Friday April 7, 2000                                                                     Résumé en français
 

UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
56th session
Item 11(a) of the Agenda
CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING THE QUESTIONS OF:TORTURE AND DETENTION

Mr. Chair
My name is Bobby Castillo, Co-Coordinator of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee and speaking on behalf of Consejo Indio de Sud America (CISA).

I want to bring the attention to the case of Leonard Peltier, a Lakota-Chippewa and life long defender of traditional, cultural, civil, and human rights of Native Peoples.  He is currently incarcerated at Rochester,Minnesota, in the United States for a crime he did not commit. He has become a notorious symbol of injustice toward Indigenous Peoples. His personal testimony of the case is recorded on the Commission’s document (E/CN.4/1997/NGO/80).

Mr. Leonard Peltier has been arbitrarily held in U.S. federal prisons for twenty-four years.  The initial investigation, the illegal extradition, the unfair trial, the appeals, the current parole process and the current Executive Clemency campaign have all shown that Mr. Peltier is not, and has never been in prison to pay restitution for a crime.  Rather, he has been held
in prison for vindictive and political reasons.  All domestic remedies to bring justice to Mr. Peltier have been obstructed.

The United States admits to being directly responsible for Mr. Peltier’s fraudulent extradition from Canada in 1976.  They have admitted to preparing and submitting falsified affidavits to Canadian officials, with the participation of the Canadian prosecutor, according to FBI documents. This alone violates treaty protocol, extradition, and international law.

Mr. Peltier was then extradited to the United States where he was tried with the denial of due process guaranteed under the US Constitution and International Standards.  Since 1986, the US government has consistently conceded that they cannot prove who is guilty of the crime he was convicted of, demonstrating once again that Mr. Peltier is being arbitrarily
detained. The courts have utterly failed to bring him justice.

Mr. Peltier has been held eight years in excess of the US Parole Commission's own guidelines for release. The US Parole Commission set his next parole hearing for the year 2008, 17 years in excess of the Parole Commission's release guidelines and six years after the date set by Congress for the total abolition of the Parole Commission itself. The reasons the Parole
Commission has given for denying him parole have been arbitrary, capricious, discriminatory, and in violation of his civil and human rights. Such practice can be considered a clear form of arbitrary detention in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

 Peltier was recently given much needed surgery on his jaw which may allow him to eat properly but, it took 4 years of the prison authorities and justice department’s denial that he could receive any treatment for his jaw.  (*

Mr Chairman on this point it concerns us that the United States Government provided misinformation to the Special Rapporteur on Torture. *) To allow him to remain in excruciating pain for the last four years can also be considered a form of torture.

Additionally, the Federal Bureau of Prisons recently stated that Mr. Peltier is suffering from "diabetes, a cardiac condition, and hyperlipedemia". He has suffered from a stroke in the past, making these conditions very serious. Leonard Peltier has also lost 80% of the vision in his left eye as a result of the prison authorities‚ failure to provide prompt and necessary medical treatment.

Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment are outlawed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Every State is bound by the prohibition against torture as a matter of jus cogens. Nevertheless, torture of persons in detention persists, most often for
persons arbitrarily detained for political reasons.

Other than Mr. Peltier, thousands of prisoners in the United States do not receive adequate care for serious physical or mental health problems, according to several Human Rights NGOs' reports. Many of these practices violate US Laws as well as International Human Rights standards, but the mechanisms available to prevent abuses and provide redress are inadequate.
International standards state that places of detention shall be visited regularly by competent authority distinct from the authorities directly in charge of the administration of the place of detention or imprisonment. Unfortunately, the situation in the United States falls far short of this standard.

On December 10th, 1998, President Clinton signed a executive order for the implementation of International Human Rights treaties signed by the United States and about their obligations pursuant to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

In light of this executive order and considering the situation of Mr. Peltier, our organization Consejo Indio de Sud America (CISA) calls upon the Commission to appoint the Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to carry out a visit to the United States to study the US administration of justice based on racial discriminations and to investigate the case of Leonard Peltier, a recognized Indigenous Human Rights Defender, as well as the cases of other political prisoners and the condition of detention of the 2 million prisoners in the United States, especially at the Marion Control Unit, Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, SCI Greene, Pelican Bay State Prison, Florence Institution, among others and to make a report to the next Commission session.

Mr. Chair, I thank you for your attention
 

(*  *)    added statement during speach
 
 Résumé en français
07.04.00 UN Press Release
M. ROBERT CASTILLO (Indian Council of South America) a attiré l'attention de la Commission sur le cas de Leonard Peltier, emprisonné dans une prison du Minnesota depuis 24 ans, injustement, pour raisons politiques. Toutes les voies de recours pour faire la justice ont été obstruées. Les États-Unis admettent avoir obtenu son extradition du Canada après avoir falsifié des documents, ce qui constitue une violation flagrante du droit international. Son procès ne s'est pas déroulé dans le respect du droit, on n'a pas pu prouver qu'il est coupable des crimes dont il est accusé. Pour être éligible à la grâce, il doit
attendre jusqu'en 2008, la commission des grâces lui a nié arbitrairement le droit d'être entendu. Ces pratiques sont des
violations flagrantes des droits civils et politiques.
Le représentant a appelé la Commission à envoyer le Rapporteur spécial sur la torture et le Groupe de travail sur la détention arbitraire aux États-Unis pour étudier la pratique de la discrimination raciale dans l'administration judiciaire américaine et d'enquêter sur le cas de Leonard Peltier, un défenseur reconnu des droits humains des autochtones, ainsi que sur les conditions de détention de 2 millions de personnes.