The week leading up to the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 45th President of the United States — a phrase that still burns the tongues of many who saw Trump as a simple buffoon one year ago — has been one of cautious optimism, then triumph, then finally tragedy for many Political Prisoner activists. Barack Obama was seen as a transformational figure when he assumed the Presidency in January 2009, and in several ways he has lived up to the hype, with the passing of the Affordable Care Act, the signing of a global climate change accord, the agreement with Iran to prevent its pursuit of nuclear weapons and the killing of Osama bin Laden, to name just a few. On the other hand, his two terms in office can be seen as “more of the same”, as the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba still has not closed (though the number of inmates has decreased dramatically), as drone attacks and the prosecution of whistleblowers has exceeded those of all other US Presidents combined, and as many Political Prisoners continued to twist in the wind for the entirety of his eight years in the Oval Office. The final week of his Presidency, however, held out hope that the most significant contribution of the Obama Years was yet to come, as the last round of Presidential Pardons was about to arrive. With so many American activists held under lock and key because of their waging of struggle for liberation, it was certain that not all would receive pardons or commutations of their sentences, but still, those of us who have campaigned for years to free them held out hope.
The initial reports were encouraging. As right-wing law-and-order politicians and 
commentators grumbled and bitterly complained, the first significant stroke in what appeared to be one final Freedom Campaign for activists from the Oval Office was announced. President Obama commuted the sentence of US Army whistleblower (some said “traitor”) Chelsea Manning (https://www.yahoo.com/news/obama-commutes-chelsea-mannings-sentence-213937692.html?.tsrc=fauxdal&post_id=520524421389697_1109858142456319#_=_):
Obama commutes Chelsea Manning’s sentence
January 17, 2017
from the New York Jericho Movement
President Obama has commuted the 35-year prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, paving the way for the Army intelligence analyst turned high-profile leaker to be freed on May 17, the White House announced Tuesday.
Manning was on a list of 209 commutations and 64 pardons released Tuesday, though they may not be Obama’s final acts of clemency before he leaves office at midday on Jan. 20. Edward Snowden’s name was not on the list.
Manning was convicted after leaking U.S. military incident logs and diplomatic cables, among other secret government documents, to WikiLeaks, in 2010.
In his final scheduled briefing for reporters, White House press secretary Josh Earnest described Manning and Snowden in starkly different terms.
“Chelsea Manning, as a member of the United States armed forces, went through a legal proceeding administered by the United States military under the laws that govern the conduct of members of the United States military, and there was a hearing and a conviction and a sentence,” Earnest said. “It all went through that regular process. And that’s the way we determine guilt or innocence in this country, particularly with regard to the conduct of men and women in our armed forces. And that’s the way that our system works.”
But Snowden “should return to the United States and face the serious crimes with which he’s been charged,” Earnest said. “He will, of course, be afforded the kind of due process that’s available to every American citizen who’s going through the criminal justice process. But the crimes that he’s accused of committing are serious. And we believe that he should return to the United States and face them rather than seeking refuge in the arms of an adversary of the United States that has their own strategic interests in disseminating information in a harmful way.” …
Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan denounced Obama’s commutation decision as “just outrageous.”
“Chelsea Manning’s treachery put American lives at risk and exposed some of our nation’s most sensitive secrets,” Ryan said in a statement. “President Obama now leaves in place a dangerous precedent that those who compromise our national security won’t be held accountable for their crimes.”
Manning’s commutation reads:
Chelsea Elizabeth Manning – Oklahoma City, OK
Offense: One specification of wrongful and wanton publication to the internet intelligence belonging to the United States; five specifications of stealing, purloining or knowingly converting U.S. government records; six specifications of willful communication of information relating to the national defense; one specification of willful communication of information in unlawful possession; one specification of willful communication of information relating to the national defense by exceeding authorized access to a U.S. government computer; one specification of willful communication of information relating to the national defense obtained by accessing a U.S. government computer; five specifications of failure to obey order or regulation; U.S. Army Court Martial
Sentence: 35 years’ imprisonment (August 21, 2013)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on May 17, 2017.
