Transcript - BBC Video - 17 December 2010 - Assange Interview Clip - Ellingham Hall

VIDEO  |  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPMnddMEqn8 17 December 2010  | BBC TRANSCRIPT [For quotation purposes, confirm audio] BBC Presenter Now, Julian Assange who was released on bail yesterday says WikiLeaks will continue to publish the leaked US diplomatic cables, despite the pressure being applied to him. He spoke to journalists this lunchtime at Ellingham Hall in Norfolk, where he is staying until his extradition hearing. Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Over the last 4 years we have published material from over 120 countries. It is our normal business to publish banks - information about banks - and we have been attacked. Primarily not by government - primarily, in fact, not by the US government (or things are heating up now) - but, in fact, by banks: banks from Dubai, banks from Switzerland, banks from the United States, banks from the UK. So, yes, of course, we are continuing to release material about banks. Reporter (male) Julian, you were saying before the WikiLeaks website is under attack, can you expand on that a bit more. Eight-five percent of traffic proved [??] was trying to close it down, is that correct? Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Well, I have been out of touch. I have been in a black hole for 10 days. I received - the last newspaper I read before coming here this morning -  [cough] - was the London Express from last Thursday, so perhaps you are talking about something that I am unaware of.   But over 85% of our economic resources are spent with dealing with attacks: dealing with technical attacks, dealing with political attacks, dealing with legal attacks - not doing journalism. And that, if you like, is attacks upon the best quality investigative journalism, and 85% tax rate on that kind of economic activity, whereas people who are producing celebrity pieces for Vanity Fair have a much lower tax rate. Reporter (male) And how is it easy to look after the website when you're staged up in a house in Norfolk. Can you operate from here? Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Well, people like to present WikiLeaks as just me and my backpack. It is not true. We're a relatively large organisation. The permanent staff is relatively small [whereas?] in the Cablegate we had about 24 full-time staff [cough]. But it is resilient. It is designed to withstand decapitation attacks, and our publishing rate actually increased over the time that I was in solitary confinement and we see even today, [in] our British media partner, The Guardian, [the] latest story coming out of these cables. India's accused of systemic use of torture. Over 1,000 reports made to the Red Cross. Over 600 of those concerning serious torture in Kashmir, by the Indian government [inaudible]. [end clip 2:55 / 2:58] Ellingham Hall "Ellingham Hall, the site of Julian Assange's "mansion arrest" until his next court appearance on January 11, seen here, sits on a 650-acre estate a little more than 100 miles northeast of London. His conditional bail requires that he remain at Ellingham Hall, as well as check in daily with police, wear an ankle monitor and observe a curfew."  [CBS]  ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- COMMENT Picked a random short video from 2010, to check out what was going on circa the Assange arrest. Really surprised to see the clip is about bank attacks, rather than a massive US government take-down via authorities in Sweden.   What, how could I get it so wrong? After 5 years of detention, including a 3 year siege, there's more to this than bank attacks.  But maybe that wasn't apparent at the time?  Don't know.  Haven't seen enough 2010 footage to judge.   Don't know how much of that sort of thing I'll be looking at, as it's quite time consuming - if you bother to make a record of it. So, US diplomatic cables were being published at the time. Interesting how the organisation is under constant attacks, chewing up enormous resources. What's appalling is that proper journalism is taxed at a huge 85% rate, where as fluff is taxed at some lower level. Eighty-five percent tax on any organisation sounds more like robbery than tax to me. ꕤ

UK–US Extradition Treaty of 2003 - Laurie Love Extradition to US - Preliminary Hearing Oct 2015

2007 - Ambassador Tuttle and Baroness Scotland ratifing the bilateral extradition treaty between the U.S. and the UK [source:  here] COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research.

