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<font size=3>contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info<br>
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:22:08 -0700 (PDT)<br><br>
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Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee<br>
April 28, 2009<br>
For Immediate Release:<br>
Leonard Peltier is a Six-Time Nobel Nominee<br><br>
American Indian activist and political prisoner Leonard Peltier has been
nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the sixth consecutive year.
Peltier has been an inmate in the United States federal prison system
since 1976, so the fact that he has earned the distinction of a Nobel
nomination every year since 2004 is especially remarkable.<br><br>
Peltier's unlawful conviction in the deaths of two FBI agents in South
Dakota has long been internationally decried as one of the most blatant
injustices in recent United States legal history. In the aftermath
of his trial, federal prosecutors were openly excoriated for having
manufactured evidence against Peltier, for having withheld exculpatory
evidence, and also for having coerced witnesses into giving false
testimony.<br><br>
Lynn Crooks, Assistant Special Prosecutor in Peltier's trial, admitted to
a federal judge that "the government does not know who killed its
agents, nor do we know what participation Leonard Peltier may have had in
it."<br><br>
And yet Leonard Peltier has remained a prisoner for more than 33
years. Fifty five United States Senators and Congressional
Representatives (including Democrats and Republicans) have filed an
appeal brief demanding that Peltier receive a new trial. Amnesty
International has repeatedly called for Peltier's immediate release from
prison, governments from all over the world have passed resolutions
insisting that Peltier be released, and a large contingent of
distinguished human rights advocates have been very outspoken in their
strong support for Peltier - including six people who have already
received the Nobel Peace Prize: Nelson Mandela (1993), Rigoberta Menchu
Tum (1992), Mikhail Gorbachev (1990), the 14th Dalai Lama (1989),
Archbishop Desmond Tutu (1984), and Mother Teresa (1979).<br><br>
Despite his well known status as a political prisoner, however, the basis
for Peltier's Nobel nominations has been his remarkable success in
furthering the causes of peace and human rights. During his 33
years of unjust incarceration, Peltier has worked tirelessly on a
multitude of organized efforts to help other people achieve a more
dignified and humane existence. While the Nobel Committee in
Oslo (Norway) requests that letters of nomination not be made public, it
is nonetheless widely known that Leonard Peltier has facilitated numerous
significant donations to a wide variety of charities and human rights
organizations.<br><br>
Peltier is, of course, not financially wealthy - but he is an
accomplished painter. Often expending his meager prison commissary
account funds on art supplies such as paints, brushes, and canvas, he
produces works of art which are subsequently donated and auctioned.
Peltier has also worked to establish assistance programs for many
underprivileged groups, and he has helped in other ways to fund a
multitude of efforts from scholarships for Native students to shelters
for victims of domestic violence. The Christmas fundraising effort
begun by Peltier more than 25 years ago on the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation in South Dakota (one of the most impoverished places in the
United States) has steadily been expanded and now provides assistance on
at least five different Indian Reservations the families now receiving
the benefits of this annual program number more than one thousand.
It is difficult to determine precisely the sum total of donations and
contributions that Peltier has helped to facilitate, Peltier refuses to
boast about his humanitarian work and many of his projects have not been
made public. It is estimated, however, that the total contributions
resulting from Peltier's work during his 33 year imprisonment extend into
the millions of dollars.<br>
<br>
Peltier's long record of human rights advocacy involves more than raising
money. He has written a great deal while in prison, consistently
taking advantage of every opportunity to encourage people not to harbor
resentments, to take care of the environment, and to treat each other
with love and respect. It is no small irony that a person treated
in such an inhumane way should so strongly advocate the humane treatment
of others, that a person so financially impoverished should help raise
such extraordinary amounts of money for others, that a person with such
just cause for bitterness and resentment should encourage forgiveness,
and that a person imprisoned should be one of America's strongest
advocates for freedom.<br><br>
Peltier's 1999 book Prison Writings: My Life is My Sundance (Saint
Martin's Press) continues to be a best seller on many lists. It is
fitting that Leonard Peltier's own words (from his book) should conclude
this official press release: "We are in this together - the rich,
the poor, the red, the white, the black, the brown, and the yellow.
We are all one family of humankind. We share responsibility for our
Mother Earth and for all those who live and breathe upon her. I
believe our work will be unfinished until not one human being is hungry
or battered, not a single person is forced to die in war, not one
innocent languishes imprisoned, and no one is persecuted for his or her
beliefs. I believe in the good in humankind. I believe that
the good can prevail, but only with great effort. And that effort
is ours, each of ours, yours and mine….Never cease in the fight for<br>
peace, justice, and equality for all people. Be persistent in all
that you do and don't allow anyone to sway you from your
conscience."<br><br>
Please join the LP-DOC is congratulating Leonard on this monumental
achievement!<br><br>
Write to Leonard Peltier at this address:<br><br>
Leonard Peltier # 89637-132<br>
USP Lewisburg<br>
PO BOX 1000<br>
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania 17837<br><br>
************************************************<br><br>
For more information about Leonard Peltier's case, about his humanitarian
work, or about his works of art, please contact his defense committee at
this address:<br><br>
Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee<br>
P.O. Box 7488<br>
Fargo, North Dakota 58106<br>
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