To find out contact information for the officials in your state, visit these
sites:

www.house.gov
www.senate.gov

or call: 202-224-3121

To : United States Senator ______or Representative_____
United States Congress
Washington D.C.
 

>From : NAME AND ADDRESS
 
 

Dear _________________,
 

I am writing to express my shock and outrage over the recent denial of
clemency to Mr. Leonard Peltier. I am also writing to ask for your help and
support in this tragic case.

As you know, Mr. Peltier is a Native American citizen of this country who
has now been incarcerated for twenty-five years, following his highly
controversial conviction of the 1975 murders of two FBI agents. He has never
received the benefit of a fair trial, despite the worldwide outcry of human
rights and religious leaders. Despite disturbing evidence that vengeful FBI
officials coerced witnesses, utilized false testimonies and withheld a key
ballistics test reflecting his innocence, Mr. Peltier was denied a new trial
on technical grounds. Today even the United States Attorney admits that no
one knows who fired the fatal shots. The Judge who denied the new trial has
written to firmly support Mr. Peltier's release. Meanwhile, Mr. Peltier
himself is long overdue for parole and in failing health. This case is an
embarrassment to our nation.

To make matters worse, Mr. Peltier's highly controversial conviction is
deeply rooted in the Pine Ridge "Reign of Terror", when FBI-backed
vigilantes killed 64 AIM members and supporters, and terrorized, assaulted
and battered scores of others. There has never been any adequate
investigation or redress of this grim chapter of civil rights history. For
all of these reasons, Mr. Peltier has become a symbol of ongoing U.S.
repression against the first citizens of this country.

Given all of the above, I am asking for the following :

1. Please press for a thorough and bi-partisan investigation of this case,
together with the FBI abuses which occurred during the Reign of Terror on
Pine Ridge Reservation, 1973-1976.

2. Please press for a Congressional Act declassifying all of the FBI and
related files in Mr. Peltier's case. Some 6000 documents, remain in secret
files, despite the fact that twenty five years have passed and the
investigation and court proceedings ended long ago. Given that some of the
files released earlier contained the critical and exculpatory ballistics
test which the FBI had concealed from the defense, we are convinced that
these secret files contain critical information.
 

We thank you for your time and consideration to this matter.
 
 

Sincerely,