Ducking the crosshairs of angered FBI partisans, President Clinton denied clemency for American Indian political prisoner Leonard Peltier. The omission of Peltier's name from the list of pardons and sentence commutations released less than two hours before Clinton left office prompted his Defense Committee to declare January 20, 2001, as "but another day of U.S. government shame and betrayal of Native people... in this last and most critical test, President Clinton has betrayed his own goals and ideals."

Relaying the news to supporters, the Committee reported that "Leonard himself has asked that we thank each and every one of you for your phenomenal efforts on his behalf during the last year. Towards the end, the world support had turned into a literal human rights tidal wave, with every high level leader and organization calling or writing to President Clinton on Leonard's behalf. Yet somehow it was not enough to outweigh the outright terror the FBI was able to instill in our government leadership.

"We are all hurting badly just now, and we ask that you turn your prayers and thoughts towards Leonard himself today. Send him letters of support and stay with us. We must remain tightly organized..."

To that end, the Committee will be meeting with Peltier and his attorneys over the next few days to work out new plans and proposals for action.

Among the lower-profile petitions on Clinton's desk until the last moment was that of Vietnam war protester and former fugitive Howard Mechanic, who Clinton pardoned. Mechanic was released from federal prison in California within hours of the pardon and flew home that evening to friends and family in Arizona.

Mechanic's final court appearance was November 21, when he was sentenced for using his 28-year alias, Gary Tredway, to obtain a passport. U.S. District Judge R. Strand fined the respected businessman and community activist $5,000, plus three years probation, and 300 hours community service. Mechanic has been serving his original 5-year sentence since losing his cover in a run for the Scottsdale, Arizona, city council, one year ago.

Mechanic was convicted under the Civil Obedience Act of 1968 of interfering with firefighters battling a blaze at the Washington University (St. Louis) Army ROTC building that was torched the day after the fatal shooting of four peaceful protesters at Kent State University. He claimed innocence and went underground following his conviction in a highly politicized trial, creating a new life for himself in Arizona.

Correction: Due to editing errors, our last issue incorrectly reported the name of Mechanic's co-defendant, Larry Kogan, and attributed enactment of the 1968 Civil Obedience Act, under which the two men were convicted, to Richard Nixon, rather than President Lyndon Johnson, who signed the legislation.

For more information, contact the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, P.O. Box 583, Lawrence, KS 66044; (785)842-5774, www.freepeltier.org; and the Howard Mechanic Defense Committee, P.O. Box 27991, Tempe, AZ 85285; email: info@HowardMechanic.org web: www.HowardMechanic.org

Two other anti-imperialist political prisoners whose unjust treatment has been noted in these pages in the past, Linda Evans and Susan Rosenberg, also had their sentences commuted by Clinton.

Letters of support may be sent to Leonard Peltier #89637-132, P.O. Box 1000, Leavenworth, KS 66048.