Two things should be noted, however, concerning the Manning commutation. While Earnest stated that Snowden should return to the United States and face judgement for his “crimes” as Manning did, the fact is that Manning had surrendered because she felt that, after explaining the reasons for her actions and her willingness to pay for them, she would be afforded “the kind of due process” 
that would confer a degree of mercy for her contrition. However, the 35-year sentence imposed upon her was by far the harshest handed down for any person convicted of a similar crime, and her announcement that she suffered from gender dysphoria and would soon seek to become a transgender woman (she was born Bradley Manning) did not prevent the authorities from sentencing her to an all-male maximum security prison. This would lead her to attempt suicide twice during the year 2016. Certainly, Snowden is not living in the lap of luxury in Russia now, but he likely prefers his current residence to what would await him were he to surrender to US custody.
The second thing to remember about Manning is that, while the hundreds of thousands of documents she was convicted of leaking actually did not lead to any US official coming to harm, the videotape of US soldiers gunning down a group of unarmed Iraqis and two Reuters journalists, laughing and joking as they did so, certainly caused incalculable damage to the image the US wanted to maintain as it pursued its War Of Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan.
President Obama was not done with the commutations, however. That same day, the announcement came that Puerto Rican Independentista activist Oscar Lopez Rivera would be freed (http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Oscar-Lopez-Rivera-To-Be-Freed-After-36-Years-in-U.S.-Prison-20170117-0029.html):
Oscar Lopez Rivera To Be Freed After 36 Years in US Prison
January 17, 2017
from Telesur TV
The United States government announced Tuesday the release of Oscar Lopez Rivera, who has been imprisoned in the U.S. for 36 years for his struggle to free Puerto Rico from U.S. colonial rule.
Outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama commuted Lopez’ sentence, which will expire on May 17, according to a White House source, consulted by the EFE news agency.
Clarissa Lopez, daughter of Lopez, will hold a press conference Wednesday at 10 a.m. in reaction to his release at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Lopez, born in Puerto Rico in 1943, is an independence leader in his native country. Upon returning to Chicago after serving in the Vietnam War, he joined the struggle for the rights of the Puerto Rican people and participated in acts of civil disobedience and other actions.
In 1976 he joined the clandestine fight for the independence of Puerto Rico as a member of the Armed Forces of National Liberation. In 1981 he was captured by the FBI accused of “conspiracy” and for his militancy in the FALN.
At the time of his capture, he proclaimed himself a prisoner of war, protected in the first protocol of the Geneva Convention of 1949. The protocol protects Lopez for being a person arrested in conflict against colonial occupation.
The U.S. did not recognize the demand of Lopez and sentenced him to 55 years in prison. After an alleged attempt to escape, the sentence increased to 70 years in prison, 12 of which have been spent in solitary confinement.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1999 offered him a pardon. The offer was made to 13 members who accepted, but Lopez rejected it because it included completing 10 years in jail with good behavior. Leaders from around the world, as well as human rights organizations, have demanded the release of Oscar Lopez Rivera.
On June 18, 2012, the U.N. Decolonization Committee approved a resolution, promoted by Cuba, in which it called for recognition of Puerto Rico’s right to independence and self-determination and urged the release of the pro-independence detainees in the United States.
All this led to increased speculation about whose name would be announced next. 
While state prisoners apparently do not come under the purview of the Oval Office (which might have eliminated several Political Prisoners from the start), petition drives were mounted on behalf of at least two more Political Prisoners for whom President Obama presumably could have taken action: American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier and Veteran Black Panther Dr. Mutulu Shakur.
Later that same day, the news would come, and it was devastating. Peltier, a Veteran AIM activist who had come to the defense of Cecelia Jumping Bull as her ranch was being invaded by two FBI agents who had precipitated a gunfight on sovereign Indian land, who had fled to Canada afterward only to be apprehended by the Federal Bureau of Investigation through the use of a fraudulent affidavit, whose trial was presided over by an unrepentant anti-Indian judge and involved cynical attempts by prosecutors to sow fear among the jurors of reprisals by “AIM 
terrorists”, whose prosecution offered no clear physical evidence and who was denied the self-defense motive by pre-court motions from the prosecution, was convicted of killing FBI Agents Coler and Williams “execution-style” despite later admissions on a public radio station by the District Attorney that he had “no idea who killed the agents.” Among the many books that provide a historical account of this case and many others, one can consult Agents of Repression: The FBI’s Secret Wars Against the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement by Ward Churchill and Jim Van Der Wall.
