Amnesty International has issued a statement criticizing the Obama Administration’s prosecution of Edward Snowden. While the media has largely yielded to demands from the White House not to call Snowden a “whistleblower,” Amnesty International views him in this light and specifically objects to the use of the Espionage Act by the Obama Administration in this case. I discuss the charges against Snowden in a column today in USA Today.
Widney Brown, Senior Director of International Law and Policy at Amnesty International stated that “No one should be charged under any law for disclosing information of human rights violations by the US government. Such disclosures are protected under the rights to information and freedom of expression.” The organization further stated that “[h]is forced transfer to the USA would put him at great risk of human rights violations and must be challenged.”
The position of Amnesty International could prove helpful to Snowden. Even with countries with an extradition treaty with the United States, there is an exception for criminal charges viewed as political or cases involving a dissident. Moreover, countries can consider the denial of due process in the requesting country. Many Americans may be surprised to learn that the United Stats is increasing viewed as a country that is a menace to due process in the denial of basic rights and a heavily skewed legal system in national security cases. It is important to remember that President Obama has retained the claimed authority to send some people to real courts and some to military tribunals on his discretion alone. The use of the Espionage Act only magnifies those concerns from many civil libertarians.
The charge appears in part a desire to paint Snowden in the most sinister light. The White House and its allies appear surprised by how, despite such efforts, many Americans and people around the world view Snowden as not just a whistleblower but a hero. Even if you do not view him in such a light, he does appear to be a source of a journalist. President Obama is responsible for 70 percent of all charges brought under the 1917 act — targeting sources of journalists. This comes after his administration was found to have put journalists under surveillance and called one reporter a possible criminal conspirator for speaking with a source. The Justice Department would have been wiser to focus on the crimes of theft and disclosure of classified information.
The Administration could not be working harder to create a defense to extradition for Snowden. The rhetoric and the charges in the case make this look more and more political and undermine assurances of fair treatment in the eyes of many abroad. This may be why the United States is now putting such pressure on Russia to return him in transit. Once he arrives and is admitted into a country, a long extradition process will follow where these issues can be explored. That can be avoided if he is simply put on a plane to New York. Russia however appears not inclined to help according to reports out this morning.
Source: Amnesty
Feinstein is too old to lie. Too old to know the truth. Too old to be a Senator. Too Old. 80 is too old, especially in dog years. She would be 560 dog years old. Don’t think of her as a dog though. We dogs would not have her in a dogpac and we put up with a lot.
Darren,
Correct.
Yes, Putin mentioned that there’s no formal extradition treaty.
I think “appropriate legal channels” is the same bayou that permitted us to torture prisoners taken during various undeclared wars in more countries than I can count.
We took that channel, so it’s an appropriate legal channel. You may consult with John Woo for legal arguments.
Harry Skip Robinson
1, June 25, 2013 at 11:37 am
I have noted:
That when an American has to flee to find the Rule of Law…
… Says volumes about America and Her Rule of Men.
.
Glenn Greenwald: “Dianne Feinstein is Outright Lying” about NSA Surveillance Abuses
Published on Jun 24, 2013
Watch the full interview with Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald on Democracy Now! at http://owl.li/mkCnI. Greenwald, who broke the NSA surveillance stories, talks about the mystery around Edward Snowden and the Obama administration’s decision to charge Snowden with espionage.
Greenwald says: “Dianne Feinstein is outright lying when she says that she doesn’t know of any instances of abuse at the National Security Agency. Leaving aside the fact that there have been several different reports by ABC News, by The New York Times, of the NSA abusing its eavesdropping powers over the last four years, there is a 2011 opinion, 80 pages long, from the FISA court, the secret court that oversees the NSA. And what it ruled, although the court—the opinion is top-secret and hasn’t been publicly released. What it ruled is that the way in which the NSA is spying on American citizens is in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, as well as in excess of the limitations imposed by the statute, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. In other words, what the NSA is doing is both unconstitutional and illegal. And so, although the public doesn’t have access to that opinion—shockingly, that in a democracy you could have a court rule the government has violated the law and the Constitution and keep it all a secret—Dianne Feinstein has access to that opinion. And so, when she says into the camera that there’s no evidence that she is aware of that the NSA has abused its spying powers, she’s simply lying, because she knows that the claim she’s making is false.”
