2012-05-02 #WikiLeaks News Update: Latin America refused to publish cables; "World Tomorrow" episode 3; Other news

WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 515 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 512 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 708 days.
A secret Grand Jury has been active in the U.S. without transparency for 594 days.

WikiLeaks News:

• Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa condemned the actions of private media journalists who were acting as U.S. Embassy informants, information which was recently revealed in WikiLeaks cables.

• A new book, "Wiki Media Leaks," shows that major Latin American newspapers which had access to WikiLeaks cables did not print them because doing so would run counter to their own interests, especially if the newspaper itself was mentioned in the cables.

• Global Research published an article about the House passing CISPA, looking at WikiLeaks' Spy Files as an idea of the surveillance equipment that is available.

• Transcript of Gavin MacFadyen's talk at the International Journlism Festival on the importance of WikiLeaks is now available.

• Twitter user @karwalski has written an analysis which questions the Australian government's role in MasterCard's financial blockade of WikiLeaks. He also received a response from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission after writing to them about the blockade.

Julian Assange News:

• Episode 3 of "The World Tomorrow" aired featuring Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki. It is available online in English, Spanish, Russian, and Arabic, and will be available in Italian on May 5.
  

• Julian Assange gave an interview with Russian 1TV about his extradition case, mainstream media distortion of WikiLeaks' releases, and attacks against himself and the organization.

Bradley Manning News:

• The Bradley Manning Support Network published an article which covers Manning's recent motion hearings and the worldwide support events that went alongside them.

• Cass McCombs has released a new music video for his song "Bradley Manning."
  

• The Daily Beast published an excerpt from Denver Nicks' new book, "Private: Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks, and the Biggest Exposure of Official Secrets in American History."

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Upcoming Dates & Events:

May 2: Gavin MacFadyen to speak on WikiLeaks at City University London, 6:30PM.

May 23: Julian Assange to speak on the impact of increasing transparency at Enterprise Information Management Congress 2012 in The Netherlands, 4:35PM.

May 27: "Incident in New Baghdad" to air on The Documentary Channel, 8PM.

June 6-8: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

July 16-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

August 27-31: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 19-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 21-October 12 Bradley Manning's court martial.

2012-05-03 Former Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski admits to collaboration with CIA

In a recent interview with Gazeta Wyborcza, former Polish president Aleksander Kwaśniewski made the following statements:

"... Q: But it was the Americans who revealed information that prisoners were held in Poland.
A: Indeed, in a wave of critique against George Bush, when Barack Obama said he was going to close the prison in Guantanamo. His term in office is almost over, and the prison still exists. Osama bin Laden was shot by a commando on the orders of someone who received the Nobel Peace Prize.

It was not us who detained terrorists, it was not us who interrogated them. We assumed that our allies would adhere to the law. If something happened that was not in accordance with the law, then the Americans are responsible for it, then it is up to them to pay the bill.

Q: Polish authorities closed their eyes on what the CIA were doing?
A: The collaboration with the CIA had the risk that the Americans were going to deploy methods that are not admissible. But if a CIA agent had brutally mistreated a prisoner in the Marriot hotel in Warsaw, would you accuse the hotel management for what this agent had done? We didn't know about any torture."

Kwaśniewski admits to a collaboration with the CIA, but claims not to have known of any torture, even though he says that apparently there were fears to this regard.

Cablegate evidence for such a cooperation has recently been recovered by WLC.

According to case files leaked to Gazeta Wyborcza just over a year ago, the initial investigation into the CIA black site in Stare Kiejkuty focused on the legal implications of creating an extraterritorial area, the detention and torture of prisoners in such an area and the status of these prisoners.

For our previous extensive coverage of the topic, please see this link.

2012-05-04 WikiLeaks News Update: Press Freedom Day; Guangcheng cables; DFAT seeks to delay Assange FOI request

WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 517 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 514 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 711 days.
A secret Grand Jury has been active in the U.S. without transparency for 597 days.

WikiLeaks News:

• May 3 was World Press Freedom Day. The United States plummeted in its press freedom ranking, falling from 20th to 47th. Despite this, the U.S. still made a statement touting its freedom of speech. EFF's Trevor Timm authored an article which commented on the U.S.'s crackdown on whistleblowers, the secret grand jury on WikiLeaks, and the arrests of journalists at Occupy protests. Politico's Byron Tau also wrote about the attacks on whistleblowers and WikiLeaks.

• WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson was on Press TV's "Double Standards" to discuss the current status of WikiLeaks, the attacks it's facing, the banking blockade, the Global Intelligence Files, the war against whistleblowers in the U.S., and the difficult political climates in Sweden and Australia. Watch the full interview below:
  

• A WikiLeaks cable from April 2007 shows that the Chinese Government insisted that blind activist Chen Guangcheng, who recently fled house arrest to the U.S. Embassy, was free. At the time, U.S. Diplomat David Sedney disputed China's claim, saying that being unable to "trust clear statements" from the Chinese Foreign Ministry officials "damages our ability to work with China." See the full cable or view a list all 37 cables which mention Guangcheng.

• In a recent interview, Carne Ross, former UK delegation expert on the Middle East and author of "The Leaderless Revolution," spoke of the profound implications of WikiLeaks and the hope that it will change the secrecy culture of democracy.

