NCJ Number
234914
Journal
Criminal Justice Studies Volume: 24 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2011 Pages: 57-82
Date Published
March 2011
Length
26 pages
Annotation
The Oglala Sioux Indian tribe has accused the FBI of covering up the homicide of their members in the 1970s. In an ongoing attempt to force the authorities to investigate these homicides on the Pine Ridge Reservation over three decades ago, the tribe wants the cases to be reopened and a full disclosure made as to who was behind these killings.
Abstract
There is a suspicion of official involvement by the refusal to set up an inquiry about the deaths that followed the surrender of the American Indian Movement (AIM) members after the Wounded Knee protest. It has caused loss of faith by the conviction of an Indian activist Leonard Peltier on testimony that is not conclusive on the forensic tests. There is evidence of an agent provocateur on Pine Ridge that has made DNA an absolute priority in the impending trial of John Graham who is accused of killing Mae Ann Pictou, an AIM member. There is suspicion of subversion by the FBI based on case law and by the findings in the Church Report of 1985. By its repressive tactics, the USA has executed a neocolonial policy on Native Americans, of which this is an example and its inception lies in the genocidal policies of forced removal, dismemberment, and assimilation. The unsolved murders, upcoming prosecution, and the defamation of activists on Pine Ridge need an official inquiry to wipe the slate clean of the persecution and the miscarriages of justice. (Published Abstract)