US vs LEONARD PELTIER FBI MISCONDUCT

Leonard Peltier Defense Committee Canada's
appeal for action to the United Nations
Working Group on Indigenous Populations

July 24 to July 28, 1995

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

presented to the working group on indigenous populations by
frank dreaver of the mistawasis plains cree nation,
saskatchewan, canada.

mr. dreaver is a north american indigenous para-legal and an
international representative for the leonard peltier case in
both canada and the united states. he is one of the original
co-founders of the lpdc-canada.

______________________________________________________________

greetings madame chairperson, committee members and
fellow indigenous delegates:

if you please, i would like to take a moment to recognize the many
north american traditional elders and their spiritual advisors represented
here today. their leadership and contribution in the ongoing struggle for
peace and justice in the world today is a historic testimony in itself of
our continuous survival as global indigenous populations. it is through
the preservation of our original instructions which continues to remain
the foundation of our true identity and our purpose in life. we recognize
the earth as our mother and all living things that inhabit the earth and
share life with us as our living relatives.

madame chairperson, it is these delicate values that we are sworn to
defend in the world today. and it is my testimony that the case i
represent here now is nothing but a case of not having the right to
protect those values.

i would like to thank our brother, leonard peltier, for his
tremendous courage. and in respect, i would like to thank our legal team
and all our volunteers and support networks whose tireless work is the
reason why we are testifying here today.

unfortunately for me, it is both an honour and a shame that my
presence here today is of great consequence. it is an honour to be here as
a north american indigenous person following in our forefathers'
footsteps on a quest for justice and the true recognition of our ancestral
rights.

however, it shames me deeply that after 20 years with all of the
facts and documentation we have here with us, that our brother leonard
peltier remains in prison for a crime he did not commit. this continues to
represent the bottom line as it is supported by millions and millions of
people from around the world, who like us are demanding justice from the
u.s. president. we are asking him to intervene by granting mr. peltier
executive clemency. similar demands for support continue to be made to the
justice minister of canada. the circumstances of this tragic case
continues to shock the conscience of the world. it is totally outrageous
to suggest that mr. peltier ever received a fair trial from the judicial
system of the united states.

even before he entered the united states courts, u.s. government agents
presented false affidavits to another country in order to extradite him.

the manner in which this was done as we will prove constitutes nothing
more than a crime in itself. many members of the u.s. congress have argued
that mr. peltier did not receive a fair trial and should at least be
granted his constitutional rights.

this is a case where the charges he was convicted for suddenly
changed from first-degree murder to aiding and abetting without mr.
peltier ever having had a trial or the right to defend himself from the
later charge. we are also extremely alarmed at the f.b.i.'s recent
propaganda and their pressuring tactics to distort and obstruct the
truth.

madame chairperson, i would like to cite here several key examples
that have occurred during the past four years clearly supporting my
accusations towards the fbi, showing their actions fundamentally violated
the laws of the united states; international law and was done under their
official capacity:

such examples include personal visits and open lobbying by federal
agent o'hara, in charge of the minneapolis division of the f.b.i., to
members of the u.s. house and senate who were felt to be sympathetic to
mr. peltier's case.

fbi agents even stormed into a minneapolis city council meeting,
successfully pressuring that city council not to endorse a resolution
calling for mr. peltier's freedom and a new and fair trial.

agent o'hara is also mentioned as responsible for sending a lengthy
article to the mid-west newspapers and media urging them not to support
the clemency request for leonard peltier. his presentation contained
numerous factual errors, taking on a position that the government itself
had long time abandoned in court including the fact that leonard peltier
personally was responsible for ambushing and killing the agents.

large advertisement space was also bought by the f.b.i. agents'
association in the "washington post" and "indian country today," which is
the largest national native newspaper in the united states giving these
same false accountings of the facts solely as an effort to destroy mr.
peltier's credibility in his request to the president for executive
clemency.

finally madame chairperson, the very serious issue of one of mr.
peltier's lawyers, who stated that he received a death threat from a fbi
agent last fall after a south dakota public television debate was held
between himself and assistant u.s. attorney lynn crooks regarding the
peltier case.

