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Official
Misconduct in Indian Country
After
30 years, the courts still won't correct the wrongs of the past. In
November 2003, the United States 10th Circuit Court of Appeals
acknowledged that "…Much of the government’s behavior at the Pine
Ridge Reservation and in its prosecution of Leonard Peltier is to be
condemned. The government withheld evidence. It intimidated
witnesses. These facts are not disputed." Yet, the court claimed it
lacked power to address this issue. the Peltier Legal Team believes
that a congressional inquiry on the misconduct in this case is long
overdue.
In March 2004, the Peltier attorneys
submitted a formal request to the U.S. Congress for an investigation
into the Justice Department's actions against Peltier and the
American Indian Movement (AIM) during the 1970s. The strife between
the government and AIM culminated in the June 26, 1975, shooting
deaths of two agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI). Peltier, who still maintains his innocence, was convicted of
the killings and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. He is
currently imprisoned at the U.S. penitentiary at Lewisburg,
Pennsylvania.
Human rights
organizations worldwide have long called for hearings into
the use of the criminal justice system by the FBI for political
purposes. Amnesty International, convinced that Peltier has
repeatedly been denied a fair trial and other fair consideration for
either parole or Executive Clemency, has called for his immediate
release on the grounds that he no longer has adequate recourse to
justice.
Despite repeated calls for
congressional hearings by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, Amnesty
International and individual members of Congress, no congressional
committee has yet had the courage to investigate the FBI’s
counterintelligence activities against AIM or the misconduct in the
Peltier case. Peltier's supporters believe Indians
must be heard on these matters. All Americans have the right to know
the truth about what occurred during that turbulent era.
The request to
Congress calls on legislators to fully investigate the FBI’s role in
the politically motivated violence on the Pine Ridge Indian
reservation in South Dakota from 1973 to 1976, and the now
documented official misconduct against members of AIM during that
period. In the case of Peltier, the FBI's own documents show that
the government illegally obtained his extradition from Canada; as
well as withheld critical evidence, presented fabricated evidence,
and intimidated witnesses into providing false testimony at trial.
The Peltier Legal Team challenges
Congress to finish the work the Church Committee began 30 years
ago. Uncover the COINTELPRO tactics employed against AIM. They are
not any less egregious than the tactics used against other activists
of the time—Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., for example.
As discovered by the Church Committee and reported in 1976, the
goals of the COunter INTELligence PROgrams of the period from 1956
to the mid-1970s were to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or
otherwise neutralize" those persons or organizations that the FBI
decided were "enemies of the State." Presidential candidate and
honored military veteran John Kerry was even placed under
surveillance for exercising his free speech rights in opposition to
the Vietnam War. The FBI’s COINTELPRO activities officially ended in
1971, but there have been examples of counterintelligence-type
operations against political dissidents since. In September 2005, a
government report was released showing that the FBI continues to be
in noncompliance with its own guidelines concerning its use of
informants.
On May 30, 2002, Attorney General Ashcroft effectively abolished the
restrictions that were first imposed in 1976 on FBI surveillance of
Americans' everyday lives. These regulations, a direct result of the
Church Committee's inquiries, were specifically developed to counter
the COINTELPRO domestic spying program that had led to massive civil
rights era abuses during the 1960s and 1970s.
COINTELPRO-style abuses are not a thing of the past. They are now
codified (and made legal) by the U.S. Patriot Act. Almost daily, we
hear of more instances where personal liberties are ignored in favor
of national security interests.
Such government misconduct against our citizens cannot be tolerated,
not by a society purporting to be founded on the principles of
justice and freedom. We trust that this inquiry will again lead
to congressional oversight of FBI domestic security
investigations, as well as legislation designed to better protect
Americans' fundamental rights.
How You Can Help
To understand the present, we have to examine the past. Sign an online
petition to ask that Congress investigate FBI misconduct in Indian Country.
If you prefer, write a
letter
asking Congress to investigate official misconduct in Indian
Country.
Please also contact your congressional representative and senators
for your state regarding the Peltier case. You may locate contact
information at:
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COINTELPRO