• An article in The Daily Princetonian discusses how students and teachers are self-censoring themselves from using WikiLeaks material, saying it could jeopardize potential government careers.

• An article at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism looks at how investigative journalism operates in the digital age, including the role that WikiLeaks plays.

• A new video in the "Did You Have Any Idea?" WikiLeaks support series has been released, featuring Australian writer Larry Buttrose.

• Gavin MacFadyen's lecture on "The Real WikiLeaks: beyond Julian Assange" scheduled for May 2 at City London University was cancelled due to illness. City University will release the rescheduled date in due course.

Julian Assange News:

• The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is again seeking to delay documents relating to Julian Assange requested under the Freedom of Information Act. If accepted, the documents will be delayed until June 3, likely after the outcome of the Supreme Court appeal. This raises the possibility of the U.S. or Sweden vetoing the release of documents.

• A new play started showing at Gate Theatre in London entitled "Tenet" which has French mathematician Évariste Galois and Julian Assange as characters. See reviews of the play via Spoonfed and The Daily Mail.

• Professor Ferrada de Noli has posted transcript of his interview with RT about the attacks on Julian Assange and the timing of the WikiLeaks, Assange, and Bradley Manning legal proceedings.

Bradley Manning News:

• Center for Constitutional Rights attorney Michael Ratner was on Antiwar.com Radio to discuss the immense secrecy surrounding Bradley Manning's trial, the "aiding the enemy" charge, and how you can support Bradley.

• The Bradley Manning Support Network has published reports on multiple support events that were held during Bradley's last motion hearings. See the reports for Berkeley and Oakland, San Diego, Salina, Kansas City, and Washington D.C.

• The Bradley Manning Support Network issued a news update for May 3 which covered Bradley's new photo, dangerous implications from his case and treatment, and continued secrecy in his proceedings.

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Upcoming Dates & Events:

May 23: Julian Assange to speak on the impact of increasing transparency at EIM 2012 in The Netherlands.

May 27: "Incident in New Baghdad" to air on The Documentary Channel, 8PM.

June 6-8: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

July 16-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

August 27-31: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 19-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 21-October 12: Bradley Manning's court martial.

2012-05-05 [UPDATED 2012-05-07] Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab arrested at airport

Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab was arrested today by the order of the Bahraini public prosecution. This comes the day after WikiLeaks' press release that he, along with Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, will be the guests on next week's episode of Julian Assange's talk show, "The World Tomorrow."

Rajab was arrested at the Bahraini International Airport upon his return from Lebanon. Authorities have yet to comment on the reason for his arrest. Maryam al-Khawaja, another Bahraini human rights defender, said she and Rajab were discussing the possibility of his arrest as they left Beirut, knowing that the government in Bahrain was escalating.

Shortly after the announcement of his arrest, the Bahrain Police website was brought down in protest.

RT reports that Rajab has not only been arrested, but also imprisoned.

WikiLeaks has offered journalists embargoed access to the transcript of Tuesday's interview with Nabeel Rajab. Contact information is available via "The World Tomorrow" official website.

The episode of "The World Tomorrow" featuring Nabeel Rajab and Alaa Abd El-Fattah will air on RT Tuesday, May 8, starting at 12:30PM London time. It will subsequently air every two hours for a 24 hour period.

More to follow as the story progresses.

UPDATE 20:30 BST: Maryam al-Khawaja says Nabeel Rajab called his wife to inform her that he will be held overnight. His hearing will take place tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, two more Bahraini government websites have been taken down in protest: rap.gov.bh and interior.gov.bh.

UPDATE 20:55 BST: The Bahraini Center for Human Rights stated that Nabeel Rajab has been charged with "participating in illegal assembly and calling others to join." He could potentially face more charges since he was previously summoned for interrogation for "insulting the statutory bodies" on April 26.

UPDATE 22:16 BST: RT has updated their article on Rajab's arrest with information from his upcoming appearance on "The World Tomorrow." In the interview, Rajab discusses being detained, kidnapped, and beaten because of his criticism of the Bahraini regime. He also talks about his aims to attract international attention to the situation in Bahrain and the U.S. turning a blind eye.

For further images and quotes from the upcoming episode, see RT's article.

Two more websites have been taken down in protests: gulfair.com and bna.bh.

UDPATE 22:52 BST: During his interview for "The World Tomorrow," Nabeel Rajab said that on the day he announced his intention to appear on RT, his house was "surrounded by almost 100 policemen armed with machine guns," though he was not there at the time.

Nabeel Rajab is mentioned in 34 of the U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks. Bahrain is home to NSA Bahrain which is home to the US Fifth Fleet and the US Naval Forces Central Command.

UDPATE 2012-05-06 17:43 BST: The public prosecutor's office has extended Nabeel Rajab's detainment to 7 days. Originally he was to be held just overnight. According to the Bahraini Ministry of Interior, the reason for Rajab's arrest and detainment is "suspicion of committing several punishable crimes."

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Nabeel Rajab, since it seems the judicial harassment against him is "solely aimed at sanctioning [his] human rights activities."

The FIDH says Rajab appeared before court this morning and denied the charges against him.