Home › News › Lauri Love discusses why he fears US extradition Lauri Love discusses why he fears US extradition After being re-arrested by British authorities, Lauri Love has spoken to the BBC about why he wants to be tried in the UK rather than be extradited to the US: I would say my prospects of due process in America are essentially zero, and the prospect of extradition is tantamount to a punishment worse than any punishment from the UK justice system. The BBC includes a brief video of Love talking about the toll his case has taken thus far, “My parents and me are quite stressed. I have had time to acclimatise. My dad has had a heart condition and my mum is a natural worrier.” Love has not been charged with a crime in the UK, even though that’s where the alleged offences occurred. “The charges should be heard here… where 12 of my peers should be found to try me,” Love said. See our extradition page to see why “the UK-USA extradition treaty, ratified by the US Senate in 2006 and implemented in 2007, is fundamentally skewed towards misuse by the US Department of Justice. Love has a preliminary hearing in October before the proper extradition hearing in December. Support his legal defence fund here. See the BBC’s full story here. SOURCE https://freelauri.com/2015/08/16/lauri-love-discusses-why-he-fears-us-extradition/ Support Laurie Love The Courage Foundation https://freelauri.com/donate ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- FURTHER US Persecution of Whistleblowers, Activists, Journalists Persecuted US whistleblowers, activists and journalists Jeremy Hammond Barrett Brown Aaron Swartz Chelsea Manning USA:  Over-Prosecution / Extremely Harsh Sentences US government: aggressively over-prosecuted  threatening extremely long prison sentences (producing intense pressure for deals and pleas) ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- SOLITARY CONFINEMENT / TORTURE extensive use of solitary confinement as punishment prolonged use of solitary confinement: deemed torture by every major human rights group USA solitary confinement / torture = routine form of punishment for even the smallest infractions without concern for prisoners’ mental health ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- UK-USA extradition treaty ratified by US Senate 2006 (implemented in 2007) fundamentally skewed towards misuse by the US Dept of Justice. designed for terrorism suspects allows the US to extradite British citizens for breaking US laws, even if the offence committed in the UK Reverse does not apply:  Britain may not extradite US citizens. ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- Low Burden of Proof *Therefore US extradition readily obtained, without sufficient proof to warrant extradition. Zero successful extraditions of American citizens committing a crime while on US soil (since 2007) versus 77 British citizens extradited to the US without the right to contest evidence without any legal aid to assist with trial in America ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- NOTE:  multiple areas of judicial imbalance ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- UK Home Affairs Select Committee = report calling for significant reform (2012) Conservative-led govt failed to respond "Lauri Love must be allowed to contest the allegations against him in the United Kingdom. To properly defend himself in court, he needs substantial support for his legal defense fund." SOURCE https://freelauri.com/fighting-extradition/ ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- UK–US extradition treaty of 2003 *Opposition* Link (historical) - here ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- EXTRACT Press Release UK/U.S. Extradition Treaty Ratified 26 April 2007 The United Kingdom and United States have today ratified a bilateral extradition treaty to ensure more effective arrangements to bring offenders from either state to justice.  [ lol .. it's skewed] SOURCE:  http://london.usembassy.gov/ukpapress48.html UK–US extradition treaty of 2003 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK%E2%80%93US_extradition_treaty_of_2003 ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- Other Please support journalist, Julian Assange Under Siege Ecuador embassy, London (3 Years) Detained 5 Years No Charge FAQ & Support https://justice4assange.com/  ꕤ