The International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee released a statement on the day of the announcement:
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA HAS “DENIED CLEMENCY” FOR 41 YEAR LONG CAPTURED LAKOTA POLITICAL PRISONER LEONARD PELTIER – BUT THE STRUGGLE WILL CONTINUE
January 17, 2017
Brothers, sisters, friends and supporters:
Our hearts are heavy today. President Obama has denied Leonard’s application for a commutation. His name appears on the January 18 list of commutations denied by Obama as issued by the Office of the Pardon Attorney. Leonard’s attorney Martin Garbus was also notified. (Pardon Attorney’s Letter)
Today, in an email, Leonard said, “If I should not [receive clemency] then after we are locked in for the day I will have a good cry and then pick myself up and get myself ready for another round of battles until I cannot fight [any] more. So, don’t worry. I can handle anything after over 40 years.”
It’s hard to bear such a blow, though. And make no mistake — Leonard has been hit hardest of all. But let’s not mourn so very long. Instead, let’s move ever forward. Channel your grief and anger in a positive way. Remember that Leonard still needs our help. He needs quality health care and a transfer to a medium security facility, among other things. We’ll always work towards freedom for Leonard, but these actions may help to make his life more bearable until freedom is won.
Now, we urge you to write to Leonard and help to keep his spirits up. Tell him you won’t give up, that you’ll walk the rest of the way with him. Send cards and letters to:
Leonard Peltier #89637-132
USP Coleman I
PO Box 1033
Coleman, FL 33521
Thank you for your hard work and determination. Blessings to all of you.
Please stay tuned.
In solidarity,
International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
ILPDC | Indigenous Rights Center, 202 Harvard SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106
All this has left some supporters of Political Prisoners scratching their heads. Certainly, the commutations of the sentences for Manning and Lopez Rivera are considered victories, but the denial of Peltier, whose health has been failing for the past several years, was seen as a crushing defeat. And some certainly wondered what caused Obama to grant clemency to Manning and Lopez Rivera but not Peltier? And what could be expected in answer to the petition on behalf of Dr. Shakur?
The following article was shared with us by the New York Jericho Movement and Freedom Archives, originally from the website http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/civil-rights/314564-race-still-matters-in-presidential-pardons:
Race still matters in presidential pardons
Lumumba Akinwole-Bandele and Monifa Akinwole-Bandele, opinion contributors January 17, 2017
Barack Obama, in the 11th hour of his presidency, has commuted the sentences of 1,176 federal prisoners, more than George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan combined. Most of the prisoners granted relief were victims of the notoriously racially biased “war on drugs.”
Many of the men and women released were serving unfair, exuberantly long and harsh sentences for low-level, nonviolent drug related charges, when what they really needed was drug treatment.
This bold move from President Obama was necessary and long awaited. However, the executive clemency process, has historically shown patterns of racial bias.
A 2011 ProPublica investigation found that even when applicants had committed similar crimes, “White criminals seeking presidential pardons over the past decade have been nearly four times as likely to succeed” and “Blacks have had the poorest chance of receiving the president’s ultimate act of mercy…”
In executive commutations, another form of clemency, race matters too. The Office of the Pardon Attorney, which reviews pardon and commutation requests, has been found to be biased regarding how and who it recommends for relief.
One sharp example was the handling of two federal commutation petitions. At the age of 24, Clarence Aaron was sentenced to triple life terms for his role in a cocaine deal. This was Aaron’s first criminal offense, and he was neither the buyer, seller, or supplier of the drugs.
Aaron’s application for executive commutation was not only supported by the judge who sentenced him, but also by the prosecuting attorney.
The pardon attorney’s office removed this information about the judge and various prosecutors’ support for Aaron from its summary and recommendation, and Aaron’s application was denied twice. On the same day in 2008 that Aaron’s petition was denied for the second time, another man serving life on drug charges, Reed Prior, was granted executive commutation.
Unlike Aaron, Prior had many prior offenses, was a major drug dealer, and was serving life due to his fourth drug offense: possession with the intent to distribute. Prior is white. Aaron is Black.