Index on Censorship condemned the arrest of Nabeel Rajab, who recently won their Freedom of Expression Advocacy award for his work as president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. While Rajab is detained, Maryam al-Khawaja will be acting president of the BCHR.

Cartoonist Carlos Latuff has created a political cartoon in both Arabic and English after the announcement of Rajab's arrest.

UPDATE 20:37 BST: Colleagues of Nabeel Rajab have began tweeting from his Twitter account (@NABEELRAJAB), calling on people to get out and demand their rights and reminding them that there's over 700 other political prisoners in Bahrain.

Work on getting Nabeel released, but remember there are approx 700 other political prisoners in #bahrain

— Nabeel Rajab (@NABEELRAJAB) May 6, 2012

UPDATE 22:28 BST: RT interviewed Al Akhbar senior columnist Omar Nashabe about the arrest of Nabeel Rajab. Watch the interview below:

UPDATE 2012-05-07 02:05 BST: A representative of the public prosecutor ordered Nabeel Rajab to be detained for one week for "insulting a statutory body" via Twitter. Police are claiming that the Twitter comments "fuelled rioting, road blocking, arsons, acts of sabotage." Rajab denied the charge saying, "aims at hindering my rights work and my right of expression."

Rajab's young daughter Malak was out protesting for his release, as well as the release of human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja.

Nabeel Rajab gave a Q&A on the Bahraini revolution and Formula 1 Grand Prix while in Lebanon, where he was returning from at the time of his arrest at the Bahraini International Airport. Read the transcript of the interview via SBS.

2012-05-06 WikiLeaks News Update: Nabeel Rajab arrested; US planned to destabilize Ecuadorian President; Other news

WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 519 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 516 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 713 days.
A secret Grand Jury has been active in the U.S. without transparency for 599 days.

WikiLeaks News:

• Diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks show that the U.S. Government had plans to conspire with the current Bank of Guayaquil president Guillermo Lasso to destabilize the Ecuadorian Government under President Rafael Correa.

• U.S. diplomats are wary of Brazil's rising influence, according to diplomatic cables, with Brazil seeing itself as "the natural leader of Latin America." Emails from Stratfor show similar feelings within the company, commenting that Brazil's relationships with South American countries "must be watched very carefully."

• WikiLeaks cables puncture Malam Nasir Elrufai's claims of incorruptibility, showing that he attempted to award a contract to a company in which he and his brother had substantial interests while he was Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises.

• The U.S. Army has plans to monitor the keystrokes, downloads, and web searches on computers that soldiers use. This comes as part of an effort in the military to prevent future WikiLeaks-style releases of classified information.

• Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam has a webpage dedicated to all the efforts the Greens have put into defending WikiLeaks, including blog posts, Senate addresses, public panels, and other resources.

Julian Assange News:

• May 8th's episode of "The World Tomorrow" will feature activists Nabeel Rajab from Bahrain and Alaa Abd El-Fattah from Egypt. It will air in English, Spanish, Arabic, Italian and Russian, beginning at 12:30PM London time and airing every 2 hours for a 24-hour period.

• Nabeel Rajab, a guest in next week's episode of "The World Tomorrow," was arrested at the Bahraini International Airport. This came only one day after WikiLeaks' announcement of his upcoming appearance on Julian Assange's television show. He was arrested on charges of "participating in illegal assembly and calling others to join."

• RT has published photos and quotes from the upcoming episode of "The World Tomorrow." In the program, Nabeel Rajab focuses on the revolution in Bahrain, discussing the importance of it and the lack of media coverage. He also mentions his own experiences being beaten, detained, and tortured.

• The third episode of "The World Tomorrow" featuring Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki is now available in Italian.

Bradley Manning News:

• Nathan Fuller of the Bradley Manning Support Network interviewed Chase Madar, author of the new book "The Passion of Bradley Manning." Madar discusses what drew him to Manning, why the Obama administration is cracking down on whistleblowing, the issue of overclassification, and the rule of law.

• The Bradley Manning Support Network has published a report from the support event held in Vancouver, BC.

• Social Alliance spokesperson for gay and lesbian rights Rachel Evans spoke at a Sydney rally for Bradley Manning, lauding him as a hero and role model for standing up against homophobia.

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Upcoming Dates & Events:


May 8: Episode 4 of "The World Tomorrow" featuring Alaa Abd El-Fattah and Nabeel Rajab premieres, 12:30PM London Time.

May 23: Julian Assange to speak on the impact of increasing transparency at EIM 2012 in The Netherlands, 4:35PM.

May 27: "Incident in New Baghdad" to air on The Documentary Channel, 8PM.

June 6-8: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

July 16-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

August 27-31: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 19-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 21-October 12: Bradley Manning's court martial.

2012-05-07 [UPDATED 05-11] Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab arrested, detained after meeting Assange

This is Part Two in WL Central's continued coverage of the arrest of Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab. He was arrested on May 5 at the Bahraini International Airport, following the announcement of his upcoming appearance on Julian Assange's talk show "The World Tomorrow." A representative of the public prosecution ordered that Rajab be detained for one week for "insulting a statutory body" via Twitter. Rajab denies the charges, saying they are aimed at hindering his human rights work and his right of expression. See Part One of our coverage here.