also recently, a very serious mistake was revealed in the transcripts
of mr. peltier's second appeal hearing 10 years ago which has now given
him the grounds to file a writ of habeas corpus which was done on june 12,
1995 to the united states supreme court.

this mistake presented a much different picture, which in turn could
have altered the eighth circuit court's decision 10 years ago. as it was,
the court's verdict resulted in a narrow ruling amounting to possible
grounds versus probable grounds as to whether or not leonard peltier
should receive a new trial. a decision is now pending by the u.s. supreme
court.

madame chairperson, fellow delegates:

as we look around our sacred mother earth today, it is with great
sadness and no choice that all humanity now shares the reality of the
intolerable conditions we are forced to live under not to mention that our
indigenous values continue to be denied and disregarded.

if we, as a human family are to ever truly accept our responsibility
in the healing circle of life, we must empower ourselves to act in unity
if we are ever to correct our mistakes and continue on in our relationship
with the natural world.

however, a crime is a crime, madame chairperson, and let me assure
you, sisters and brothers this case of leonard peltier is a crime! and as
long as this crime continues, none of us are free.

this case is now supported by the majority house of the european
parliament; amnesty international; the royal commission on aboriginal
peoples in canada; along with worldwide political endorsements; countless
aboriginal nations and their organizations; human rights commissions, the
majority of canada's trade unions and aboriginal lawyers of the canadian
bar association. numerous u.s. senators and congress people support the
executive clemency campaign to the u.s. president bill clinton. fifty-five
members of canada's parliament officially intervened in mr. peltier's 1992
appeal for a new trial in the united states and condemned his false
extradition.

my purpose now, madame chairperson and fellow delegates, as a
representative for mr. peltier in both the u.s. and canada, is to stress
the urgency of what this case truly represents by being able to present
you and the united nations human rights commission with all of our
documented facts, accompanied by five recommendations that we encourage
you to adopt and put into action:

1. we are requesting that the united nations human rights bodies
formally endorse leonard peltier as a north american political prisoner,
who should be granted executive clemency and to urgently forward this
recommendation to the united states president for his immediate
attention.

2. we are requesting that the united nations human rights bodies
formally endorse mr. peltier's constitutional right to a new and fair
trial and to further communicate this recommendation to the united states
president and u.s. attorney general also.

3. we are requesting that the united nations human rights bodies
urgently appeal to the prime minister of canada and to its justice and
external affairs departments encouraging them to agree to an independent
review of the canadian involvement of the u.s. government's conduct during
the extradition hearings in canada.

4. we are asking the u.n. to recommend that the canadian government
officially lodge its complaint to the president of the united states; the
u.s. attorney general's department and the u.n. human rights commission in
opposition to the violation of international treaty protocol and the
direct violation perpetrated on another country's sovereignty.

5. we are requesting that the united nations call for a full
commission of inquiry to be conducted by the united states government into
its domestic intelligence operations and activities of the federal bureau
of investigation (f.b.i.) as related to the leonard peltier case in both
canada and the united states and the civil and constitutional treaty
rights of the north american indigenous peoples.

madame chairperson, these are the five recommendations we are
presenting to you this day. i would like to conclude by saying that mr.
peltier's case stands today around the world as an example of what happens
to indigenous people who have the courage to defend their true aboriginal
identities and treaty rights.

the peltier case is a case of political failure, political
intervention and political imprisonment. i know in my heart that any one
of you today who took the time to study these facts would come to these
conclusions.

it is our testimony and presentation here today which we hope will be
the beginning of a stronger relationship in our global responsibility to
stop injustice of this magnitude that i have expressed here today.

madame chairperson, fellow delegates, let me assure you that we, the
people like this case have stood the test of time. unfortunately, mr.
peltier is a living example of the kind of price we are forced to pay in
defense of our right to live in peace in our own homelands. as long as he
remains that sacrifice, i can assure that this cause will never go away.

thank you madame chairperson and fellow delegates.

our special thanks