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
I PRESUME THAT THE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS WILL BE TOPICS SOON.
Whenever mespo and I discuss food I get deleted..twice just now!
mespo, Good dry rub for the torso. Any organ meat recipes. Those chitterlings have to be cleaned thoroughly, being so full of feces!
mespo,
Those heroes did not run, but the rules were different then, The current security apparatus learned how to take care of such problems from our friends south of the border in Argentina and other places. Bradley Manning is an example of how a whistleblower can be “disappeared” even in plain sight. Bad things happen to troublesome meddlers. Does the name Barry Seal ring any bells?
The secret they learned was not to allow the whistleblower a chance to have an audience.
mespo, Good dry rub for the torso. Any politician organ meat recipes? You know those chitterlings got to be cleaned thoroughly, being so full of shit!.
mespo,
You’re a regular man for all seasonings. 😀
nick:
“We Americans are the most impatient people in the world. We’ll be grilling and bbq’ing politicians when that happens.”
*******************
That fear by our leaders is all that keeps us free. Here’ s my suggestion for the rub:
Total Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons black pepper
1 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons cumin powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons paprika
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
Preparation:
Rub seasoning using 1-2 tablespoons per slab of ribs. I use more because I like them hot. Put on grill in single layer away from direct heat source. cook slowly for 1 1/2 to 2 hours on low heat. After cooking I wrap the ribs in foil and let them rest for 30 min. this makes for very tender ribs. This seasoning mixture will keep in sealed jar in the refrigerator.
Ralph, But all bets are off when the bread lines start forming. We Americans are the most impatient people in the world. We’ll be grilling and bbq’ing politicians when that happens.
Ralph meet Nick. Nick meet Ralph. You both have so much in common.
Snowden seems to me to be in that line of people of conscience who take on the reigning authority, recant, are punished and then gain their true due well after their lives are over and the threat to the public is properly assayed . People like Galileo, Thomas More, and Martin Luther spring to mind, but of course they did not run.
The irony here is that Amensty International–a Leftist agency if there ever was one–is criticizing the Leftist policies of the US Government. Amnesty International, apparenty, forgets what Leftism is all about.
Amnesty Internation seems to want to pretend that there is a left-right paradigm, in which the “right” is totalitarianism, and the “left” is for freedom. Nonsense. The Left has actually hijacked the right wing, so that both fall under the easy to identify category, “Leftists.” Leftism is a political system in which the state makes its citizens dependent upon it and holds total authority over the society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life whenever necessary.
Thus, the US Government has become a virtual carbon copy of the old 1950s style Communist-run Soviet Union, in which the media, the politicians, business, and government work in concert to subjugate the people, monitor their movements, and, essentially control key aspects of their lives.
The media in the US is just like the old “TAS” (Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union)–holding a monoply over all that you see and hear. Of course, there is still the Internet, when there is a substantial level of freedom, but you can rest assured that the US Government has plans for invading and controlling that too.
JT: Where you at man? Supreme Court has done ruled on the case regarding Voting Rights Act. Wake up!
Yo! He’s busy. Be patient, Dogs.
YO JT: where are you man? Voting Rights Act case.
YO JT: Post a topic on the Supreme Court decision on Voting Rights Act.
IMO, here is the crux of the matter stated by Drake: “THOMAS DRAKE: That’s a Government meme, it’s a Government cover, it’s a Government story. The Government is desperate to not deal with the actual disclosures, the contents of those disclosures, because they do reveal a vast, systemic, institutionalised industrial-scale Leviathan surveillance system that has clearly gone far beyond the original mandate to deal with terrorism – far beyond.
LEIGH SALES: Is it fair to say though that governments and their militaries and their intelligence services and their diplomatic arms require a degree of secrecy if they’re to be effective?
THOMAS DRAKE: Yes. I was in the system for many, many years. I’m the first to tell you, as Daniel Ellsberg himself has said more recently, there are secrets – very, very few, but there are secrets worth keeping. Troop movements, nuclear secrets – things of that nature. What we’re seeing here though is secret law, secret rules, secret programs that have been removed from any form of public debate.”
From Australia News: “THOMAS DRAKE: I blew the whistle on massive fraud, waste and abuse in the multi-billions of dollars. I also blew the whistle with two 9/11 congressional investigations with respect to the secret surveillance program, which is really the foundation, the set of foundation programs that Snowden disclosed in terms of actual documents that we now see revealed. I was charged in a 10 felony count indictment facing 35 years in prison – five under the Espionage Act, one for obstruction of justice and four for making false statements.
LEIGH SALES: And what happened with those charges?
THOMAS DRAKE: Their case ultimately collapsed under the weight of truth, also in the court of public opinion, and I ultimately prevailed and was able to keep my freedom.
LEIGH SALES: Well not everybody thinks Edward Snowden did the right thing. I presume you do?
