Manning and Assange: When Exposing Crimes is a 'Crime' (O Globo, Brazil)
"Manning and Assange are accused of the crime of disclosing
crimes. Their position that they want to trigger a global, open, and "hopeful"
discussion, which could give rise to reforms, were of no use. ... Free people who
love freedom cannot, unfortunately, offer Manning and Assange no paradise,
but they can offer them something better: solidarity. And words of admiration,
courage and friendship."
In
a few weeks, Julian Assange will complete two years of confinement in the Ecuadorian
Embassy in London, where he took refuge on June 18, 2012. There he lives like a
prisoner, cramped in a small adapted office, where he has a bed, telephone,
computer, shower, kitchenette, and a treadmill for exercise. Around the
building, police stand guard at a cost: in the first months, something in the neighborhood
of $4.5 million was spent watching him.
Assange
is the subject of two legal proceedings. The first, an imbroglio in Sweden he
was involved in, where two women have accused since August 2010 of "non-consensual
behavior during a consensual sexual encounter." With his extradition
requested, a legal battle ensued that went on for nearly two years. After
losing his last appeal, he requested asylum from the Ecuadorian government -
and not out of fear of the eventual consequences of this first proceeding.
What
worried him - and still worries him - is the second, which is far more
convoluted and dangerous. He is being pursued, though not officially, by the
government of the United States, which wants to ask him about confidential
documents that were handed to his non-profit WikiLeaks, of which Assange is one
of the editors, and is dedicated to disclosing classified information that exposes
the misdeeds that governments and companies try to hide.
Click Above to Listen
The
following narrative demonstrates that his fear of persecution is justified.
When
they came to light, the documents created a sensation, particularly the records
related to the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Millions of people could
read and see (there were also videos) crimes committed by U.S. soldiers, including
killings, which were covered up by the chain of command. In the diplomatic
cables there appeared shady schemes and explicit manifestations of hypocrisy -
the kind that remain forever in the oblivion of history, or at best, are uncovered
only decades later.
The
men involved reacted with a holy anger, because "so are they all, all honorable
men," as in the bitterly ironic and indignant speech Shakespeare attributed
to Marc Anthony, when talking of the assassins of Julius Caesar.
The
disclosure of that confidential material was "illegal," and more: a "terrorist
act." Either way, it was a "betrayal." Quickly, there were
people calling for the execution of Assange under the auspices of the Espionage Act of 1917,
which provides for the death penalty for those who provide information to the
enemy.
The
source of the revealed secrets was soon identified: the soldier Bradley Manning,
reported to police by a sad snitch [Adrian Lamo]
who has now fallen into a deserved ostracism.
Arrested
on May 27, 2010, in Iraq, where he was stationed, they took Manning to
Quantico, a Marine Corps base in the state of Virginia. There he was so badly savaged
that Juan E. Mendez, a United Nations special rapporteur on torture, described
the conditions of his imprisonment as "cruel, inhumane and degrading."
In January 2011, Amnesty International supported Mendez. In March, the State Department
of own spokesman, Philip J. Crowley, criticized Manning's treatment and
resigned. The following month, hundreds of academics signed a petition to the
same effect, denouncing violations of the U.S. Constitution. Manning also had
to endure other indignities arising out of his request for medical assistance
for a sex change - feeling he was a woman and wanting to be treated as such, since
last August he even changed his name to Chelsea Manning, but his demands
clashed with the insensitivity of the jailers who hid behind the fact that
military code does not provide for "transgenders."
Posted By Worldmeets.US
The
judgment was quick and the sentence brutal: 35 years in prison, decided on
August 21, 2013.
Manning
and Assange are accused of the crime of disclosing crimes. Their position that
they want to trigger a global, open, and "hopeful" discussion, which could
give rise to reforms, without which, as Manning told the court, "we are doomed
as a species," were of no use. These fragile and genuine words, however,
only result in accusations and convictions from the authorities. For them, the
two are no more than traitors and liars.
Splendid
liars!
That
is how Horatio referred to Hypermnestra, the only one of 50 daughters of Danaus to lie to her father - and betray him - for the
noble feeling of love. The gods forgave her, ensuring her recognition in life,
and later in death, giving her eternal access to the Elysian Fields - paradise of
the ancient Greeks.
Free
people who love freedom cannot, unfortunately, offer Manning and Assange no
paradise, but they can offer them something better: solidarity. And words of
admiration, courage and friendship.
