Dear RN list, Apparently Bill Clinton has said that he will consider Loeondard Peltier's clemency request soon, before he leaves office. I fear Peltier might well die in prison unless Clinton grants clemency. I plan to photocpy his photo and glue it onto a postcard along with something simple, like "Clemency for Peltier, who was framed" or something like that. I'm also sending an e-mail message... I urge others to do likewise. See below for more information. all the best, Jan ********************************************** President Bill Clinton The White House, 1600 Pennsylvannia Ave., Washington, D.C. U.S.A. 20500 Fax: (202) 456-2461 e-mail: •••@••.••• ******************************************************** From: "Brian Hill" <•••@••.•••> To: <•••@••.•••> Subject: Fw: Leonard Peltier Update Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2000 22:53:22 -0800 Hello Everyone, Here is an update on the situation with the letter and the Call for Clemency: President Clinton has publicly confirmed that he has Leonard's clemency file and that he will make a decision, one way or the other, in the near future (perhaps over the T-giving wknd). Today we distributed hundreds of copies of the letter (with signatures from Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder, Julia Butterfly, Ben Harper and me) to media, delegates, Non-governmental organizations and individuals from all over ther world who are here at the U.N. Climate Control Conference in den Haag (Netherlands). All four races of humanity and persons from every climate zone/ecosystem on the planet received copies. I personally delivered a copy to Frank Loy, the U.S. Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs (and currently the highest ranking U.S. government official outside of the country)<== he was the person who was pied in the face during his press conference yesterday. The letter and the request for signatures is posted on the Independent Media Center website and we are encouraging people to sign on and IMC to keep a rolling count. . .the website link is attached (or you can just go to www.indymedia.org) Please go there and keep this on the front page by adding your signature/comments. If you ever thought about doing something for Leonard Peltier and you are not doing it right now, think again. . . Hoka Hey! Wopila, Tom ********************************************************** From: "Brian Hill" <•••@••.•••> To: <•••@••.•••> Subject: Leonard Peltier Day support letter Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2000 23:45:16 -0800 November 23, 2000 Dear President Clinton, In the old days, before the broken treaties, before the wars of conquest and the ethnic cleansing, the People honored the man who held your office with the title "Great Father," because they, like the early settlers of this country, believed in the noble experiment called America. A land where freedom was king and all people were equal under the blindfolded figure of Justice. This once great nation has lost sight of the simple yet sacred intentions that defined our existence—blinded by humanity’s greatest affliction—the infection of the mind known as greed. In doing so, our nation has failed us all, but none so much as the People who first believed. The first inhabitants of this continent who welcomed as brothers and sisters those castaways from Europe who had labored under feudalism for thousands of years. The tribes that saved our lives and first showed us what it really meant to be free have paid the heaviest price for our failing experiment. If there was an easier way to describe the reality of today, we would certainly use it, but our time cries out for Truth. We, the undersigned, do not claim perfection. In fact, by our signatures we attest that each and every one of us is human and as such we have all made mistakes. However it is the gift of Life that allows us to strive to right our wrongs. One stroke of your pen, one moment of your time, one breath of your Life undoes a great injustice and returns one man to the People he loves and serves. We are calling for the release of the man known as "Wind Chases the Sun" or "He Leads the People" or Leonard Peltier and also, regrettably, as U.S. Prisoner # 89637-132. Leonard’s file speaks for him, the evidence, the truth is there buried under a quarter century of deceit. We need only note the knowingly fraudulent affidavit that led to his extradition from Canada, the deliberately suppressed, misleading and false evidence that led to his conviction and the politics that thwarted his appeals. Even the prosecutor has since admitted that the government does not know who committed the crime that sent Leonard to prison. This is an irreconcilable fact, underlying an unacceptable status quo. Contact any of us if you need more information than you already have. But what your action truly requires now is courage, integrity and justice. By granting clemency, you take the first step on a new path, one where the original inhabitants finally find compassion, justice and, most of all, the right to exist, from the nation that once oppressed them. Failure, on the other hand, hobbles our future, for a nation built upon injustice cannot survive no matter who is at its helm. If Leonard Peltier dies in prison, a piece of all of us will die with him—that piece that stands for the People, that piece that displays courage in the face of adversity, that piece that holds hope for the future, that piece that is Free. As we leave you with the knowledge empowering you to make the right choice, we find it appropriate to close with Leonard Peltier’s own words: Silence, they say, is the voice of complicity. But silence is impossible. Silence screams. Silence is a message, just as doing nothing is an act. Let who you are ring out and resonate in every word and every deed. Yes, become who you are. There’s no sidestepping your own being or your own responsibility. What you do is who you are. You are your own comeuppance. You become your own message. You are the message. May the Great Spirit Make Sunrise in Your Heart . . . Hoka Hey!
