This history of injustice has many parallels in a story from the United States: that of Leonard Peltier. The American Indian Movement (AIM) activist has been in prison for 36 years, convicted of killing two FBI agents in 1975. The incident and the many irregularities in the investigation and the legal case against Peltier are documented in the film “Incident at Oglala,” narrated by actor Robert Redford. Like Patishtan’s incarceration, the imprisonment of Peltier should be understood as part of an enduring history of colonialism in Native communities in the United States. The 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee (site of a historical massacre of Lakota people) marked the beginning of a three-year period of political violence on the Pine Ridge Reservation that was largely government generated. In the 1970s, the FBI carried out significant operations against organized American Indians through the COINTELPRO program. Documents later released show extensive surveillance, infiltration, and government participation in the generation of paramilitary violence on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. The paramilitaries, known as GOONS, killed more than 60 people, many of them elderly and children. No charges were ever filed.

It was in this context that Leonard Peltier and AIM activists came to be at Pine Ridge, invited by traditionalists terrified by the increasing violence. On June 26, 1975 two FBI agents in unmarked cars followed a pick-up truck onto the compound where a number of AIM families were camped. The families immediately became alarmed and feared a GOON attack. Shots were heard and a shoot-out erupted. More than 150 agents, GOONS, and law enforcement surrounded the ranch. Despite the fact that more than 40 people took part in the firefight, 3 were singled out: Bob Robideau, Darrell Butler and Leonard Peltier. In a trial that preceded Peltier’s, Robideau and Butler were found innocent based on self-defense, as the jury recognized that in this context of extreme violence they had rightly interpreted themselves to be at extreme risk. Apparently infuriated by their loss in this case, prosecutors went after Peltier with a vengeance.

Like Alberto Patishtán, Leonard Peltier has been a victim of institutional racism and political manipulation of the legal system. His trial was riddled with irregularities and violations of his constitutional rights. He was wrongfully extradited from Canada, key witnesses were suppressed, and witnesses that did testify against him later recanted and told of the terrible threats they were subject to. The context of extreme violence in which the incident took place was never presented at the trial, as it was in the cases of two others accused. During the 36 years since the trial, evidence of Peltier’s innocence has continued to mount, leading organizations such as Amnesty International, as well as notable individuals such as Nobel peace prize winner Desmond Tutu, to declare him a political prisoner and call for his release.