European Alliance for the Self Determination of Indigenous PeopleS:
In a joint statement, the European Alliance for The Self-Determination of Indigenous Peoples and the Europe for Peltier Coalition respond to the U.S. Parole Commission's refusal to release indigenous activist Leonard Peltier from prison on 2 July 2024.
"We are stunned, disappointed and outraged by yesterday's decision not to release 79-year-old Peltier, who has been imprisoned for over 48 years, on parole. And with us are tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of European citizens who have been calling for Peltier's freedom for decades," said Dr Michael Koch, spokesperson for all issues on the FREEDOM For PELTIER CAMPAIGN on behalf of the European Alliance, and initiator of the Europe for Peltier Coalition and Chairman of TOKATA-LPSG RheinMain e. V., one of the seven member organisations from four European countries of the European Alliance.
Within a very short space of time, several thousand people from Europe alone have sent letters and signatures to the US Parole Commission in favour of Peltier's release from prison. Leonard Peltier, who will be 80 years old this autumn, has been in prison for over 48 years for an act that could never be proven against him personally. Beyond all the legal doubts about Peltier's trial, conviction and continued imprisonment, however, there are other reasons to release Peltier on parole until a presidential pardon can be obtained. "Peltier has been seriously and sometimes life-threateningly ill for many years. His health situation is further worsened by the permanent confinement. He is not receiving adequate medical care. A transfer to a prison with a lower security level is being refused, although Peltier has sufficient positive status points for this, as the Federal Bureau of Prisons itself has informed us," Koch continues and adds: "Peltier's prison situation and the way his state of health is being handled are a disgrace. But the refusal to release him on parole is more than just a scandal, it's like the death penalty, only by different means. And this is exactly what the FBI has intended for almost 50 years – quoting the same falsehoods that it has fabricated since 1975 in order to have Peltier sentenced."
"As European human rights activists and supporters of indigenous issues, we would like to point out in this context that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention described Peltier's detention, which continues to this day, in 17 pages as a violation of his human and civil rights. And in addition to judges and prosecutors involved in earlier proceedings, individual former FBI employees and police officers have long been calling for an end to the "vendetta against Peltier". We will therefore now join forces across Europe and campaign for Peltier's release. "It's not over until it's over", Leonard Peltier told his supporters just a few days before the rejection decision was announced. For us, as representatives of various human rights organisations from France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Poland and Germany, this is an incentive to continue to campaign for Leonard Peltier's freedom and also for the issues and rights of Indigenous Peoples."
Dr. Michael Koch
Executive Director Tokata-LPSG RheinMain e. V.
Association for the support of indigenous social, cultural, environmental and human rights projects & Leonard Peltier Support Group/Germany