RT reported on the arrest of Nabeel Rajab, coming just days before his interview with Julian Assange on "The World Tomorrow" is set to air. Rajab is the "driving force" of the ongoing protests in Bahrain, even though the government has banned public protesting. A preview of Tuesday's episode is shown, where Rajab mentions his house being surrounded by nearly 100 armed policemen after he announced via Twitter that he was going to meet Julian Assange, although he was not at home at the time. Watch the full report below:

RT also interviewed author and journalist Afshin Rattansi about the arrest, who discussed the media's failure to cover the revolution in Bahrain and the arms sales by the US and UK to the Bahraini police.

Many organizations are now calling for the immediate release of Nabeel Rajab. This includes the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Bahrain Justice and Development Movement, the International Federation for Human Rights, and Freedom House. They see the arrest and detainment of Rajab as a crackdown on human rights activists by the Bahraini government.

Meanwhile, wikileaks.org was down about 24 hours ahead of the scheduled broadcast of "The World Tomorrow." WikiLeaks says they are investigating the cause. They have also been experiencing waves of bots spamming them on Twitter, calling Rajab a "terrorist."

"The World Tomorrow," featuring Nabeel Rajab and Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah airs Tuesday, May 8 at 12:30PM London time in English, Spanish, Arabic, and Russian on RT. It will also be airing in Italian via L'Espresso. For more information on the upcoming episode, see the press release at the official website.

UPDATE 2012-05-08 13:15 BST: The fourth episode of "The World Tomorrow" aired which featured Nabeel Rajab, as well as Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah. The episode is available in English, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Italian. Rajab discusses in-depth the revolution in Bahrain, the failure of media coverage, Saudi military involvement, being beaten, detained, and the effects on his family and children.

The full, unedited transcript (2 hours, 50 minutes) of the interview has also been released.

UPDATE 2012-05-10 22:00 BST: Nabeel Rajab appeared in Bahrain’s Minor Criminal Court on Sunday for charges unrelated to his current detention. He faced the court on charges of "participating in illegal assembly and calling others to join." The trial has been postponed until May 22. Rajab is currently detained at al-Houra police station on charges of "insulting a statutory body" via Twitter.

The Government of Bahrain has vowed to crackdown harder on the pro-democracy uprising. There are reports within the Bahraini media of a new security plan to "restore order." A spokesman from the Government said they are looking into "people who use print, broadcast and social media to encourage illegal protest."

Meanwhile, Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa was visiting Washington D.C. for talks on a "wide range of important issues of mutual concern." He appeared at the State Department alongside Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who discussed "internal issues" in Bahrain, but did not mention the protests specifically. Watch Democracy Now!'s coverage of the visit below.

Amnesty International has now joined the many organizations calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Nabeel Rajab, as well as many other Bahraini protestors, as they consider them to be prisoners of conscience.

The Australian Senate unanimously passed a resolution calling for immediate diplomatic contact between the Australian Government and the Government of Bahrain regarding the release of Nabeel Rajab and for democratic reforms in Bahrain. Greens Senator Scott Ludlam commented, "Mr Rajab is a prominent pro-democracy and human rights campaigner. He was arrested by Bahraini authorities on May 5 shortly after being interviewed by Australian journalist Julian Assange. We must now turn concern into action."

A protest to demand the release of all Bahraini political prisoners will be held in Bab Al Bahrain on Saturday, May 12, at 3PM. The call for this protest came from Nabeel Rajab as he remains in prison.

UPDATE 2012-05-11 21:50 BST: Tens of thousands of people took to the street in Karzakan, Bahrain to protest in support of Nabeel Rajab. Police fired teargas and birdshot at the protestors, wounding several. The wounded could not be taken to hospitals, for they feared they would be arrested. Another major protest is scheduled for Saturday at Bab Al Bahrain, 3PM.

After the U.S. State Department's meeting with Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, the Obama administration has resumed some arms shipments to Bahrain. The shipments had been suspended last year amid the crackdown on protestors. This comes after the Bahraini Government vowed to get tougher on the democratic uprising. Vice President Joe Biden said the military aid from the United States is necessary for Bahrain's defense.

2012-05-08 WikiLeaks News Update: "World Tomorrow" Ep. 4; Pentagon says whistleblowers unprotected; Other news

WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 521 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 518 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 715 days.
A secret Grand Jury has been active in the U.S. without transparency for 601 days.

WikiLeaks Press is currently looking for reporters to help us cover the news. For more information see: http://wlcentral.org/reporters.

WikiLeaks News:

• State Department employee Peter van Buren, who is currently in the process of being fired for linking to a WikiLeaks cable among other things, asked the National Press Club why material WikiLeaks released is still considered classified. James Bamford of The New York Times said it's absurd to keep the documents classified, saying the U.S. Government is putting itself in an "Alice in Wonderland situation." Watch the clip below.
  

• An internal report from May 2011, obtained by the Project on Government Oversight, shows that the Pentagon believes whistleblowers in the Department of Defense are inadequately protected. Whistleblowers often faced serious punishments including discharges, demotions, firings, prosecutions, and mental health referrals.

