By Bethany Morley / GICJ
April 2023 marks 4 years since the arrest and imprisonment of Julian Assange, a 51-year-old Australian journalist and publisher. Assange is the founder of WikiLeaks – an international, non-profit whistle-blowing organisation that was created in 2006. He came to prominence in 2010 after WikiLeaks published classified materials such as US military logs from Afghanistan and the occupation of Iraq, and US cable leaks in November that year.
The material released regarding the occupation of Iraq revealed the reality of the brutal operation involving the daily murder of civilians, torture, arbitrary executions and detainments as well as cover-ups extending to top US military personnel.
The US has charged him with hacking government computers and publishing classified documents between 2010 and 2011, however, Mr Assange's defense lawyer is stating that the charges were politically motivated as the published documents revealed "embarrassing" information the US would rather not disclose.
Mr Assange disclosed the reality of the invasion of Iraq; systematic and institutionalised human rights violations, the dismantling of Iraqi society, an innumerable number of murders and an alarming lack of accountability. The reality is, two years after declaring the war on terror based on false intelligence, on March 20th, 2003, the United States of America and the United Kingdom began the illegal war on the Republic of Iraq, legitimising the invasion by insisting the country harboured weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and was intrinsically linked to a terrorist network.
In 2003, with Iraq crippled by sanctions, it proved an easy target for the US and the UK to lead an unprovoked and illegal invasion. It took just 6 weeks for President Bush to give a speech, in May 2003, claiming that “major combat operations in Iraq have ended”- A quick and decisive victory in the heart of the Arab world would send a message and (re)establish America as the world’s leading power following the 9/11 attacks. This ‘quick and decisive victory’, which was unwarranted, would result in the dismantling and crippling of the once prosperous Iraq.
Mr Assange published information that is in the interest of the public to know. It reveals the wrongdoings of the governments involved. The European Federation of Journalists noted their concern of the continued detention on media freedom, and the rights of all journalists globally. Publishing information that is in the interest of the public is protected under international human rights law, and under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.
- Article 19 UDHR [1]
The only “offence” that Assange has committed is to have published true information as a journalist, exposing US-led war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Arbitrary arrest and detainment
Since 2010, Julian Assange has been arbitrarily detained by Sweden and the United Kingdom. The Swedish Prosecutors Office first issued an arrest warrant for Julian Assange in 2010 on allegations of sexual misconduct, he was arrested later in the year - allegations which have since been dropped and falsified. In May 2012, the UK Supreme Court ruled Mr. Assange must be extradited to Sweden to face critical questioning regarding these allegations.
In 2012, the Ecuadorian embassy in London granted him asylum, following concerns that his human rights will be violated if extradited. He was confined to the embassy. In 2019 Australia granted him a new passport, amid fears his asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy may come to an end. However, in April the same year before Mr. Assange was able to flea to Australia, the Metropolitan Police entered the Ecuadorian embassy and detained him on the grounds of not surrendering to the court, following the 2012 attempt to extradite him to Sweden.
Since April 2019, Assange has not known freedom, he has been detained in Belmarsh prison, a Category A prison referred to as the ‘British version of Guantanamo’, which is noted for its harsh conditions, holding inmates who have committed murders.. Since being detained in Belmarsh, he has been held in near total isolation.
In December 2015, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, created to investigate cases of deprivation of liberty imposed arbitrarily or inconsistently with the international standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [2], found that since his arrest on the 7th of December 2010, Assange has been subjected to “various forms of arbitrary deprivation of liberty, including 10 days in London’s Wandsworth prison; 550 days of house arrest; and almost seven years of self-confinement in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, under threat of arrest if he left the building.” [3]
In 2020 Nils Melzer, the previous UN Special Rapporteur on torture, noted that “Mr. Assange is not a criminal convict and poses no threat to anyone, so his prolonged solitary confinement in a high-security prison is neither necessary nor proportionate and clearly lacks any legal basis” [4]. Melzer branded the progressively severe suffering inflicted on Assange due to prolonged solitary confinement as not only amounting to arbitrary execution, but also to torture and other cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment and punishment. [5]
Extradition
Now, in 2023, Julian Assange remains in Belmarsh prison. The US has charged him with hacking government computers from publishing classified documents between 2010 and 2011 and has urged him to be extradited to the US. However, he is appealing his extradition.
If extradited, it would set a dangerous precedent for all global citizens, journalists, publishers, and media organisations that publishing information that is in the interest of the public is NOT protected under international human rights law.
If extradited, he could face trial on charges under the Espionage Act of 1917, an act to punish acts of interference with foreign relations, and under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Further, he would also face a risk of serious human rights violations due to detention conditions that could amount to torture or other ill-treatment. Particularly due to the politically charged nature of his extradition, and the nature of the documents released.
Position of Geneva International Centre for Justice
Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ) reiterates its support for Julian Assange who has been subjected to political persecution by the United States. We call for the release of Assange and oppose his extradition to the US.
His only “offence” is to have published true information as a journalist, exposing U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. If extradited, Assange would also face a risk of serious human rights violations due to detention conditions that could amount to torture or other ill-treatment. Of which there is no real assurance from the US government that such treatment would be avoided. Therefore, the extradition of Assange poses a real threat to his basic human rights, we fully oppose it.
References
Image Source: [FLIKR] https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=julian%20assange
[1] https://www.ohchr.org/en/human-rights/universal-declaration/translations/english
[2] Working Group on Arbitrary Detention | OHCHR
[3] Independent UN expert calls for Julian Assange’s release, cites prison’s COVID outbreak | UN News
[4] Independent UN expert calls for Julian Assange’s release, cites prison’s COVID outbreak | UN News
[5] Independent UN expert calls for Julian Assange’s release, cites prison’s COVID outbreak | UN News
