https://wikispooks.com/w/index.php?title=Document:Diane_Abbott_%E2%80%93_2019_Speech_on_Julian_Assange&feed=atom&action=historyDocument:Diane Abbott – 2019 Speech on Julian Assange - Revision history2024-03-29T07:00:55ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.33.2https://wikispooks.com/w/index.php?title=Document:Diane_Abbott_%E2%80%93_2019_Speech_on_Julian_Assange&diff=159023&oldid=prevPatrick Haseldine: Creating Document:Diane Abbott – 2019 Speech on Julian Assange2019-04-20T15:18:23Z<p>Creating <a href="/wiki/Document:Diane_Abbott_%E2%80%93_2019_Speech_on_Julian_Assange" title="Document:Diane Abbott – 2019 Speech on Julian Assange">Document:Diane Abbott – 2019 Speech on Julian Assange</a></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Document<br />
|title=Diane Abbott – 2019 Speech on Julian Assange<br />
|publication_date=11 April 2019<br />
|type=Speech<br />
|source_name=UKPOL<br />
|source_URL=http://www.ukpol.co.uk/diane-abbott-2019-speech-on-julian-assange/<br />
|authors=Diane Abbott<br />
|subjects=Julian Assange, Wikileaks, Chelsea Manning<br />
|image=Diane_Abbott_Assange.jpg<br />
|image_width=300px<br />
|image_caption=We should recall what [[WikiLeaks]] disclosed<br />
|description=We only have to look at the treatment of [[Chelsea Manning]] to see what awaits [[Julian Assange]] if he is extradited to the [[US]]<br />
}}<br />
{{QB|Below is the text of the speech made by [[Diane Abbott]], the [[Shadow Home Secretary]], in the [[House of Commons]] on 11 April 2019.}}<br />
I thank the [[Home Secretary]] for his account of events. On the Labour Benches, we are glad that [[Julian Assange]] will be able to access medical care, treatment and facilities, because there have been worrying reports about his ill health. Of course, at this point that is all a matter for the courts.<br />
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We in the Opposition want to make the point that, even though the only charge that [[Julian Assange]] may face in this country is in relation to his bail hearings, the reason we are debating this this afternoon is entirely to do with his and [[WikiLeaks]]’ [[whistleblowing]] activities.<ref>''[https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1113261/Julian-Assange-news-Diane-Abbott-John-Humphrys-US-extradition-WikiLeaks "John Humphrys confronts Diane Abbott on Assange – 'He went to embassy to escape the law!'"]''</ref> These whistleblowing activities about illegal wars, mass murder, murder of civilians and corruption on a grand scale have put [[Julian Assange]] in the crosshairs of the [[US]] Administration. For this reason, they have once more issued an extradition warrant against [[Julian Assange|Mr Assange]].<br />
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The [[Sajid Javid|Home Secretary]] will know that [[Julian Assange|Mr Assange]] complained to the [[UN]] that he was being unlawfully detained as he could not leave the [[Ecuador|Ecuadorian]] embassy without being arrested. In February 2016, the [[United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention|UN panel]] ruled in his favour, stating that he had been arbitrarily detained and that he should be allowed to walk free and compensated for his “deprivation of liberty”. [[Julian Assange|Mr Assange]] hailed that as a significant victory and called the decision binding, but the [[Foreign Office]] responded by saying that this ruling “changes nothing”. I note that the [[Foreign Office]] responded then, not the [[Home Office]] or the [[Ministry of Justice]]. The [[Foreign Office]] has no responsibility for imprisonment and extradition in this country, but it is interested, of course, in relations with allies and others.<br />
<br />
We have precedent in this country in relation to requests for extradition to the [[US]], when the [[US]] authorities raise issues of hacking and national security. I remind the House of the case of [[Gary McKinnon]]. In October 2012, when the [[Theresa May|current Prime Minister was Home Secretary]], an extradition request very similar to this one was refused. We should recall what [[WikiLeaks]] disclosed. Who can forget the [[Pentagon]] video footage of a missile attack in 2007 in [[Iraq]] that killed 18 civilians and two [[Reuters]] journalists? The monumental number of such leaks lifted the veil on [[US]]-led military operations in a variety of theatres, none of which has produced a favourable outcome for the people of those countries. [[Julian Assange]] is being pursued not to protect [[US]] national security, but because he has exposed wrongdoing by [[US]] Administrations and their military forces.<br />
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We only have to look at the treatment of [[Chelsea Manning]] to see what awaits [[Julian Assange]] if he is extradited to the [[US]]. [[Chelsea Manning|Ms Manning]] has already been incarcerated, between 2010 and 2017. She was originally sentenced to 35 years. Her indefinite detention now is because she refuses to participate in partial disclosure, which would allow [[whistleblower]]s to be pursued and not the perpetrators. Her human rights and protections as a transgender woman have been completely ignored—[Interruption.] Her human rights as a transgender woman have been completely ignored, and I hope that Government Members will take that seriously.<br />
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What this has to do with [[Julian Assange]]’s case is that this could be the type of treatment he could expect if he is extradited to the [[US]]. In this country, we have protections for [[whistleblower]]s, including the [[Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998]] and others—even if some of us feel that these protections should be more robust. Underpinning this legislation is the correct premise, not that anyone can leak anything they like but that protection should be afforded to those who take a personal risk to disclose wrongdoing where that disclosure serves the public interest. [[Julian Assange]] is at risk of extradition to the [[US]] precisely because, as we in the Opposition believe, he has exposed material that is in the utmost public interest.<br />
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This is now in the hands of the British law courts. We have the utmost confidence in the British legal system, but we in the [[Labour Party|Opposition]] would be very concerned, on the basis of what we know, about [[Julian Assange]] being extradited to the [[US]].<br />
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==References==<br />
<references/></div>Patrick Haseldine