PELTIER FINALLY RECEIVES MEDICAL TREATMENT
Native American activist Leonard Peltier underwent surgery on March 21, 2000, by a Maxillofacial expert at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. E.E. Keller performed a five-hour surgery on Peltier, who had been suffering for the last four years from a severe condition which caused his jaw to be frozen open 13 millimeters. X-rays taken on Monday, March 20, showed that Leonard Peltier suffered from ankylosis on both sides of his mandible, meaning that his jaw was completely frozen and immobile, according to Keller. Keller reported that the surgery went smoothly, and Peltier's jaw has been returned to normal. He reported that Peltier is happy and recovering comfortably.
Peltier contracted tetanus as a child, which caused him to have long lasting problems with his jaw. However, two surgeries performed at the Federal Springfield Medical Facility in 1996 far worsened his condition and resulted in ankylosis. During his stay at Springfield, Peltier was housed in "the hole," or solitary confinement, to recover. Dr. Keller had written to the warden at Leavenworth in 1997, offering to treat Peltier, but prison officials insisted he undergo a third surgery at Springfield instead. Peltier refused. Since then, members of Congress, United Nations officials, human rights organizations, and hundreds of concerned supporters have been writing to prison officials to urge them to transfer Peltier to the Mayo Clinic. For a year, prison officials have been responding to such requests by reporting Peltier's condition to be "stable" and not "warranting" treatment.
Leonard Peltier, considered by Amnesty International to be a political prisoner who should be immediately and unconditionally released, was convicted in 1977 for the murders of two FBI agents. After being faced with formerly withheld evidence on appeal casting serious doubt on Mr. Peltier's guilt, the prosecution admitted that it could not prove who actually shot the agents or what participation Mr. Peltier may have had in their deaths. Peltier will be reviewed for parole on June 12, 2000.
For more information, contact the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee <www.freepeltier.org>, P. O. Box 583, Lawrence, KS 66044, (785) 842-5774.
On a disappointing note, Standing Deer, otherwise known as Robert H. Wilson, #640289, serving a life term at Pack One Prison in Navasota, Texas, for armed robbery, not murder, was denied parole by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in February 2000. This seems especially inhumane since Standing Deer is not a threat to society, being 74 years of age, and has served the last 24 years in the ironhouse and now has 6 incurable diseases, 4 of which are fatal. Why is he receiving such harsh treatment?
The following excerpt from Leonard Peltier's book Prison Writings: My Life is My Sun Dance (pp. 164-165) may explain: "I'd been alerted to the assassination plot [of Peltier] by the very man who was originally supposed to do the assassinating, a fellow Native American prisoner at Marion--and a tremendously brave human being-named Robert Standing Deer Wilson. Under extreme pressure, he had reluctantly agreed to do their dirty work for them and "get Peltier." In exchange, they'd promise him that they'd have outstanding murder charges against him dropped, and also that they'd see he got desperately needed medical treatment for an extremely painful spinal condition he had that they'd refused to treat for years. But, after agreeing to their scheme, Standing Deer couldn't bring himself to do it. He came to me and told me the whole scheme. . . . "
To help support this aging, courageous activist, please contact <bdyingswan@aol.com> or <http://standingdeer.homepage.com/index.html>. Write to Standing Deer as Robert H. Wilson, 640289, Estelle Unit, 264 FM 3478, Huntsville, TX 77320-3322.