In defense of Julian Assange's freedom

El CLACSO Working Group on the Political Economy of Information, Communication and Culture (EPICC) expresses the urgency of generating international action and calls attention to the bodies responsible for defending human rights at the international and American levels, so that the detention of Australian journalist Julian Assange is brought to an end, against whom there is an extradition order to the United States, which, if carried out, would imply an imminent danger to his life and his physical and mental integrity and, in addition, would symbolically constitute the triumph of the international hegemonic system of censorship and punishment of the exercise of freedom of expression and the right to information.

Assange has been imprisoned in the high-security Belmarsh prison in the United Kingdom, a detention center that has been called "the British version of Guantanamo Bay", since 2019, after the government of Ecuador, then presided over by Lenin Moreno, first, abruptly revoked the diplomatic asylum that was granted to him in 2012 and, second, allowed the entry of the British police into its embassy in London to arrest him, in an unprecedented violation of international humanitarian law.

Julian Assange founded WikiLeaks in 2006 and succeeded in revealing to the world more than ten million documents related to corruption, war, espionage, and serious human rights violations by the United States government. The most egregious case was the public release of a video showing the killing of two journalists and twelve civilians from a military helicopter. The video, titled “Collateral Murder,” has circulated worldwide. In retaliation, US authorities initiated extradition proceedings against Assange and filed 18 charges against him, which could carry a sentence of up to 175 years in prison. The case is clearly politically motivated and constitutes a serious attack on freedom of information. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, maintains that there are at least three critical and urgent reasons for concern: the first is that Assange suffers from a depressive disorder, and therefore his extradition to the United States could exacerbate his underlying medical conditions, posing a very real risk of suicide. It is worth recalling that the “United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners,” known as the Nelson Mandela Rules, state that more than 15 days of solitary confinement or isolation amounts to torture, and that Assange has been confined for almost five years. The second is that Assange will not be able to defend himself while free. The United States, and if convicted, he will at best remain imprisoned in degrading conditions. The third reason this extradition violates human rights is that Assange faces a sentence two and a half times the equivalent of life imprisonment in other countries, and excessive punishments are considered ill-treatment under international law.

Finally, it is important to remember that the US justice system has provisions that authorize the death penalty for certain crimes, meaning that extraditing Julian Assange would violate the commitment publicly made by the British government not to hand him over to a country where he could receive a capital sentence.

Assange is being persecuted for exercising his right to freedom of expression and denouncing abuses of power, crimes against humanity, and corruption—all issues that do not constitute endangering a country's security. The Australian journalist remains in a high-security prison in London awaiting a court decision on whether to extradite him to the United States.

In light of the imminent judicial decision that would allow the extradition of journalist Julian Assange, the CLACSO Working Group on Political Economy of Information, Communication and Culture expresses its strong condemnation of all types of human rights violations and demands the immediate protection of his safety.

This political persecution has already had extremely serious consequences for Assange's physical and mental health, and each new day of confinement brings him closer to death. We cannot remain indifferent.

January 6 2024
CLACSO Working Group
Political Economy of Information, Communication and Culture

This statement expresses the position of the Working Group Political Economy of Information, Communication and Culture and not necessarily that of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.