Bob, so in other words the president’s answer was “no, he didn’t ask President Putin”
Appropriate legal channels eh? How do you do this when there is no formal extradition treaty between the US and Russia?
There’s been a lot of speculation as to what Russia might want from Snowden – secret docs, NSA access codes or his knowledge of the American intelligence community. But the reality is that his “intel” – priceless to the American public – is the last reason why Russia got on the “Snowden train”. That’s because a country with such a massive intelligence apparatus doesn’t need a celebrity whistleblower to tell them about PRISM. Russian intelligence has waged a covert war against the very institutions Snowden exposed for the better part of the 20th century.
The over-exaggerated “treasure chest” of secrets the world presumes Snowden’s laptop to be is of no use to the Russian government since they have their own (albeit weaker) NSA with spies, satellites, cryptography specialists, and a general understanding of an intelligence agency’s modus operandi that is far beyond that of any journalist or civilian in the US. Official Moscow may have a hard time grasping the basic principles of democracy, but it sure knows a thing or two about intelligence gathering. So no PRISM, Tempora, Verizon court orders or, say, a secret program that installs NSA modules into TiVo sets for tracking al-Qaida based on TV preferences is of any interest (or surprise) to the Russian government. What they do care about is sticking it to the US any way they can. And Snowden is just the guy they need. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/25/edward-snowden-moscow-russia-us-rivalry
Elaine, Kerry did hire Feingold so he was @ least sharp enough to hire an honest and bright politician. They’ve been on the endangered species list for awhile now.
Bob Kauten,
Regarding John Kerry. I’m happy that he is no longer the senior senator from my state.
Kraaken: And usually when mom tells Sonnyboy not to tattle the issue revolves around mom doing something wrong.
Kraaken: The difference is this. If daddy cheats on mommy and Sonnyboy knows about it and tells daddy then Sonnyboy is a snitch. If the Principal at school steals money from the school fund and Sonnyboy tells on him then Sonnyboy is a whistleblower. It goes on from there.
Honest question here. I’ve been trying to figure this out for a while. Exactly what is the difference between a ‘whistleblower’ and a ‘snitch’? How many years did people teach their children not to ‘tattle’? Is the difference on which side of the issue you stand?
From the article cited by Gene, above, regarding Putin’s refusal to extradite Snowden:
“”Asked whether he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Barack Obama said on Monday that the U.S. government is “following all appropriate legal channels and working with all countries to ensure the rule of law is being followed.””
What…rule of law would that be?
When did the U.S.A. begin following the rule of law?
I don’t remember being consulted on any such major policy change.
I just hate my police state when I hear them rant about our modern hero, Edward Snowden. Time to put that name on T shirts. Anyone taking the government line should be shunned & ignored from here on, including John Kerry.
JT: You must have known that the Supreme Court was going to rule on the Voting Rights Act before they go South on vacation. We need a topic on this, an article. Today. Did you go South with them?
How many bubbles are in a bar of soap? I need to know that answer because I am going to apply for my voting rights in NC and I don’t know nuthin bout birthin babies.
Vladimir Putin: Edward Snowden Still In Moscow Airport Transit Zone, Won’t Be Extradited
The Supreme Court ruled that Congress did not know what it was doing when it passed the Voting Rights Act in its most recent reaffirmation. This is the first time that the Supreme Court has ruled that Congress has not been thinking right. Perhaps Congress should pass a law reducing the salaries of the Supreme Court Justices to reflect the three months that they take off for bad behavior– which begins tomorrow. Tank Dog we wont hear from them until October.
Snowden would be safer if he stayed in Russia. I have to agree with Gene that if he ended up in Equador he would very possibly be snatched up by a CIA special forces unit if he moved around freely there.
Ok…. Who…
This is completely OT but just in. I’m sure we’ll have a thread on it soon enough:
SCOTUS Guts Voting Rights Act
Guess which “Justices” were responsible for the 5/4 split.