• Richard Cachia Caruana, Malta’s Permanent Representative to the EU, is facing a motion by the Labour Party asking for his resignation over dealings with the U.S. on Partnership for Peace in 2004, which were revealed in diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.

• WikiLeaks Press published its news coverage of Cablegate, the Gitmo Files, and the G.I. Files for the week of 22 March.

• An article at Columbia Journalism Review looks at the implications of the financial blockade against WikiLeaks, the Obama administration's campaign against WikiLeaks and whistleblowers, and surveillance and censorship in the U.S.

• In a new interview, hip-hop artist M.I.A., who recently composed the theme music for "The World Tomorrow," discussed the influence WikiLeaks had on her and the creation of her mixtape "Vicki Leekx."

Julian Assange News:

• Episode 4 of "The World Tomorrow" aired, featuring Bahraini activist Nabeel Rajab and Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah. The episode focused on the Arab Spring and how the revolutions have unraveled in the different countries. The episode is available in English, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Italian.

• The full, unedited transcript (2 hours, 50 minutes) of Julian Assange's interview with Nabeel Rajab and Alaa Abd El-Fattah is available at the official website for "The World Tomorrow."

• Nabeel Rajab is currently detained under order of the public prosecution for "insulting a statutory body" via Twitter. See Part One and Part Two of our continued coverage of his arrest and detainment.

Bradley Manning News:

• An article in The Miami Herald comments on how the media has remained silent while the Obama administration continues to prosecute a record number of whistleblowers, including Bradley Manning.

• Jayel Aheram, Iraq War veteran turned antiwar activist, wrote an article about how the information Bradley Manning is alleged to have leaked may have helped end the Iraq War and catalyze both the Arab Spring and Occupy movement.

• An experimental theatre piece based on the alleged chat logs of Bradley Manning is to be staged in the back of the WikiLeaks truck and debuted in New York City. There are two Twitter accounts promoting the play, @Bradass87ows and @Bradass87play, as well as a webpage for donations.

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Upcoming Dates & Events:


May 23: Julian Assange to speak on the impact of increasing transparency at EIM 2012 in The Netherlands, 4:35PM.

May 27: "Incident in New Baghdad" to air on The Documentary Channel, 8PM.

June 6-8: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

July 16-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

August 27-31: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 19-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 21-October 12: Bradley Manning's court martial.

2012-05-10 Military Intelligence and the 35 Fox | US v PFC Bradley Manning

The United States Army and Marine Corps call their enlisted job specialties, "MOS's," or Military Occupation Specialties.

Bradley Manning was a 35F or 35 Fox, Military Intelligence Analyst, assigned to Company B, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division Light Infantry (LI), when, the US Government says, he disclosed the largest leak of classified information in US History.

According to the US Army, the mission of the 35F Military Occupational Specialty [MOS] is to "gather, analyze, and report intelligence information that reveals the intended secrets of hostile forces," and 35F "must qualify for a top secret clearance with special access eligibility."

It should be noted, his alleged leak concerned information only marked at the lowest level of classification, "SECRET", or was not classified at all.

For example, on testimony by Army CID Agent, Toni Graham, at Bradley Manning's Article 32 Pretrial Hearing and similarly at the March 16, 2011 Motion Hearing for US v PFC Bradley Manning, there is still uncertainty as to whether or not the July 12, 2007 Baghdad air strike video, commonly known as "Collateral Murder" was classified or not.

35Fs analyze data including weather, terrain, and the position of opposing forces. They are trained to read and interpret maps, electronically plot symbols, and consolidate intelligence data onto a situation map.

35Fs are also trained to run diagnostic checks on the Army's computer systems, and to transmit reports that they gather from multiple intelligence sources to strategic agencies by either electronically or hard copy.

35Fs can work at a fixed intelligence unit or a field unit battalion, such as psychological operations, artillery, or air defense.

They can also volunteer for duty in an airborne unit, where their duties may include using photos or maps to prepare classified reports, battle damage assessments, and other kinds of information for command briefings. 35Fs may also set up field intelligence equipment or for a tactical local area network.

35Fs must be US citizens and possess "no psychiatric pathology." Although, they "may have history of a transient personality disorder."

The above qualifications are interesting in light the pressure on the British government being to take up the case of Bradley Manning on the grounds that he is a UK citizen, and testimony given at Manning's Article 32 Pretrial Hearing that asserted that sometime in 2009, before being deployed to Iraq, Manning sent an email to Master Sergeant Adkins, who was the highest ranking officer in the T-SCIF where Manning worked.

The email explained how Manning's gender identity affected him, how it impacted Manning's ability to think. The email included a picture of Manning dressed as a woman. Adkins had not share Manning's email with Captain Steven Lim, the Brigade S2, Military Intelligence Company Commander, until after Manning is arrested on May 29, 2010. Adkins was later demoted to Sergeant First Class

'This is my problem. I've had signs of it for a very long time. I've been trying very, very hard to get rid of it. It is not going away. It is haunting me more and more as I get older. Now the consequences are getting harder. I am not sure what to do with it. It's destroying my ties with family. It is preventing me from developing as a person. It's the cause of my pain and confusion. It makes the most basic things in my life very difficult.' He said the only help that seems available is severe punishment. 'I have a fear of getting caught and have gone to great lengths to conceal my disorder. It is difficult to sleep and impossible to have conversations. It makes my entire life feel like a bad dream that won't end. I don't know what to do. I don't know what will happen to me. But at this point I feel like I am not here anymore.' (Source: Bradley Manning Support Network)

Training for the 35Fs takes place over 16 weeks, 3 days at Fort Huachuca, AZ.