CIA Torture Report

CIA TORTURE REPORT What to do when too scattered to immerse oneself in social media escapism? Well, try to sleep.  Try, try and try again.  And if that fails, go play with the blog ... Hey, the CIA Torture Report is out - here (PDF - 525 pages) - finally published 9 December 2014. I'll forever associate CIA torture and the report with Obama's fairly ho-hum, casual: "We tortured some folks" The report's whittled down & heavily censored.  But what I read of the highlights 'most gruesome moments' (DailyBeast) (see also Guardian)  was enough to make me quite angry and disgusted. The treatment of the man that froze to death on the floor, naked and chained is beyond belief. Torture of people isn't something we usually give much thought to.  It's in the realm of maybe action-thriller movies and something we perhaps ever so vaguely figure 'might' happen in the underbelly of real life or, if we're pressed to stop to think about it, may have cynically shrugged and thought, yeah, bound to happen in some nasty underworld. But even if we could vaguely conceive of people maybe getting tortured in the course of lifestyle choices, such as a life of crime or a path of political dissidence, it would not enter our heads that agents of  democratic governments would subject living, captive, beings to torture -- and subject them to excesses of brutal torture repeatedly -- over the course of weeks of life-threatening and soul-destroying abuse. The 'enhanced interrogation' the US dished up to captives is reminiscent of torture harking back to Nazi Germans or the torture perpetrated by psychopathic sadists getting off on controlling and debasing helpless victims (which is, thankfully, quite rare among the general public, but maybe common among the CIA and cohorts by the look of things). So here we have representatives of the American state -- the symbol of the 'free, democratic world' -- sexually violating captives and subjecting them to insane, prolonged torture and even death, while America's preaching freedom, democracy, peace and moral superiority ... often at the point of a gun. That US allies were complicit in this violation of human rights and of international laws (they apparently only pay lip service to) is just as disgusting, mind-boggling and demoralising. Source:  Open Societies Foundations The above map is from the Open Societies Foundation Report -  'Globalising Torture: CIA Secret Detention & Extraordinary Rendition 2013 - here [PDF - 216 Pages]. Extraordinary Rendition:  abduction & extra-judicial transfer of persons from one country to another Just having a quick look at 'Globalising Torture', I note that Australia rates a mention because an Australian national went through the rendition and torture mill (2001-2005) before being released with no charge and finally getting an undisclosed settlement from the Australian government in 2010. The Australian government put on a bit of a show afterwards with an 'inquiry'.  But this was essentially the government investigating itself and (unsurprisingly) no wrongdoing was found. Nor did they find evidence of involvement of Australian officials: The inquiry seemingly did not investigate the statements of an Egyptian intelligence officer who alleged the involvement of Australian officials in Habib’s detention in Egypt, with Thom claiming that Habib did not provide the inquiry with a copy of the statements. The ECHR ordered Poland to pay restitution to abductees who were taken to a CIA black site in Poland & tortured.  Poland had denied culpability and had been planning to appeal the court's decision: In July 2014 the European Court of Human Rights condemned the government of Poland for participating in CIA extraordinary rendition, ordering Poland to pay restitution to men who had been abducted, taken to a CIA black site in Poland, and tortured.   Poland is appealing the decision. [wikipedia] But the cat's out of the bag now:  RT News reports that Poland had received hush money to host CIA prisons and that former President Aleksander Kwasniewski confirmed hosting CIA black sites (but had denied authorising torture).   Oh, and Poland was pissed that the US can't keep a secret.  Ah, well, you get that.  No honour among thieves (or violators). Anyway, there's 54 countries in the 'Globalising Torture' report and:  Russia's not in it!   Bring out the dancing girls & play the can-can. Moving away from the dancing girls and getting back to the subject of torture, this is some interesting information about US government funding of countries that commit torture: TOP 10 - USA AID COUNTRIES - THAT COMMIT TORTURE: 1. Israel – $3.1b 2. Afghanistan – $2.2b 3. Egypt – $1.6b 4. Pakistan – $1.2b 5. Nigeria – $693m 6. Jordan – $671m 7. Iraq – $573m 8. Kenya – $564m 9. Tanzania – $553m 10. Uganda -$456m Source:   http://leftfootforward.org/2014/01/top-ten-us-aid-recipients-all-practice-torture/ Having had a quick look at the CIA Torture Report (which I haven't read in full), the first thing I noticed was the eye-watering $81 million (plus $1 million legal indemnity) paid by the USG to the 'brains' of the torture program (which I'm pretty sure I could have devised for waaay less that fee).  