WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was subjected to "psychological torture" and his rights were "systematically violated." This was announced on the eve of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Niels Meltzer. Speaking at a news conference in New York, a UN spokesman said he had previously visited Assange at Belmarsh Prison in the UK with two medical experts.
“We came to the conclusion that he was subjected to psychological torture for a long time. This is a medical assessment, ”Meltzer emphasized.
Recall that on April 11, Ecuador’s authorities extradited Great Britain to the founder of Wikileaks, who had been hiding in the walls of the embassy of the Latin American country in London for almost 7 years. Now a person is threatened with extradition to the United States. There he faces more than 170 years in prison.
In May, a court in London sentenced Assange to 50 weeks in prison for violating bail conditions.
Belmarsh Prison
In a statement, Niels Meltzer noted that the UN has asked all interested states to investigate reports of torture against Assange.
“Unfortunately, not one of the states involved agreed to conduct an investigation, although it is their responsibility under the Convention against Torture,” the UN Special Rapporteur emphasized.
Earlier on Twitter, Meltzer said that he sent relevant requests to the UK, Ecuador, Sweden and the United States. They all ignored the demand to investigate reports of Assange’s torture.
Belmarsh prison, where Julian Assange is currently located, is used to detain killers, maniacs, terrorists and other especially dangerous criminals. As noted by Business Insider, in the early 2000s it was unofficially called "British Guantanamo."
Throughout the stay of Julian Assange in prison, there have been reports of deterioration in his health. On May 30, the court adjourned the hearing of his extradition due to the poor health of the prisoner.
In September, WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson said Assange was in prison under more difficult conditions than terrorists. Also, according to Hrafnsson, “the British justice system is helping to make it impossible for Julian to fully prepare for court hearings.”
- Julian Assange at Belmarsh Prison in London
- © Ruptly
In the same month, Assange’s lawyer Carlos Poveda reported a deterioration in his client’s health due to isolation from the outside world. Later, in an exclusive interview with Ruptly video agency, prisoner father John Shipton said his son was in a state of nervous tension.
In an interview with RT, the head of the Center for the Study of Public Applied Problems of National Security, Alexander Zhilin, did not rule out that they were intentionally trying to undermine Assange's mental health.
Double standarts
Recall that since May 2019, Nils Meltzer has stated that Julian Assange was subjected to cruel measures of psychological influence. Then the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, noted that the British government should explain what was happening.
“But this is strong. Fighters for freedom and human rights are doing something. We are waiting for the official explanations of the kingdom, ”she wrote on her Facebook.
Later, Zakharova repeatedly accused the British authorities of double standards, talking about the imprisonment of Julian Assange.
“You can’t demand honesty, truth, openness, hold a world forum, do it under the auspices of the Foreign Office of Britain - and at the same time arrest and imprison a journalist who has been held hostage by the British government for so many years,” Zakharova emphasized on October 2. organized by RT conference MEDIA TALK.
- Maria Zakharova
- © Sergey Pyatakov / RIA Novosti
It is worth noting that the British, according to Meltzer, later than all answered the request of the UN Special Rapporteur on torture - only on October 7, although Meltzer sent an official letter to the country's authorities on May 27. At the same time, London limited itself to a formal statement that it does not use torture, and Assange’s rights were not violated.
“It has long been known that in the West, including in law enforcement, there are double standards,” said political analyst Alexei Martynov, head of the Institute of Newest States, in an interview with RT. - When they need something, when this or that citizen is declared an enemy of the state, then any methods and means are good in order to break it down, to force itself to be scolded or to issue certain materials. In this case, everyone quickly forgets about human rights, about all kinds of international charters, international organizations. ”
Media silence
In June, Niels Meltzer tried to place a column in defense of Assange in a number of mainstream media. He intended to publish it on June 26 on International Day Against Torture and sent the text to the editors of The Guardian, The Times, The Financial Times, The Telegraph, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Reuters. Offers to publish an article were also received by the newspapers of Australia, whose native is Assange: The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, Canberra Times.
- Niels Meltzer
- Reuters
- © Denis Balibouse
However, none of these media outlets responded positively. The UN representative had to publish his article on the Medium blogging platform.
#TortureVictimsDay:
My OpEd „Demasking the Torture of #JulianAssange“ was offered for publication to: @ Guardian @ Times @ FT @ SMH @ australian @ canberratimes @ telegraph @ nytimes @ wapo @ Newsweek @ TRF_Stories None responded positively.https: //t.co/ KuZ9oRAQ8k
Moreover, the world media have repeatedly tried to discredit the prisoner in the eyes of the world community. In April, The Washington Post published an article stating that Assange allegedly could put Americans at risk and “possibly” contributed to Donald Trump's rise to power.
In July, CNN accused Asange of allegedly secretly coordinating WikiLeaks with RT to interfere in American elections. As evidence, American journalists used the fake news that RT allegedly gave the news about the publication of letters from the Democratic Party's campaign headquarters before this information appeared on the WikiLeaks website.
Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in an exclusive interview with RT noted that in this way the American television channel tried to justify the possible extradition of Assange to the United States, where he risks spending the rest of his life in prison.
The way mainstream media cover the Assange case was later criticized by Niels Meltzer.
“The media tells us about the cat Assange, his skateboard and feces, but they do not require justice for the crimes that he exposed. Such carelessness in the issue of unlawful behavior of state authorities is just a shame, the same topic that everyone knows that they prefer not to notice, being distracted by the blinding light of a spotlight aimed at Assange, ”said the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture on his Twitter.
Media inform us about # Assange's cat, skateboard & feces, but don't demand justice for crimes he exposed. This complacency with government misconduct is the real scandal, the proverbial elephant in the room, hiding behind a blinding spotlight that is constantly directed at him. https://t.co/J3ZbitWBzD
- Nils Melzer (@NilsMelzer) September 13, 2019According to Alexander Zhilin, Western media are not worried about Assange’s condition.
“These media outlets abandoned journalism, and all of them, as a rule, play the role of propaganda. Therefore, it is completely unnecessary to wait for any The New York Times to publish an honest article, the political scientist believes. “The media has become a weapon of the Third World War on the information front.”