* NIEUWE MINISTER VAN JUSTITIE IN DE VERENIGDE STATEN

Laat van je horen: Vrijheid voor Leonard Peltier!

Loretta Lynch werd aangesteld als de nieuwe Minister van Justitie van de Verenigde Staten.

Schrijf haar een brief (voorbeeld hieronder) :

Attorney General Loretta Lynch

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20530-0001

 Of stuur een email: askdoj@usdoj.gov.

Vraag haar om de Clemency campagne voor Leonard Peltier te steunen en de onrechtmatige veroordeling recht te zetten.

( Voorbeeld brief)

Attorney General Loretta Lynch

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear Attorney General Lynch:

Erick Holder took the necessary steps to investigate and vacate the conviction of Senator Ted Stevens because of misconduct by federal prosecutors. In the interest of EQUAL justice, I now ask that you undertake an Executive Review of COINTELPRO-era politically motivated cases, starting with the case of Leonard Peltier.

In 1975, the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities (also known as the Church Committee) investigated the counterintelligence activities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over a 25-year period. With regard to its COunter INTELligence PROgram, or COINTELPRO, operations, the Church Committee found the Bureau responsible for: violating and ignoring the law; exceeding its powers with regard to domestic intelligence activity; using excessively intrusive techniques against United States citizens; using covert action to disrupt and discredit domestic groups; abusing intelligence information for political purposes; and having inadequate controls, as well as no accountability. As you know, COINTELPRO was centrally directed and targeted a range of political dissidents and organizations. The stated goals of COINTELPRO were to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize” those persons or organizations that the FBI found objectionable, i.e., a threat to the status quo. The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., was one of the most notable of these COINTELPRO targets.

During the 1970s, the American Indian Movement (AIM) also was a target of the FBI. AIM activist Leonard Peltier was wrongfully convicted in 1977 in connection with the shooting deaths of two FBI agents and has served nearly 40 years in federal prison despite proof that he was convicted on the basis of fabricated and suppressed evidence, as well as coerced testimony.

The United States Courts of Appeal have repeatedly acknowledged investigative and prosecutorial misconduct in this case—evident from the time of Peltier’s extradition from Canada to his trial and subsequent sentencing.

Peltier also has been denied fair consideration for parole by unscrupulous, untruthful, and overzealous prosecutors who know parole authorities do not consult the court record and will therefore take on faith any false statements the prosecutors care to make.

On June 23, 1995, Amnesty International submitted a letter of concern about the Peltier case to then Attorney General Janet Reno. The world renowned human rights organization sought but failed to obtain an Executive Review of the case.

I agree with senior deputy director of Amnesty International-USA Curt Goering who, after the U.S. Parole Commission denied Peltier parole in August 2009, stated: “Given that the case against Peltier unraveled years ago, his continued imprisonment is only protracting a grave miscarriage of justice… When you consider the concerns that plague the case… it is unconscionable that Leonard Peltier should continue to suffer behind bars. It is high time for the U.S. government to… right the wrongs of the past.”

I call on you, Ms. Lynch, to conduct an Executive Review of the Peltier case without delay, one that addresses:

• FBI agents’ use of improper techniques or coercive tactics, as well as fabricated evidence;
• FBI laboratory personnel’s use of poor scientific techniques, mishandling of evidence, provision of skewed or completely false testimony to support prosecution claims, or providing fabricated evidence; and
• prosecutorial misconduct such as courtroom misconduct; mishandling of physical evidence (hiding, destroying, and/or tampering with evidence, case files or court records); failing to disclose exculpatory evidence; threatening, badgering, and/or tampering with witnesses; and using false or misleading evidence.

This review also should include examination of post-conviction actions on the part of FBI officials and agents, as well as prosecutors, to prevent fair consideration of Peltier’s applications for parole and Executive Clemency.

It is long past time to rectify an immense and evident injustice. The politically-motivated prosecution of Leonard Peltier is an abuse of power at least as troubling as that in Senator Stevens’ case.

Conduct an Executive Review of the Peltier case now. Only through such honorable action, which is wholly in your power, can we be sure that justice will, at last, be done.

Signature (handtekening)