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Washington, D.C. - Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchu will join acclaimed author Peter Matthiessen, Amnesty International representatives and Ernie Stevens of the National Congress of American Indians to press the United States government to grant parole and/or clemency in the case of Leonard Peltier.

They will speak at a press conference scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 17, at the Washington, D.C. offices of Amnesty International, 600 Pennsylvania, SE Washington D.C.

Peltier is a Native American leader who has been incarcerated in the United States for 24 years, following his highly controversial conviction for the murder of two FBI agents. Despite disturbing evidence of FBI misconduct in the case, including the coercion of witnesses, the intentional use of false evidence and the concealment of a key ballistics test reflecting his innocence, Peltier has been denied a new trial and is long overdue for parole. He has been recognized by numerous human rights organizations, religious leaders and Nobel laureates as one of the United States' few political prisoners. Domestic and international pressure is mounting for his immediate and unconditional release.

The press conference will be followed by a congressional briefing from 2-4 p.m., May 17, Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2358, sponsored by the offices of U.S. Rep. John Porter (R-Ill.), co-chairperson of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. The witnesses will include survivors of the Pine Ridge Reservation "Reign of Terror," which took place from 1973-1976. During this period 64 Native American members and supporters of the American Indian Movement, or AIM, were murdered on the reservation. Despite a massive FBI presence at the time, there was no adequate investigation and no charges were ever brought for these killings. Menchu and Native American leaders from the United States will also speak on the case.