(Source below: US Army Web site)

Career Management Field [CMF]: 35F

MOS Details

Major Duties:

Supervises, performs, or coordinates, collection management, analysis, processing, and dissemination of strategic and tactical intelligence.

Skill Level 1

Prepares all source intelligence products to support the combat commander. Assists in establishing and maintaining systematic, cross-referenced intelligence records and files. Receives and processes incoming reports and messages. Assists in determining significance and reliability of incoming information. Assists in integrating incoming information with current intelligence holdings and prepares and maintains the situation map. Assists in the analysis and evaluation of intelligence holdings to determine changes in enemy capabilities, vulnerabilities, and probable courses of action. Assists in the preparation of Order of Battle records using information from all sources and in the preparation of strength estimates of enemy units. Assembles and proofreads intelligence reports and assists in consolidating them into military intelligence. Prepares Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB) products.

Skill Level 2

Performs duties shown in preceding skill level and provides guidance to subordinate soldiers. Analyzes current intelligence holdings to identify gaps and subsequent intelligence collection requirements. Considers enemy Order of Battle records in the development of collection tasks and assessment of enemy vulnerabilities and probable courses of action. Assists in the preparation of reports on captured enemy material. Drafts periodic and special intelligence reports, plans, and briefings.

Skill Level 3

Performs duties shown in preceding skill level and provides guidance to subordinate soldiers. Supervises the receipt, analysis, dissemination, and storage of intelligence information. Supervises the IPB process. Quality controls analysis performed by subordinates. Assists in the preparation of indicators to satisfy priority intelligence requirements. Provides indicators and current situation briefings to subordinates. Receives, produces, and disseminates intelligence reports containing information obtained from all sources. Assists in preparing and conducting command intelligence training programs. Supervises intelligence operations within a combat battalion.

Skill Level 4

Performs duties shown in preceding skill level. Assembles enemy intelligence information and material. Coordinates flow of intelligence information between intelligence disciplines and supervises the all source production process. Supervises intelligence operations within combat brigade. Conducts general intelligence training. Supervises collection management in an Analysis Control Element (ACE).

Skill Level 5 Performs duties shown in preceding skill level and provides guidance to subordinate soldiers. Trains immediate subordinates in specific phases of intelligence operations. Assists in appraisal of intelligence, operations, and training procedures. Coordinates operating requirements of subordinate units. Supervises intelligence operations in a division ACE.

Physical Demands Rating: medium

Physical Profile Serial No.: 222221

• Physical capacity or stamina: Able to perform maximum effort over long periods.
• Upper extremities: Slightly limited mobility of joints, muscular weakness, or other musculo-skeletal defects that do not prevent hand–to–hand fighting and do not disqualify for prolonged effort.
• Lower extremities: Slightly limited mobility of joints, muscular weakness, or other musculo-skeletal defects that do not prevent moderate marching, climbing, timed walking, or prolonged effort.
• Hearing and ears: Audiometer average level for each ear at 500, 1000, 2000 Hz, or not more than 30 dB, with no individual level greater than 35 dB at these frequencies, and level not more than 55 dB at 4000 Hz; or audiometer level 30 dB at 500 Hz, 25 dB at 1000 and 2000 Hz, and 35 dB at 4000 Hz in better ear. (Poorer ear may be deaf.)
• Eyes: Distant visual acuity correctable to not worse than 20/40 and 20/70, or 20/30 and 20/100, or 20/20 and 20/ 400.
• Psychiatric: No psychiatric pathology. May have history of a transient personality disorder.

Qualifications and Prerequisites

Army Enlisted Job Descriptions and Qualification Factors [ASVAB] Minimum Score: 105 total from General Science (GS)+Word Knowledge (WK)+Paragraph Comprehension (PC)+Mathematics Knowledge (MK)+Mechanical Comprehension (MC)

Education: High school graduate

Other Qualifications: M

• Must be a US citizen
• Soldier and spouse must not have immediate family members who reside in a country within whose boundaries physical or mental coercion is known to be common practice, either against-
  1. Persons accused of acting in the interest of the United States or
  2. The relatives of such persons to whom they may reasonably be considered to be bound by ties of affection, kinship, or obligation. Near relatives will also include uncles, aunts, grandparents, father- in-law, mother-in-law, and relationships corresponding to any of the above persons in loco parentis (AR 630-5 and 37 USC 501).
• Formal training (completion of MOS 96B course conducted under the auspices of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center) mandatory.
• Must have successfully completed a high school algebra course or equivalent.
• Must meet TOP SECRET security clearance and Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) access eligibility requirements.
• Meet career management and development criteria contained in AR 600-200, AR 614-200, and DA Pam 351-4.
• No record of court-martial
• No record of conviction by a civil court for any offense other than minor traffic violations
• No information in military personnel, Provost Marshal, intelligence, or medical records which will prevent the granting of security clearance under AR 380-67
• Never been a member of the U.S. Peace Corps, except as specified in AR 614-200, chapter 1
• Have neither commercial nor vested interest in a country within whose boundaries physical or mental coercion is known to be a common practice against persons acting in the interest of the United States. This requirement applies to the soldier's spouse as well.
• Normal color vision
• Be advised that due to the nature of training and assignments, temporary restrictions may be placed on foreign travel both during and after the term of service.

