Before the 31st United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva today, 500 human rights organizations, law professors, former UN office holders, and high-profile rights defenders including four Nobel Peace Prize winners have urged the governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom to respect the United Nations’ decision to free Julian Assange. The statement was delivered to the Swedish and UK Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in Geneva.
—
“We the undersigned, including legal and human rights organisations, academics, and policymakers condemn the reactions of the governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom to the finding by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that Julian Assange is arbitrarily detained.
The governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom are setting a dangerous precedent that undermines the United Nations Human Rights system as a whole. We urge Sweden and the United Kingdom to respect the binding nature of the human rights covenants on which the decision is based, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; as well as the independence, integrity and authority of the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
We therefore call on the governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom to comply without further delay with the Working Group’s findings and “ensure the right of free movement of Mr. Assange and accord him an enforceable right to compensation, in accordance with article 9(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
—
Signatories include

• more than 500 high profile signatories from more than 60 countries
• more than 100 human & legal rights organizations including 16 national associations of lawyers and jurists
• 50 international law professors, former judges and jurists
• 4 Nobel Peace Prize winners
• 25 Freedom of expression organizations including Reporters Without Borders, the EFF and The Freedom of the Press Foundation.
• The immediately former UN Special Rapporteur for Arbitrary Detention Mads Adenas and five other former UN Special Rapporteurs, Experts and Working Group Chairs.
• The cities of Madrid & Barcelona
• Activists: Ai Wei Wei, Pussy Riot, Naomi Klein & Arundhati Roy
• Over 100 academics from 65 universities

Full list of signatures below.
 

Mr Assange’s Current Status

Mr Assange been granted political asylum by Ecuador in response to the pending prosecution pending against him in  the US  in relation to Wikileaks publications, which include revelations of the US spying on allied governments, as well as the UN Secretary General and the UNHCR. After a 16 month investigation, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) has found that Mr Assange has been unlawfully detained by the UK and Sweden and should be released and compensated.
The US states that it continues its ‘pending prosecution’ against WikiLeaks. The case is being handled by the Department of Justice National Security Division & Criminal Division.
The current status of the ‘preliminary’ investigation in Sweden: Julian Assange has not been charged at any stage and has already previously been cleared. For the one allegation remaining in the ‘preliminary investigation’ the woman says the police ‘made it up’, ‘railroaded’ her and that she did not intend to file a complaint. (see https://justice4assange.com/Assange-Case-Fact-Checker.html and  https://justice4assange.com/Accurate-reporting-on-the-one.html)
“Julian Assange should have been freed a long time ago.  The judgment of the UN Working Group is welcome, and should be implemented forthwith.”
—Noam Chomsky
“UK politicians [have] aimed at weakening the authority of the UN body for short-term opportunistic gain.”
– Prof. Mads Andenas, professor of international law (Oxford All Souls) and UN Special Rapporteur on Arbitrary Detention.
 

Signatories

– Organisations

 
Header image by Elekh, licensed under CC-BY-SA

Do you want to be informed of DiEM25's actions? Sign up here