What an obscene amount of taxpayer money to disburse on torturing, sexually violating and freezing people.  Oh, and I left out 'rectal feeding' or 'rectal rehydration'.  It is basically an enema -- an infusion of liquid poured into the rectum.  Liquid or ... liquefied food in the case of CIA-style 'rectal rehydration': One CIA cable released in the report reveals that detainee Majid Khan was administered by enema his “‘lunch tray’ consisting of hummus, pasta with sauce, nuts and raisins was ‘pureed and rectally infused’”. One CIA officer’s email was in the report quoted as saying “we used the largest Ewal [sic] tube we had”.  [Guardian] Daily Caller running a headline 'Former CIA Director Michael Hayden Says Rectal Feeding Not Torture, It's a Medical Procedure'.  Guess they need to have a look at the Guardian article above.  Far from 'medical' the way CIA goons applied it.  Shame on Daily Caller 'Crapper'  (hey, that's kinda apt given the subject).   Would you believe Hayden tried to deny it was a rectal procedure: Blitzer: Is that rectal though? Hayden: No, it’s not. And I’m not prepared to tell you why one method was chosen ... Wonder if the paper's having a quiet lend of us in that article ... or are Americans really, really, dumb and likely to fall for the comedic denials? Well, that's the long awaited CIA Torture Report.   I've not read either of reports in full yet or paid very close attention to the articles, but I may go back and check things out more thoroughly.  Notice the US media is big on repeating "Torture Is Not An American Value" ('TINAAV').  That's a distancing thing (that's not America, that's those bad, bad torture progam tailors).  It's also a positive spin thing in the headlines.  TINAAV repeated thousands of times in the media provides a counterbalance to 'CIA Torture Report Sparks World Outrage' [Sky Australia] type reporting.  That's my take on it, but I'm no media expert, so you might think otherwise. There's probably thousands of things that could be said.  OK, I'm exaggerating.  There are things that ought to be said in this post.  But I'm not sure I could be bothered (I'm just a blogger for fun).  And I'm running out of steam having done yet another all-nighter without sleep. Should probably point out that the report from Open Societies Foundations looks pretty good and is rather a surprising contribution to have come across, because I've been very suspicious of anything NGO related and anything associated with George Soros, as I see NGOs as instruments of influence and 'take-over'. Oh, now I remember what I wanted to say:  the CIA Torture Report will not change a thing.   Nobody is calling for military, political & economic leadership of Nazi Germany America to be held to account and tried before an international court of law. So, it will be business as usual for the US and for countries within the US sphere of influence (and we're taking over 50 countries involved in these CIA torture activities at last count in 2013). It's also worth mentioning that this is why we should make every effort to protect and support whistle-blowers (Bradley/Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden) and journalists and publishers (Julian Assange & WikiLeaks) who have taken enormous personal risk, and taken on world powers (yep, USA and friends, the same guys that were involved in kidnap, unlawful deportation and torture),  to disclose the truth of government wrongdoing and cover-up. That over 50 governments have joined the US in criminal activity in violation of international laws should ring alarm bells like crazy.  That, and the fact that anybody can be grabbed off the street in a democracy, and shipped off for USA torture anywhere in the world. It should also concern those who have watched their government clamp down on the free press and watched in dismay as governments rushed through laws that infringe on civil liberties, justified in the name of 'national security' and 'war on terror' (or merely European Union cohesion, in the case of the European Arrest Warrant) by governments that clearly cannot be trusted to adhere to principles of justice and democracy. The CIA Torture Report ought to be an impetus for voters to demand transparent and accountable government. -----------------    Freedom & democracy eroded by infringements on: * right to freedom from mass surveillance;  * right to privacy;  * right to freedom of information; * right to freedom from government censorship * right to open, public trials;  * right to presumption of innocence; * right to freedom from extradition without evidence; * right to transparent government;  * right to accountable government.  [Excuse any typos.  No sleep.  Very tired.]

