Release Political Prisoners

Leonard Peltier

We support the efforts of activists around the world who advocate for the release of Leonard Peltier, an Anishinabe-Lakota activist who was convicted in 1977 and is serving two consecutive life sentences for the murders of two FBI agents. Amnesty International has raised serious concerns about the fairness of Peltier's conviction and has advocated for his parole and for a presidential pardon.

Marilyn Black Elk, daughter of Wallace Black Elk and a supporter of Kent's campaign, offered words on behalf of Peltier at the Boulder, CO County Court House in February, 2010 (Part 1/Part 2).

Mumia Abu-Jamal

We support the efforts of activists around the world who advocate for the release of Mumia Abu-Jamal, an African-American activist, writer and journalist who was convicted of the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner and was sentenced to death. In 2008, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the murder conviction, but ordered a new capital sentencing hearing over concerns that the jury was improperly instructed. Subsequently, the United States Supreme Court allowed his July 1982 conviction to stand, and ordered the appeals court to reconsider its decision to rescind the death sentence. On April 26, 2011, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction as well as its decision to vacate the death sentence. The issue of the sentence was remanded for a new hearing. The death penalty may be imposed again or Abu-Jamal may receive a sentence of life without parole.

Amnesty International has concluded that the proceedings used to convict and sentence Mumia Abu-Jamal to death were in violation of minimum international standards that govern fair trial procedures and the use of the death penalty. Amnesty International believes that the interests of justice would best be served by the granting of a new trial to Abu-Jamal.

You can hear Abu-Jamal's opinions on current affairs and read transcripts at Prison Radio.

Bradley Manning

We support the efforts of activists around the world who advocate for the release of Bradley Manning, a 23-year-old Army intelligence analyst, who is accused of leaking a video showing the killing of civilians, including two Reuters journalists, by a US Apache helicopter crew in Iraq. He is also charged with sharing the documents known as the Afghan War Diary, the Iraq War Logs, and embarrassing US diplomatic cables, with the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. The video and documents have illuminated such issues as the true number and cause of civilian casualties in Iraq, human rights abuses by US-funded contractors and foreign militaries, and the role that spying and bribes play in international diplomacy.

Tim DeChristopher

We support the efforts of activists around the world who advocate for the release of Tim DeChristopher, an American climate activist and co-founder of the environmental group Peaceful Uprising. On December 19, 2008, he protested an oil and gas lease auction of 116 parcels of public land in Utah's redrock country, conducted by the Bureau of Land Management. DeChristopher decided to participate in the auction, signing a Bidder Registration Form and placing fake bids to obtain 14 parcels of land (totaling 22,500 acres) for $1.8 million. He was removed from the auction by federal agents, taken into custody, and questioned. On July 26, 2011 he was sentenced to two years in prison.

The Obama administration invalidated the auction due to the fact that the Bureau of Land Management rushed the auction through on behalf of the oil and gas industry. In DeChristopher’s trial, the judge would not allow the invalidation of the auction to be considered by the jury. DeChristopher's defense attorney and his team have filed documents notifying the court of their plans to appeal the sentence.

The mission of Peaceful Uprising: "We are committed to defending a livable future through empowering nonviolent action. We seek to change the institutional and social status quo at the root of the climate crisis, and move toward a just and healthy world. By pushing the reality of the climate crisis to the forefront of the public forum, we will secure the attention and inspire the revolution the climate crisis requires."