywhere. We must seek justice for Leonard Peltier to 
support indigenous dissent, promote accountability for the repression of 
indigenous leaders and to ensure that Mr. Peltier can one day return to 
his community.

We request that the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 
exercise its authority under paragraph 2(c) of its revised mandate 
(A/HRC/RES/33/25) to initiate a dialogue with the United States, human 
rights organizations and indigenous peoples to seek relief for Mr. 
Peltier. Further, we invite UN Special Rapporteur On Indigenous Peoples, 
Francisco Cali, members of the UN Permanent Forum on indigenous Issues 
and EMRIP to visit Leonard Peltier at U.S. Penitentiary, Coleman I, in 
Florida and report back to this body on their assessment of Mr. 
Peltier’s condition. My delegation will be glad to work with you to 
accommodate such a visit.

Thank you, All My Relations.


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