By Brenda Norrell

PHOENIX -- The American Friends Service Committee has exposed a stream of corruption and prisoner abuse from Arizona to Abu Ghraib, related to Terry Stewart and his possible selection to head the Arizona Department of Corrections. Earlier, Stewart was commisssioned by the US State Department to oversee Iraqi prisons, including Abu Ghraib, even though he was in charge of Arizona prisons during a period when women were raped, sodomoized and assaulted by prison guards.

Stewart also fought to build a prison for "Mexican nationals" in the US operated by a private prison company. Then, Stewart went to work as a private prison consultant, following a policy and pattern of torture, prisoner abuse and private prison profiteering during the Bush administration.

By Brenda Norrell

Photo LPDOC

CANAAN, Penn. -- Leonard Peltier was jumped and severely beaten by a gang after being transferred from a prison in Lewisburg to Canaan on January 13. The family, however, was not notified by the prison and received the information by way of a letter from Peltier. Peltier, 64, was placed in solitary confinement.

"Once Mr. Peltier arrived at the Canaan prison facility, he was jumped by younger inmates, severely beaten, put in solitary confinement and placed upon meal restrictions despite his having diabetes and other medical conditions," the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee said in a statement.

"The family has requested copies of the video tapes of that incident to no avail. It is as if the whole scenario was contrived to detract from the fact that Mr. Peltier has been a model prisoner having more than enough points to qualify for parole," LPDOC said.

Micheal Kuzma, an attorney for Leonard Peltier's defense, described the attack on Peltier in prison, during an interview with American Indian Airwaves with host Marcus Lopez, on Wednesday, Jan. 21. Kuzma said Peltier's sister Betty Peltier-Solano, executive coordinator of the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee, received a letter from Peltier, but was never notified by prison officials of the attack. Peltier was transferred from Lewisburg to Canaan prison during the week of Jan. 12th and attacked on the 13th, by other inmates.

By Brenda Norrell

NOGALES, Ariz. -- Homeland Security destroyed 69 graves of Tohono O'odham ancestors in one location alone while constructing the US/Mexico border wall south of Tucson, in violation of all federal laws created to protect American Indian remains.
Homeland Security and US courts waived all federal laws to protect Native American graves and the environment and then allowed for border wall construction at San Pedro near Nogales. The graves were violated and the details were not made public.
Although the archaeologist exposing the desecration only revealed it as a rare find, for O'odham, these are the graves of their ancestors which were destroyed.
Archaeologist Maren Hopkins said the village is believed to have existed from around A.D. 700 to 1200.

By Brenda Norrell

Photos by Lisa Wolf

Western Shoshone gathered demonstrated outside federal court in Reno today, demanding that Barrick Gold halt destruction of the area of Mount Tenabo, their sacred mountain. Nearby at Pyramid Lake on Saturday, about 150 Paiutes and supporters gathered to protest. Paiutes said the Pyramid Lake Marina operator has held Paiutes and their cultural items "hostage."

Carrie Dann discusses the sacred mountain, Mount Tenabo, on Censored Blog Talk Radio today. The interview with Larry Smith is rebroadcast with permission from American Indian Airwaves. On the telephone with Censored News Radio, Wayne Burke, Paiute, describes the protest at Pyramid Lake to protect the cultural treasures.

By Brenda Norrell

By Brenda Norrell

Update: English translation of Subcomandante Marcos' talk

Calling for the peoples embargo and a shout from around the world

By Brenda Norrell

SAN FRANCISCO -- While President-elect Obama remained silent on Israel's bombing and murder of children in Palestine, Subcomandante Marcos, Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Cindy Sheehan were not.

UPDATE: Why is Obama silent on Israeli genocide, especially the murder of children, in Palestine? Among Obama's top supporters is James Crown, on the board of General Dynamics. General Dynamics has a long history of buying and selling weapons, including selling to Elbit Systems, Israel's Apartheid contractor. The Israeli Apartheid manufacturer Elbit purchased a General Dynamics subsidiary and now operates in Fort Worth. Globally, Elbit produces unmanned aerial vehicles, which can spy and kill, operated by remote personnel using computers.

By Brenda Norrell

On the Texas border, it is party time.

The No Border Wall Coalition is celebrating, with this message, "Hasta la vista Chertoff!"

In a statement just released from Brownsville and El Paso, Texas border communities are announcing it is time to party down, with no fond memories.

"On January 10th communities along the Texas border will be throwing Retirement Parties to celebrate the end of Michael Chertoff’s tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security.

International tribunal vital for justice for residential school victims

By Brenda Norrell

Churches in Canada have not been held responsible for the rape, murder and disappearance of 50,000 to 100,000 Native American children in Canada's residential schools, said Kevin Annett, speaking on RedTown Blog Talk Radio today.
Canada has not made an attempt to provide real healing for Native people, or to prosecute the perpetrators, including those who murdered and buried children.
Annett said many of the Indian survivors of residential school abuse have taken their own lives.
"They are crushed and broken by this."
"Who will speak for the children who never came back?"
"What about all those children who died? Are we going to pretend it never happened?"
During the 90-minute program aired on RedTown, Annett said the churches pushed the Canadian government to keep these schools open, even after Canada wanted to close the schools. Now, the churches place themselves above the law, refusing to even identify where the children's graves are.