[Mb-civic] A Special Canadian Woman

[Barbara Siomos]

Harry.... What a wonderful Canadian this woman was.
peace,
barbara 
>January 4, 2005
>A MESSAGE FROM LEONARD PELTIER
>P.O.W. 89637-132
>Leavenworth Prison, Kansas, USA

As we begin the New Year, I would like to take a moment to honor a
devoted sister in the struggle who passed away recently. On December 21,
2004, Dianne Lynn Martin, Professor of Law at the Osgoode Hall Law
School in Toronto, Canada, suffered a heart attack and passed away at
the age of 59. 
                                  After
18 years of fighting for my freedom, Dianne's absence will be deeply
felt. She leaves behind a legacy of working for justice and empowering
others to fight for the truth. Although I know that she is in a better
place, I am deeply saddened and I extend my condolences to Dianne's
friends and family. She was a devoted activist and friend. 
                                Dianne
began working on my behalf in 1986 with Bruce Ellison and Lew Gurwitz.
Since then she has proven invaluable in both legal and political aspects
of the struggle. She worked hard to liberate not just me, but other
political prisoners, including Romeo Phillion, whom she helped set free
after more than 30 years of wrongful imprisonment. 
                                At
the beginning of my 29th year in prison, I remember Dianne Lynn Martin,
without whom my freedom would not seem so possible
. 
>BULLETIN: Wednesday, January 5, 2005
>FROM FRANK AND ANNE DREAVER
>LEONARD PELTIER DEFENSE COMMITTEE
>CANADA
>A MEMORIAL TRIBUTE TO DIANNE LYNN
>MARTIN March 19, 1945 - December 20, 2004
 
Professor of Law, Osgoode Hall Law School (LLB '76) Canadian Counsel for
North American Indian Political Prisoner Leonard Peltier; the LPDC
Canada and the LPDC Coalition 
<<<< >>>> 
                        We
are deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the tragic loss of our dear
friend and comrade Dianne Lynn Martin, Professor of Law at the Osgoode
Hall Law School, Toronto, Canada; founder of the law school's Innocence
Project; and long-time Canadian attorney for North American political
prisoner Leonard Peltier and the LPDC Canada. Dianne passed away in the
early morning hours of Monday, December 20 of an apparent heart attack.
She was 59 years old.
 
                                Wow,
what can I say? We are honoured to have worked with and to have known
Professor Martin or simply Dianne as she preferred to be called. She was
a good spirit of high intellectual capacity, of high moral character,
principled, sharply witty, generous and humble. In her 30-year career,
she has left a profound legacy in the defense of justice and fundamental
human and civil rights. She believed passionately in the need for and
demanded the highest of standards within the administration of justice.
This was demonstrated to us in her generous 17-year commitment to our
indigenous struggle for justice and freedom for Leonard Peltier. 
                                
Dianne was constantly looking for practical means to this end, all of
which were meticulously researched. Her various briefs were tabled in
both American and Canadian courts. The documentation, which she compiled
with our committee and her law students, was presented and lobbied by
international LPDC representative Frank Dreaver to hearings of the
Working Group on Indigenous Populations; the U.N. Human Rights
Commission, to the European Parliament and the Hague; and to various
international governmental and human rights bodies. In 1996, this
documentation became a permanent record with the U.N. Human Rights
Commission. It was also donated in a formal ceremony to the Osgoode Hall
Law School library in 1999. 
                                
Dianne assisted us in raising the case of Leonard Peltier to a world
audience, with a focus on Canada's involvement as an international
violation. Her research and analysis; her briefs and writings; her
speeches and oral arguments have contributed to a growing international
recognition and endorsement of this grave miscarriage of justice
perpetrated by the United States government.
 
                                Her
further contributions include a 1989 "leave to appeal" the Peltier
extradition to the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa with co-counsel
Clayton Ruby and the late Lew Gurwitz; arguing the case of extradition
fraud on November 9, 1992 on behalf of 55 Canadian Parliamentarians in
an amicis curiae brief to the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in
St. Paul's, Minnesota; and facilitating an independent legal hearing
with the LPDC Canada in Toronto, Ontario on October 25, 2000, presided
by The Hon. Justice Fred Kaufman, Q.C., a former Senior Justice of the
Quebec Court of Appeals. Justice Kaufman's findings formed the basis of
our Canadian application for clemency on December 11, 2000 to United
States President Bill Clinton, a request which Clinton later refused.
The findings were also filed with the Canadian Department of Justice and
the Prime Minister of Canada, who referred the materials for a further
review with the Minister of Justice. 
                                
Despite all our disappointments and frustrations through all the many
years, Dianne refused to give up the fight for justice. She believed
strongly that Mr. Peltier was innocent and had been framed, fraudulently
extradited and wrongfully convicted for a crime that even the United
States government was forced to admit they can not prove. (Government
officials have since claimed that Leonard Peltier is guilty of aiding
and abetting. However, he was never formally convicted of this charge,
or given a chance to defend himself in any court of law in both Canada
and the United States. His case remains one of the most extreme
violations of an individual's constitutional right to due process.) 
                                Dianne
believed that there was an urgent need for unity in our struggle. To
date, the simple presenting of evidence alone in this case has not
proven to be enough. Like us, she understood that any effective
collaboration would not exist without the co-operation and good faith
between peoples, and the belief in the individual's responsibility to
lead by example. Dianne would often share with us her hope and dream for
a strong and united world demand for Mr. Peltier's freedom. 
                                
Thank you Dianne on behalf of Leonard Peltier and the Peltier committee
for your beautiful spirit, your courage and your time. We will always
remember you and will continue in our struggle. We send our sincere
heartfelt condolences to the Martin family and all her relatives and
friends.
 
Frank and Anne Dreaver 
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee Canada lpdccfd at sympatico.ca 
  ____________________________________________ 
NOTICE
Wednesday, January 5, 2005 
INVITATION TO A MEMORIAL TRIBUTE FOR DIANNE LYNN MARTIN, PROFESSOR OF
LAW, OSGOODE HALL LAW SCHOOL AT YORK UNIVERSITY, TORONTO, CANADA 
Memorial Service at the Moot Court Room, Osgoode Hall Law School January
5, 2005, 10 am to 11:30 am 
_________________________________ 
Dianne Lynn Martin 
March 19, 1945 - December 20, 2004 
                        A
Special Memorial Service to celebrate the life of Professor Dianne
Martin will be held in the Moot Court Room at the Law School on
Wednesday, January 5, 2005 from 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. 
                        Family,
friends and colleagues will gather to pay tribute to the tremendous
contribution she made to the cause of social justice as well as to the
Law School over her 30 year career. All classes will be suspended during
the 90-minute memorial service. 
                        The
law school is establishing A Dianne Martin Bursary Fund to assist
students in financial need who have a demonstrated interest in social
justice. Those wishing to honour Dianne's memory may contribute to the
Bursary by sending a cheque payable to Osgoode Hall Law School (Re:
Dianne Martin Bursary) to the Dean's Office, or by going online to the
law school's Online Donation Form at 

https://osgoode.yorku.ca/alumniforms.nsf/giving?OpenForm and typing in
"Dianne Martin Bursary" under the heading "Please Direct my contribution
to:".
 
                        For
more information, contact the law school at (416) 736-5199 / Fax: (416)
736-5251 or email at lawdean at osgoode.yorku.ca.