We are Radical Elders, a national organization of elder radical activists.
The continued incarceration of fellow elders and freedom fighters Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier is a never-ending atrocity and violation of human rights that must stop now.
Mumia, who opened the founding conference of Radical Elders, and Leonard, a life-long activist and now a highly respected elder, are in prison after convictions that no jury today would ever return. It is clear to us, as it is to almost everyone who knows these cases, that these brothers are innocent of the charges of which they were convicted. The world, literally, supports their immediate release.
What’s more, their cases raise a major question about incarceration in this country: What benefit does society obtain from keeping elders in prison? What protection does society need from them? What are they going to learn? What new suffering will they experience? Keeping elders in prison makes no sense and is, in of and of itself, a horrible physical abuse that cuts elders’ lives short. It’s an unofficial death sentence and both these brothers are ill because of their continued incraceration. This is why the Radical Elders program includes an end to incarceration of elders.
For these reasons, Radical Elders demands that Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier be freed from incarceration and any punitive obligations immediately.