CANADIAN GOVERNMENT AGREES TO REVIEW LEONARD PELTIER'S
EXTRADITION
June 6, 1994
OTTAWA, CANADA -- In an unprecedented decision, Canada's
Justice Minister Allan Rock recently authorized a review of the
Leonard Peltier case in Canada amounting to what we hope will be
an investigative inquiry into the 1976 extradition which falsely
returned Leonard Peltier to the United States on the basis of
FALSE and fabricated evidence.
After more than 18 years, this breakthrough is the first time
the Canadian government has agreed to officially re-evaluate its
position.
On March 7, 1994, a brief meeting took place between the
Justice Minister of Canada Allan Rock and Liberal M.P. Warren
Allmand, Chairperson of the Canadian Parliament Justice Committee.
Mr. Allmand, a former Solicitor General of Canada, made strong
recommendations to Mr. Rock that he establish an independent
review of this case in order to be given a true picture of what
really happened and how Canada should really be defending this
case.
Mr. Allmand also made the Minister aware of the submission
and recommendations put forward to the Royal Commission on
Aboriginal Peoples by the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee,
Canada, to which the commission subsequently agreed to support
sending a strong letter to the Minister asking for his
"intervention on an important issue that has been on a worldwide
agenda for almost eighteen years." Signed by Georges Erasmus,
former chief of the Assembly of First Nations and Judge Rene
Dussault of the Quebec Court of Appeals, the two co-chair of the
government-sponsored, multi-million dollar commission called for
an updated, official review of the case.
The RCAP was established by the Government of Canada in 1991
in the aftermath of the Mohawk/indigenous crisis of 1990, with a
broad mandate to investigate the evolution of the relationship
among aboriginal peoples, the Canadian government and Canadian
society; to seek reconciliation and solutions to the problems and
crisis conditions affecting Canada's aboriginal peoples. Following
months of public testimony, the Commission's final report of its
findings and recommendations is expected to be delivered to the
Canadian government by late 1994 or 1995.
The Canadian Leonard Peltier Defense Committee is presently
forwarding all appropriate legal and political documents to the
Justice Minister of Canada, including other worldwide support
along with an official petition recently endorsed by 48 Dutch
Members of Parliament expressing great concern for the case as put
forward by 60 members of the Canadian Parliament and 55 members of
the U.S. Congress.
The people of Canada have a duty in bringing the Peltier case
to justice. It was in 1976 that Leonard Peltier was arrested in
Canada and later applied for political asylum. Eighteen years
later after his final appeal was denied in July, 1993, which
included an unprecedented intervention by 55 Canadian MPs, his
freedom now rests exclusively with the President's approval of
executive clemency.
All of this places an immense responsibility for all human
rights conscious peoples in Canada to now support that a fair
review of the extradition takes place and that all findings are
presented to the U.S. President along with a formal diplomatic
request made for Mr. Peltier's return to Canada and an official
objection to the conduct of American authorities during the 1976
extradition proceedings.
The LPDC of Canada has been established since 1987 as an
autonomous, full-time advocacy coalition lobbying for support from
around the world for justice and Leonard Peltier's freedom; always
exposing the broader aboriginal struggle and notorious conditions
which native people have to endure with constant violations to
their rights; labelled as criminals in their own homelands if
forced to defend themselves. Hundreds of cases of individual
abuses, violations to ancestral land and treaty rights ranging
from the racism-induced murder of Leo LaChance in Saskatchewan to
the ongoing destruction of ancient nation cultures of the Mohawk
peoples; the Alberta Lubicon Cree, the Cheslatta Carrier peoples
of British Columbia; the Innu of Nitassinan and others. Conditions
continue to deteriorate for the aboriginal peoples of North
America!
It is with this in mind, that we would like to thank all
people who support Leonard Peltier's freedom at this very crucial
moment. We would like to remind you again that there has never
been any evidence to prove that Leonard Peltier is guilty of any
crime! After many years of sacrifice, there remains no doubt in
the broader world today that Leonard Peltier remains a political
prisoner in his own homelands, forced to endure the inhumanity of
a society which has lost its place in the understanding of true
justice.
Leonard Peltier's case represents an injustice to all
aboriginal people that says:
If you have the courage to stand up and defend your true
aboriginal rights, this is
what could happen to you. Unfortunately this is what happened to
Leonard and the only way we could ever hope to change this picture
at this critical time is to openly support freedom for Leonard
Peltier!
As soon as we receive further clarification involving the
review and other overall developments, we will let people know. We
encourage all people to participate in a major public
demonstration & vigil in support of clemency on June 26, 1994 in
Washington, D.C., organized by the U.S. Leonard Peltier Defense
Committee and its supporters. Commemorated worldwide in an appeal
for Leonard Peltier's freedom, this day is the anniversary of the
June 26, 1975 Incident at Oglala.
Please see the enclosed information including a sample letter
to the Justice Minister of Canada followed by an account of what's
happening now and what you can do; who and how to contact.
* * * *
For more information, contact:
Frank or Anne Dreaver, LPDC, Canada, 43 Chandler Dr., Scarborough,
Ontario Canada (tel/fax): (416) 439-1893. E-mail can be sent via
APC/Internet to: lpdccfd@web.apc.org.
In the U.S., the LPDC, P.O. Box 583, Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.A.
66044 (tel): (913) 842-5774; (fax): (913) 842-5796.