Free Leonard Peltier, Canadian Judges, Parliament Ask U.S.

by Mark Bourrie

Peltier is in Kansas state's Leavenworth Penitentiary serving the 27th year of two life sentences for the murder of two FBI agents, Jack Coler and Ronald Williams, who were killed during a shootout at a South Dakota reservation on Jun. 26, 1975.

U.S. prosecutors admit they do not believe Peltier shot the agents, but claim he was involved in planning the ambush of the men, who were on the Pine Ridge Reservation to arrest a leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM), the group that had sponsored an occupation in the nearby community of Wounded Knee.

Peltier, a leader of the AIM and one of its most articulate spokesmen, has always denied any role in the killings. After the murders, he fled to Canada, but was turned over to U.S. authorities after an extradition hearing in 1975. The U.S. promised to give Peltier a fair trial.

"At a time when we are concerned in general about the possibility of people being falsely incriminated by an overzealous American administration, we would do well to be reminded and instructed to Mr. Peltier's case," said Bill Blaikie, a senior member of the left-of-center New Democratic party.

"Here was a case with an obvious political dimension and, as a result of evidence that was manufactured, Mr. Peltier, who did not believe he would be treated fairly in the United States, was extradited," he added.

Canada's parliamentary debate, which did not include a vote, was co-sponsored by John Reynolds, deputy leader of the right-of-center Canadian Alliance Party. Reynolds has campaigned for several years for Peltier's release, complaining that the U.S. justice system dismissed "critical and compelling testimony in the Peltier case."

The debate discussed evidence revealed in a privately commissioned legal inquiry held in Toronto in October, 2000. The findings of the inquiry, headed by Justice Fred Kaufman, a retired judge of the Quebec Court of Appeal, formed the basis of a Canadian clemency appeal that was turned down by former U.S. president Bill Clinton in the last days of his administration.

Kaufman concluded: "I am satisfied that if this had been known when the extradition hearing took place, the request to extradite Peltier would likely have been refused."

Several other Canadian judges, including Justice R.P. Anderson of the British Columbia Supreme Court, have commented on the case. "It seems clear to me that the conduct of the U.S. government involved misconduct from the inception," said Anderson.

The key extradition hearing witness, Myrtle Poor Bear, later testified that the FBI coerced her into signing false affidavits stating she witnessed Peltier murder the two agents.

The jailed man's supporters in Canada and the United States say the FBI fabricated documents supporting Poor Bear's testimony and withheld important evidence that pointed toward another suspect. The Canadian government, which conducted a five-year internal investigation into the extradition, admits that it knows Poor Bear's affidavits were false.

Peltier's latest request for parole was turned down by authorities after a hearing last summer. His lead lawyer, former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark, thinks he will be released before 2008, when he is eligible for a full parole hearing.

"We've detected weaknesses today that we've seen repeatedly," Clark said. "I think we'll get him out before 2008. But every day hurts."

"This is such a tragic injustice for the people involved and such a tragedy for the country that in the 21st century we still have such a multi-tiered system of justice," he added.

While the debate did not include a vote, a senior government official said it gives Ottawa "a strong moral ground to remind the Americans that Canada objects to the continuing imprisonment of Mr. Peltier."