As Indigenous elder and activist Leonard Peltier turns 80 today (Thursday, Sept. 12), Amnesty International USA has written a letter to President Biden again urging him to grant clemency for Peltier and to release him immediately.
Peltier has been incarcerated (photo above was submitted for an earlier piece on Peltier in The South Dakota Standard) for nearly 50 years despite serious and ongoing concerns about the fairness of his trial. Earlier this year Amnesty International USA asked the U.S. Parole Commission and the Bureau of Prisons to grant Peltier parole, or compassionate release, respectively which they denied.
In its letter to President Biden, Amnesty urged him to rectify a case that has long troubled human rights advocates and Indigenous Peoples worldwide. This is not the first time the group has asked the Biden administration to grant clemency, but due to Peltier’s age and his most recent request for parole or for compassionate release being denied earlier this year, the request is now even more urgent, as clemency is now likely his only chance for freedom.
“Leonard Peltier should not have to die in prison,” said Justin Mazzola, researcher with Amnesty International USA. “In his remaining months in office, President Biden has the opportunity to release Leonard Peltier, allowing him to be home with his family and community for his last years, which could be one step to help mend the fractured relationship between Native Americans and the government and would forever be part of Biden’s legacy.”
In its appeal to President Biden, Amnesty International USA reiterated long standing concerns about the legal process that led to Peltier’s conviction and sentencing, Peltier’s age, length of time he has been imprisoned, and his critical health issues.
“No one should be imprisoned after a trial riddled with uncertainty about its fairness,” said Mazzola. “Keeping an 80-year-old man with various health issues locked behind bars for the rest of his life doesn’t serve justice. We hope that President Biden finds it in his heart to release Leonard Peltier as a matter of humanity, mercy, and human rights.”
Background
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Leonard Peltier, Native American activist and member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) was convicted of the murders of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975. He has always maintained his innocence. Amnesty International joins Tribal Nations, Tribal Leaders, Members of Congress, former FBI agents, Nobel Peace Prize winners and former U.S. Attorney James Reynolds, whose office handled Peltier’s prosecution and appeal, in urging his release.
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Peltier’s latest parole request was denied in July 2024. Parole was also rejected at Peltier’s last hearing in 2009.
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President Biden has committed to grant clemency/commutation of sentences on a rolling basis rather than at the end of his term, following a review of requests by the White House Counsel’s Office and the Department of Justice.
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Amnesty International has examined Peltier’s case extensively for many years, sent observers to his trial in 1977, and, along with its millions of members and supporters around the globe, has long campaigned on his behalf.
Amnesty International is a global movement of millions of people demanding human rights for all people — no matter who they are or where they are. We are the world’s oldest and largest grassroots human rights organization. Since 1961, ordinary people across the world have chosen to take extraordinary action in defense of human rights for all.
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