US Army Intelligence MOS

Below are Army MOS's that fall under the military Intelligence Field for the US Army:

Specialty	Career Management Field [CMF]	Major Duties
All Source Intelligence Technician	350F	The All Source Intelligence Technician is a warrant officer position which is responsible for combining and organizing intelligence information from different source into a single finished product. They may also advise the commander and his staff on the intelligence situation and considerations, as well as coordinating with analytical groups, specialized intelligence activities, and intergovernmental or multinational organizations.
Common Ground Station Operator	35H	Supervises or participates in detecting, locating and tracking ground targets and rotary wing and slow moving fixed wing aircraft.
Communications Locator/Interceptor	98H	Performs and supervises detection, acquisition, identification, exploitation and location of foreign communications employing international Morse code (IMC) and radio-printer (non-Morse) using signals intelligence/electronic warfare (SIGINT/EW) collection and location equipment. Performs collection management.
Counter Intelligence Technician	351L	The Counter Intelligence Technician is a warrant officer position which conducts investigations into potential acts of terrorism, espionage, or sabotage, against the Army, and works to prevent such acts. They also report such threats to commanders and their staff, and may also work with the Criminal Investigation Division, FBI, Department of Justice, and other federal or state agencies.
Counterintelligence / Human Intelligence Senior Sergeant	97Z	Supervises the collection, processing, development, and dissemination of counterintelligence, counter-signals intelligence, and human intelligence information.
Counterintelligence Agent	35L	Supervises and conducts, or assists in conducting, CI surveys and investigations of individuals, organizations, and installations to detect, identify, assess, counter, exploit, and neutralize threats to national security.
Cryptologic Communications	35P	The cryptologic linguist performs and supervises detection, acquisition, geolocation, identification, and exploitation and analysis of foreign communications at all echelons using signals intelligence/electronic warfare (SIGINT/EW) systems. The cryptologic linguist copies, translates, transcribes, gists and/or produces summaries of foreign communication transmissions; performs analysis and ISR synchronization to support mission requirements.
Cryptologic Linguist	98G	Performs and supervises detection, acquisition, location, identification, and exploitation of foreign communications at all echelons using signals equipment. Translates, transcribes, gists, or produces summaries of foreign language transmissions in English/target languages. Performs collection management.
Electronic Intelligence Interceptor/Analyst	98J	Performs and supervises detection, acquisition, location, identification, exploitation, and reporting of foreign ELINT at division, corps, and echelon above corps (EAC). Performs collection management.
Electronic Warfare Specialist	29E	The Electronic Warfare Specialist supervises and performs military action involving the use of electromagnetic energy to determine, exploit, reduce, or prevent hostile use of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Ground Surveillance Systems Operator	96R	Supervises or operates ground surveillance systems engaged in intelligence and information gathering.
Human Intelligence Collection Technician	351M	Human Intelligence Collection Technician (HUMINT Collection Technician) is a warrant officer position which is responsible for the gathering of intelligence from human sources. HUMINT Technicians interrogate and debrief (as per Uniform Code of Military Justice, and other applicable regulations and agreements) personnel, as well developing plans for effective interrogation and constructing and delivering reports based on their findings.
Human Intelligence Collector	35M	Supervises and conducts tactical HUMINT collection operations that include, but are not limited to, debriefings, interrogations, and elicitations in English and foreign languages for positive intelligence and force protection information; screens Human Intelligence (HUMINT) sources and documents to establish priorities for exploitation; under CI supervision, plans and participates in counterintelligence and Force Protection Operations (CFSO).
Imagery Analyst	35G	Supervises or analyzes aerial and ground permanent record imagery developed by photographic and electronic means. Plans and recommends the use of imaging sensors for reconnaissance and surveillance missions.
Imagery Intelligence Technician	350G	Imagery Intelligence Technician is a warrant officer position that is responsible for providing expertise and leadership in geographic intelligence (GEOINT). They may act as the officer in charge of a team performing imagery analysis on a variety of still or video images, such as satellites and other national-level assets, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or cockpit video from an aircraft. In addition to identifying terrain, equipment, movement and any other potential threats, they may also perform intelligence briefings of the information they uncover.
Intelligence Analyst	35F	Supervises, performs, or coordinates, collection management, analysis, processing, and dissemination of strategic and tactical intelligence.
Intelligence Senior Sergeant	96Z	Supervises intelligence surveillance, collection, analysis, processing, and distribution activities at group, division, corps, US Army, and comparable or higher echelons.
Military Intelligence Officer	35O	Military Intelligence Officers are always out front, providing essential intelligence and in many cases saving Soldiers who are fighting on the front lines. Military Intelligence Officers also assess risks associated with friendly and enemy courses of action and act to counter or neutralize identified intelligence threats. The MI Officer also uses intelligence systems and data to reduce uncertainty of enemy, terrain and weather conditions for a commander.
Military Intelligence Systems Maintainer/Integrator	35T	Supervises or performs unit, direct support, and general support and depot maintenance of Command/Control subsystems, receiver subsystems, and processing/storage subsystems and related equipment at fixed station, remote sites, and US Army depots.
Signals Collection/Identification Analyst	98K	Performs and supervises collection, identification, exploitation, and analysis of foreign radioteletype, facsimile, and data communications. Performs collection management.
Signals Intelligence Analyist	35N	The Signals Intelligence Analyst supervises and performs analysis and reporting of intercepted foreign communications and non-communications at all echelons. Assist in the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Synchronization process. Produces combat, strategic, and tactical intelligence reports.
Signals Intelligence Analyst	98C	Supervises and performs analysis and reporting of intercepted foreign communications at corps, division and echelon above corps (EAC). Performs collection management. Produces combat, strategic, and tactical intelligence reports.
Signals Intelligence Senior Sergeant	98Z	Serves as staff NCO for major commands engaged in Signals intelligence/electronic warfare (SIGINT/EW) operations and combat development or training.
Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Operator	96U	Supervises or operates the TUAV, to include mission planning, mission sensor/payload operations, launching, remotely piloting, and recovering the aerial vehicle.
Voice Interception Technician	352P	Voice Interception Technician is a warrant officer position which is responsible for conducting and directing Intelligence and Electronic Warfare (IEW) personnel on correct techniques, procedures, and employment of IEW assets. In addition, they may also advise commanders and their staff on the most effective way to employ IEW assets.