THOMAS DRAKE: I consider Edward Snowden a whistleblower. I know some have called him a hero, some have called him a traitor. I focus on what he disclosed. I don’t focus on him as a person. He did have a belief that what he was exposed to, US actions in secret were violating privacy and human rights on a very, very large scale far beyond anything that had been admitted to date by the Government. And so in the public interest, he made that available.
LEIGH SALES: What do you say to the argument advanced by those with the opposite viewpoint to you, especially in the US Congress and in the White House, that Edward Snowden is a traitor who made a narcissistic decision that he personally had a right to decide what classified information should be in the public domain?
THOMAS DRAKE: That’s a Government meme, it’s a Government cover, it’s a Government story. The Government is desperate to not deal with the actual disclosures, the contents of those disclosures, because they do reveal a vast, systemic, institutionalised industrial-scale Leviathan surveillance system that has clearly gone far beyond the original mandate to deal with terrorism – far beyond.
LEIGH SALES: Is it fair to say though that governments and their militaries and their intelligence services and their diplomatic arms require a degree of secrecy if they’re to be effective?
THOMAS DRAKE: Yes. I was in the system for many, many years. I’m the first to tell you, as Daniel Ellsberg himself has said more recently, there are secrets – very, very few, but there are secrets worth keeping. Troop movements, nuclear secrets – things of that nature. What we’re seeing here though is secret law, secret rules, secret programs that have been removed from any form of public debate.
LEIGH SALES: Somebody who works for a security agency and leaks classified information would be well aware that that is a serious crime that attracts a serious penalty, regardless of whether history judges that that leak was in the public interest. Therefore does Edward Snowden have any right to plead for leniency?
THOMAS DRAKE: Well, you know, we’ll see how things develop (inaudible) plead for leniency. He’s outside the US and that does give him some advantages in terms of the long arm of “US justice”. I believe he committed a magnificent act of civil disobedience. He knew full well what risk he was taking. And he knew that he was potentially sacrificing his own safety, his own well-being and ultimately even putting his entire personal freedom at risk in disclosing top secret information regarding surveillance programs conducted by the United States Government.
LEIGH SALES: But if everybody acted like that, wouldn’t the entire system crumble?
THOMAS DRAKE: Well, the system’s outta control. I mean, amount of information – this is what’s happening. Not only the amount of information that’s continually classified, but also the number of people that have access to that classified information, it’s in the millions now. It’s in the millions. If Americans only knew the extent to which the executive branch has secretly interpreted even the legislation that was passed and signed into law by the President, they’d be angry and very upset. Well, we’re now starting to see the contours of that.
LEIGH SALES: As somebody who’s been through it, what’s your advice to Edward Snowden?
THOMAS DRAKE: Well, I – I very much feel for him and, I mean, one of the things that happens – I mean, he’s escaped from a very secret system and he’s outside the US and so all of his natural allies, support structure, family, is not there. He fundamentally has to rely and trust on those who understand what he’s going through and what he’s been. So, the lawyers, the advocates, the activists, the diplomats – I mean, this has become a world event. And you’re seeing someone who made a very, very fateful decision to share what he knew about the inside goings-on of the surveillance state with the world.”
“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.”
I believe that Snowden has performed a heroic service for our Country in disclosing that our Government has acted in the manner of despots throughout history. The question of whether or not Snowden is a “hero” as a person is childish when compared to the service he has done for us all. The security establishment and Obama face two problems that prevent them from any course other than to try to catch him and punish him severely. The first is that Snowden “getting away with” these leaks, will empower others to follow suit and the “wall of self-serving secrecy” will be breached. The second is although there are economic interests that are really being served by the “Intelligence State” and its’ continuous “War on Everything”, almost all those supporting these unconscionable invasions of privacy must still justify their transgressions emotionally. The reaction supporting Snowden might insert a little self doubt into their self-serving consciousness and they must not allow themselves doubt, or recognize their actions are ultimately illegal no matter what laws have been passed to make it legal.
Bob Kauten
-“I’m so proud of my country, I could just soil myself.”
That would be American soil, no?
Yeah. JT I wont itchBay about it but we need an article about the Supreme Court’s decisions this week before they all went off to the cathouse in Amsterdam to get laid. Can you picture Ginsberg getting laid at a whorehouse in Amsterdam? Naah.
Yo JT: it is Supreme Court Day. They overturned the Voting Rights Act. They say that Congress don’t know nuttin bout birthin babies. We need an article on the Supreme Court’s last day and the cases they decided. Yo: this is a law blog isn’t it? Yesterday you said that you were there in front of the court. I don’t know if you meant that you were speaking on behalf of a client or out there on the street with the protestors. Yo JT: we need a topic on the Supreme Court’s last day and where they are going for three months on vacation on our dime.