 

USA - Guantanamo Bay - Hunger Strike - Media Suppression

U.S.A. US 'Secret State' #US national security state w/in a state = 6 million classified persons (larger than Norway, NZ or Scotland pop)! >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=aMYqzGwwoF8 … Guantanamo Info re Guantanamo Bay, #Cuba is being withheld from press (+ public) ... media don't know how many on hunger strike ... infowars > Get this: ".. or how frequently assaults on guards take place" infowars GTFOOH, it's the other way around. A joke article?    Torture "I prohibited – w/out exception or equivocation – the use of torture by ..USA. I ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed" TheHill >> That was Obama 5 years ago @ UN Assembly - http://goo.gl/8QSRWg  >> Man, what happened? Still unwanted 'tenant' of Cuba? “Under international law, States have an obligation to prevent & combat torture ..." ohchr/org >> Does TonyAbbott's legislator know this? >> "Every nation must know: America will live its values, and we will lead by example." ... LOL ... Stop squatting in Cuba! Media http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/civil-rights/218224-global-commitment-to-healing-torture-survivors This article is SO COOL - "Global commitment to healing torture survivors" [TheHill]... Makes you feel all warm & cuddly when you read that. > "donations from ..international community into one fund for torture survivor rehabilitation" .. The Sadists' torture kitty? TheHill so obvious .. 1) Obama bull re commitment 2) Torture fund healing worlds tortured victims 3) launch into Real Agenda: slam #Syria "human rights atrocities committed in Syria " - ATROCITIES ppl!! > UN Puppet has run out of words 2 depict gravity of crimes! -----------------------------------------------------  COMMENT Guantanamo must be a sensitive subject for the Americans.   Just as soon as I posted the information that the press is being muzzled, some guy jumped on to point the finger at Cuba! Hopefully the above makes sense.  It does to me, but that might be because I handled the information and it's fresh in my mind. Not sure if the InfoWars people are referring to a *current* hunger strike, or if it was just general information that they're after that's being suppressed by the Obama government. In any event, it's an interesting snippet of America's goings on. Should mention this is part of a wider story -- journalists unhappy about White House suppression of press that's been ongoing (eg  picky re foreign affairs correspondents, reward those that comply & exclude those that challenge authorities (ie do their jobs), law suit regarding NY journalist (think he may have been investigated, spied on, searched and basically harassed, from recollection).  Don't remember the name of the journalist or too may of the particulars, but I think the case is a big deal and it relates to freedom of press etc.   From prior information, it's known that the NSA have been involved in vetting news (LA Times former reporter). Reporters also unhappy in USA that even common reporting (such as routine crime data & statistics etc, that were previously available at police stations as a matter of course) are now being blocked by officials at police stations, who consider the press an intrusion these days.   Just going by memory.  Citations are here somewhere on blog, I'm too lazy to search for links.   Tried to set up the standard Google search thing in Blogger, but it wasn't working.  Might have to tackle it again some time, as it's pretty handy. And check out the size of the US 'secret state'!

Torture

ToRture Just saw the famous torture pics. Empowered people torturing disempowered people isn't anything to be proud of -- it's weak and gutless. But the thickos aren't bright enough to know they're like something out of one of those inbreds-on-the-loose horror movies.

OBAMA - CIA AND TORTURE

Barack Obama admits: The CIA 'tortured some folks after 9/11' Friday 01 August 2014 “We tortured some folks,” he admitted, “We did some things that were contrary to our values.” In 2009 he described waterboarding, a favourite CIA technique, as torture and “a mistake” and he banned its use by American operatives, but last night’s comments are the most emphatic admission.. President Obama, speaking ahead of the expected release of a Senate report that criticises the CIA’s treatment of captives, steered clear of commenting on the efficacy of torture. He added that he believed the mistreatment occurred because of pressure security officials felt to prevent another attack. He said Americans should not be too “sanctimonious,” about passing judgment through the lens of a seemingly safer present. He also expressed confidence in his CIA director, John Brennan, in the wake of an internal CIA report documenting that the spy agency improperly accessed Senate computers. There have been calls for his resignation by congressional lawmakers. FULL @ SOURCE SOURCE - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/barack-obama-admits-the-cia-tortured-some-folks-after-911-9644016.html

So there you go ... CIA can do whatever they want ... and the government approves.

Report should be vaguely interesting.

And Brennan's in with O.

LOL