Edward Snowden, NSA Whistleblower, Wins Unusual Sympathizers in Latin America

[Zorro]

Ecuador is no human rights darling. Left-wing President Rafael Correa has built a decidedly authoritarian reputation that includes a yen for prosecuting journalists who irk him. This week he won passage of a media bill that slashes the number of private outlets, greatly increases state-controlled broadcasting and makes Correa the nation’s de facto media censor.

But Correa does care about shielding at least one free-speech advocate: Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who released thousands of classified U.S. diplomatic cables. Assange, hoping to avoid extradition to Sweden to answer sexual assault charges — and possibly extradition to the U.S. for espionage — has been holed up in Ecuador’s embassy in London since last summer, when Correa granted him political asylum. Because Assange can’t leave the embassy building, Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño even declared this week that the U.K. is violating the pale-complected WikiLeaker’s “fundamental right to sunbathe.” (And no, you won’t find that in the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.)

No wonder Assange this week said he thinks the whistleblower of the moment, Edward Snowden — who is now in Hong Kong after admitting he leaked information about a secret and controversial U.S. domestic spying program to the media this month — should look south for sanctuary. “I would strongly advise [Snowden] to go to Latin America,” Assange told CNN.

But here’s the flaw, at least the p.r. flaw, in Assange’s thinking. The countries most inclined to take Snowden in — that is, those with leftist governments like Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua, which would love to hold him up as an anti-U.S. trophy — also sport some of Latin America’s more checkered human rights records these days. Specifically, their policies tend to mock the very free-speech, free-information crusade that leakers like Assange and Snowden champion.

http://news.yahoo.com/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-wins-unusual-sympathizers-latin-141316994.html

[reorg]

1. Let's skip the BS about Correa's "reputation"

That kind of disinformation has been exposed here often enough, and nobody gives a shit what a hack writing for a US magazine thinks, anyway.

But what about his and your embarrassing lack of knowledge regarding human rights?

First, let's take a look what the convention says:

Article 25.

(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family ...
https://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml#a25

Still, what this has got to do with exposure to sunlight, you may ask? Here goes:

The Northwest's dreary winters are infamous for inducing depression. But being starved for sunlight can do more than kick you into a psychic hole.

A growing body of evidence suggests it can raise your risk of cancer, increase susceptibility to heart attack, diabetes and other disorders, and at least partly account for the region's sky-high rates of multiple sclerosis.

The reason is vitamin D, an essential nutrient produced in abundance by skin exposed to the sun's rays. Long dismissed as being important mainly for strong bones, the so-called sunshine vitamin is now recognized as a key player throughout the body, including the immune system.

http://seattletimes.com/html/health/2004179538_vitamind13m.html

Insufficient sunlight may kill 45 000 Americans each year from internal cancer
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1473-2130.2004.00128.x/abstract

Vitamin D Insufficiency Due to Insufficient Exposure to Sunlight and Related Pathology
http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/346/vitamin-d-insufficiency-due-to-insufficient-exposure-to-sunlight-and-related-pathology

But still, while it may be necessary for your health to get out into the sunlight every once in a while, would the UN accept this need and agree it has something to do with human rights? Or, a UN member state at least? Well, lookee here what I found at the website of the U.S. Department of State:

U.S. Department of State
2011 Human Rights Reports: Haiti
(...)
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
PRISON AND DETENTION CENTER CONDITIONS
... "some cells had no access to sunlight" ..."
http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2011/wha/186522.htm

[naaman fletcher]

2. My father,

who is 73 was going through a bout of bad health a few years ago. Turned out to be a vitamin D deficiency. Since then I have made a point of getting regular sunlight and feel a lot better.

Thanks for your post.

[Zorro]

3. Your casual dismissal of Correa's hypocrisy is touching

as is your support for his pet narcissistic drama queen Assange, who chose to create his self-imposed isolation.

Bring him a sunlamp, if Julian wants some UV rays.

[reorg]

4. Assange is still front page news in Ecuador and other countries

There is nothing hypocritical about offering asylum to Assange, it makes perfect sense for progressive forces to support Wikileaks.



La Hora:
Patiño visitó a Assange y lo encontró de "buen ánimo"
http://is.gd/OsIXQm

Hoy:
El canciller Ricardo Patiño, trata en Londres el caso de Assange
http://is.gd/LjExzM

El Comercio:

Canciller ecuatoriano busca una salida al caso Assange en Londres

La llegada de Patiño a Londres despertó esperanzas de una resolución del caso entre los partidarios del creador de WikiLeaks, entre ellos una mayoría de ecuatorianos y otros ciudadanos latinoamericanos.

“En este país, siendo pionero de los derechos humanos, nunca se ha dado semejante injusticia” , declaró Edwin Pazmiño, miembro del Movimiento Ecuador en el Reino Unido.

“Esperemos que mañana en la reunión con el ministro británico salga algo positivo y el gobierno acepte otorgar el salvoconducto a Julian Assange para que viaje a Ecuador ”, agregó este hombre de 43 años, vestido con una camiseta de fútbol de Ecuador.

http://www.elcomercio.com/politica/Canciller-ecuatoriano-vista-Assange-Londres_0_938906303.html

The Hindu:
Assange: America is at the precipice of turnkey totalitarianism
http://is.gd/WfmDzF

Hindustan Times
Julian Assange: a year in the embassy
http://is.gd/3bHiJJ

The Times of India:

Lack of sunshine affecting Assange’s health

Ecuadorean officials confirmed that Assange is suffering from a chronic lung infection and the lack of fresh air is making the illness worse. Assange can't step out of the embassy, least he gets picked up by police officers posted outside waiting to arrest him.

Ecuadorean ambassador to London warned that Assange was really suffering from living in a confined space and said he will ask UK to make special arrangements to let him out. Ecuador will seek a fresh assurance from UK not to arrest him in case he needs to be hospitalized. Ecuador will ask the UK for a document confirming safe passage for Assange in case of medical emergency. ...

Patino says Britain should allow the world's most well-known whistle-blower to sun bathe. "Assange has been holed up for over a year now with round the clock police from Scotland Yard keeping a watch on his movements...We believe he has a fundamental right to sunbathe," he said.

"His right to intimacy, mobility, a normal life and health is being restricted. I will be asking the British government to allow Assange to sunbathe and enjoy the warm weather and sunshine because unfortunately, at this moment in time, he hasn't been able to do so for a year," Patino added.

UK spends atleast $ 5 million annually on surveillance of Assange.

http://is.gd/AWRqx3

[Daniel537]

5. As usual, the corpo-fascist media tries to divert attention from the real story

and tries to paint Snowden as some kind of misguided soul or an outright traitor. The CIA couldn't have written a better article. Forget what we're doing, lets look at this shiny new toy.