Leonard Peltier - Universal Periodic Review

Universal Periodic Review

contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info

There have been a lot of recent activities on
Leonard’s behalf. For example, in front of even
the lead banner at the major anti-war protest in
San Francisco this week, strode a contingent of
Native Americans and their supporters calling for
freedom for Leonard Peltier. Awesome!

Last week, four persons attending the U.S. State
Department “listening” session in Albuquerque
spoke up on Leonard’s behalf. More mention was
made at the second Albuquerque session the next
day. Other supporters will speak on Leonard’s
behalf today and tomorrow at the Berkeley and San
Francisco “listening" sessions, respectively. We can’t thank you enough.

For your information, the remaining sessions (as of this writing) include:

-- Detroit/Dearborn, MI, on April 7, 2010, at
Wayne State Law School (Host organizations:
NAACP, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee)
-- Chicago, IL, on April 13-14, 2010, at John
Marshall Law School (Host Organizations: Housing
Action Illinois, John Marshall Law School)
-- Birmingham, AL, Date TBD (week of April 19) at
Miles College (Host Organizations: Greater
Birmingham Ministries, Alabama ARISE)
-- NEW! Washington, DC, on April 22-23, 2010,
Location TBD, (Host organization: Federalist Society).

If you are unable to attend a session, you’re
encouraged to send a message directly to the U.S.
Department of State. Those interested in
providing their views, comments, proposals and
recommendations regarding the human rights
violations related to the Peltier case can send
an mailto:upr_info@state.gove-mail (upr_info@state.gov).

With YOUR support, we’ll build a strong case to
put before the Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights at the UN. So, again, thank you
for all you do on Leonard’s behalf.

In solidarity and as appropriate, the LP-DOC will
become a signatory to cluster reports currently
under development. These reports are being
developed by a coalition of human rights
organizations and each report addresses a
specific area of concern. The LP-DOC has already
submitted material for the cluster report on
political prisoners and will submit its own
report directly to the United Nations next month.
We plan also to participate in the UN session in
Geneva later this year which will conclude the
review of the United States government’s record
in meeting its human rights obligations.
*************************************
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 23, 2010


Contact:

Morning Star Gali, International Indian Treaty Council
morningstar@treatycouncil.org
415.641.4482

(Berkeley Session)
Allison Davenport
davenport.allison@gmail.com
510.418.0608


State Department to hold listening sessions on US
Compliance with International Human Rights
Obligations in Berkeley and San Francisco March 25th and 26th.

UPR community training on Wednesday, March 24th
6-8 p.m, Mission Cultural Center 2868 Mission
Street, San Francisco CA 94110, 3rd floor Art Studio


San Francisco – As part of a process conducted by
the United Nations Human Rights Council to
examine the United States’ compliance with its
legally-binding human rights obligations, the
U.S. Department of State will conduct two
“listening sessions” or consultations with human
rights and community groups from the San Francisco Bay Area.



The San Francisco and Berkeley consultations will
focus on United States’ signed and ratified human
rights treaties as well as the UN Charter and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A wide
cross section of Bay Area rights organizations
will testify on the fulfillment of human rights
protections that address racial discrimination;
criminal justice; economic justice and equity,
including state accountability, health and
education; LGBT rights; disability rights and
environmental justice and sustainability.

This November will be the United States’ first
review under this Human Rights Council process.
The “Universal Periodic Review” or “UPR” assesses
the human rights compliance of every UN member
state every four years and is intended to improve
all UN Member States’ human rights compliance.

Representatives of the U.S. Department of State
and other federal agencies will be in attendance
to inform their report to the Universal Periodic
Review (UPR). Prior to the listening sessions, a
training will be held to inform the local community of the UPR process.

“The U.S. government is the main abuser of
immigrants’ rights,” states Arnoldo Garcia of the
the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee
Rights. “Our communities will use the UPR to
expose the U.S. and press for action to comply
with the CERD by ending all forms of racial,
ethnic, nationality and religious profiling.”

“This really is an historic event,” said Alberto
Saldamando, General Counsel of the International
Indian Treaty Council. “In the 36 years of work
of the IITC at the international level, this is
the first time the U.S. government has ever asked
the victims for their opinion on how the US is
doing to comply with its internationally legally
binding human rights obligations.”

The meetings will be recorded, and a written
report will be posted on the U.S. Department of
State’s website. This summary may be used as part
of the U.S. government’s submission to the Human
Rights Council. Organizations are also welcome to
submit a 5-page report directly to the UN before April 19th.

The government selected several cities in the US,
including San Francisco and Berkeley, in which to
conduct listening sessions or consultations.
Consultations have been held in New Orleans,
Washington, D.C., New York City, El Paso and
Albuquerque, and others are planned for Detroit, Chicago and Birmingham.

The Berkeley consultation is on Thursday, March
25 at the Bancroft Hotel, 2680 Bancroft Way,
Berkeley, CA and will begin at 8:30 am and end at
12:30 pm. The San Francisco consultation will be
held at the University of San Francisco on
Friday, March 26, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm in the
Mclaren Conference Center, 2130 Fulton Street,
San Francisco CA 94117. The UPR community
training will be held on Wednesday, March 24th
6-8 p.m, Mission Cultural Center 2868 Mission
Street, San Francisco CA 94110, 3rd floor Art Studio.

For more information and to register for the
upcoming sessions, visit
http://uprconsultationsf.eventbrite.com/http://uprconsultationsf.eventbrite.com/.