Clarence Aaron was eventually granted relief by President Obama in 2014,13 years after his first application. Both Aaron and Prior’s convictions grow out of the “war on drugs.”
That “war” known for its racial bias and injustice has been indisputably linked to the acceleration of mass incarceration and the destruction of lives and entire communities throughout the 80s and 90s.
This is part of why President Obama’s 1,176 commutations are just and appropriate. It would be equally appropriate for President Obama to look back to the 60s and 70s where there was another racially motivated and unjust war in America that also destroyed lives, devastated communities, and pushed people into prison.
The mid-twentieth century struggle for justice and equality brought about great social transformation in this country. Thousands of men and women of all ages, races, religions, genders, and social strata dedicated themselves to the simple proposition that all of us, Americans, are equal in the eyes of the law.
A generation challenged our nation to recognize the humanity of those it marginalized and oppressed. Their methods of challenging systemic and rampant police brutality, racial violence, and economic oppression took many forms. One thing was consistent: this committed generation of activists changed the course of this nation for the better.
However, in exchange for their service to their communities, their own government through a joint effort by the federal, state and local effort called the Counter Intelligence Program or COINTELPRO covertly attacked them.
COINTELPRO sought to “neutralize or otherwise eliminate” civil rights activists whether they were ministers like Martin Luther King, Jr. of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference or activists like Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party. Some of the leaders targeted lost their freedom and some of them lost their lives.
For both King and Hampton, the U.S. government was found to have played a role in their assassinations.
Under the past presidencies, some political activists, whose incarcerations stem from their activism, have been granted executive clemency. Yet when it comes to relief granted to the prisoners whose convictions grow out of social justice movements during a time of relentless government-led targeting, attacks, and violence, race also matters.
Former prisoners and activists of the civil rights movement like Susan Rosenberg, Linda Evans, and Kathy Boudin have been rightfully granted clemency throughout the past few decades and are free. In fact, this month, New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo commuted the sentence of Judy Clark, saying that he “got a sense of her soul” during a meeting where they discussed her case and potential release. Rosenberg, Evans, Boudin, and Clark are white.
Meanwhile, another prisoner whose case connects to theirs, Mutulu Shakur, a documented target of COINTELPRO, awaits a response to his application for executive clemency to President Barack Obama.
Obama is not legally obligated to issue any form of relief to federal prisoners seeking justice. This moment in history where arguably, one of the most unqualified candidates for president will be taking that seat requires another examination of the kind of legacy President Obama seeks to leave. The president has a unique and valuable opportunity to set a tone of political reconciliation, justice and healing.
Mutulu Shakur, along with COINTELPRO victims like Leonard Peltier, Oscar Lopez, and Veronza Bowers have been incarcerated in federal prison for over 30 years and are currently seeking clemency.
Granting commutations to these four men would log into history the Obama administration’s commitment to healing the political wounds of the past and begin a process that will result in a society committed to rehabilitation, forgiveness, and reconciliation, rather than racial disparate treatment, retribution, and punishment.
Lumumba Akinwole-Bandele is the senior community organizer with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Monifa Akinwole-Bandele is the senior campaign director for the Food Justice and Children’s Nutrition campaign at MomsRising, which supports and promotes policies aimed at improving family economic security. She was previously the director of organizing for the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, and a national field director for the Brennan Center for Justice.
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And thus, Political Prisoners like Mutulu Shakur, Sundiata Acoli, Veronza Bowers, Ed Poindexter, Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald, Jamil Al-Amin, Jalil Muntaqim, Russell “Maroon” Shoatz, Herman Bell, Robert Seth Hayes, Mumia Abu-Jamal and the MOVE Nine still sit in confinement, perhaps waiting in vain for the relief of a Presidential Pardon. Whether because of a lack of jurisdiction in their cases or a lack of a sufficient degree of compassion or courage, these battles will, for the most part, not be won this day. And the Trump Administration will certainly not be expected to give their cases even the slightest consideration, given his hawkish and intolerant “law-and-order” stance in the tradition of Richard Nixon. Once again, the prospects for freedom of these Political Prisoners will be up to us, those of us on the “outside” who recognize how we have benefitted from their sacrifice, who understand what really happened in their cases, and who realize what is at stake. And that is how it has always been.