(Source: US Army Web site)

2012-05-10 WikiLeaks News Update: WikiLeaks #1 non-profit on Twitter; SEP supports Assange; Upcoming events

WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 523 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 520 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 717 days.
A secret Grand Jury has been active in the U.S. without transparency for 603 days.

WikiLeaks News:

• WikiLeaks is the most popular non-profit organization on Twitter. It is also the third most popular on Facebook, following Invisible Children and National Public Radio.

• Bulgarian MEP Slavi Binev, who was exposed by WikiLeaks cables as a leader of an organized crime group, will be on the European Parliament panel to decide which Arab Spring countries will receive financial aid.

• Greg Barns, National President of the Australian Lawyers Alliance, wrote an article calling on citizens to demand their liberties before the government takes them away. He discusses proposed surveillance laws, commenting how they could have been used to surveil all of Julian Assange's electronic devices, and how WikiLeaks would have likely been labelled as a transnational crime organization. Barns was also on ABC's The Drum to discuss his article.

Julian Assange News:

• WikiLeaks predicts that Julian Assange may be extradited under the cover of the London Olympics. See our list of planned rallies after the Supreme Court ruling.
  
  

  Prediction: Assange extradition will take place under the cover of the London Olympics

  — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) May 9, 2012

• During its first national congress, the Australian Socialist Equality Party (SEP) unanimously passed a resolution to defend Julian Assange. The resolution demands the immediate release of Assange, as well as Bradley Manning.

• A protest calling for Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard to support Julian Assange will be held at the Sydney Convention Centre where Gillard will be speaking, May 15 at 1PM.

• An analysis by Crikey's Guy Rundle shows that the first sexual misconduct allegation against Julian Assange is worded very similarly to an Amnesty International report on sex crimes in Nordic countries from 2009.

• An article in Business Insider looks at how Brazil does not allow the extradition of its citizens, comparing this to Julian Assange and MegaUpload's Kim Dotcom, who have been abandoned by their respective governments.

Bradley Manning News:

• The Bradley Manning Support Network is looking to hire someone in the Washington D.C/Baltimore area to work as an organizer for support events.

............................................

Upcoming Dates & Events:


May 15: Support Assange protest at Sydney Convention Centre where PM Julia Gillard will speak, 1PM.

May 23: Julian Assange to speak on the impact of increasing transparency at EIM 2012 in The Netherlands, 4:35PM.

May 27: "Incident in New Baghdad" to air on The Documentary Channel, 8PM.

June 6-8: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

July 16-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

August 27-31: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 19-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 21-October 12: Bradley Manning's court martial.

2012-05-11 Polish agents briefed president, PM regarding CIA prison, kept notes

The Polish Secret Service briefed both president Aleksander Kwaśniewski and PM Leszek Miller about the existence of a CIA black site on the grounds of a Secret Service training camp, Gazeta Wyborcza reports. The agents kept notes on these meetings, and eventually handed them over to the prosecutor late last year.

According to these notes, the agents reported that there were prisoners held in the CIA prison. It is not clear whether they also spoke about torture. Kwaśniewski recently admitted that he knew about the existence of such a prison, and that he was aware of the risk that the US might deploy inadmissible methods.

The creation of an extraterritorial area without international agreements and false imprisonment already constitute a breach of the Polish constitution.

A source within the prosecution told Gazeta Wyborcza that the Polish agents realized that the matter "stank", and that it could come out, and that they wanted to have proof of being backed by the highest levels in the government to protect themselves.

Cablegate evidence recently unearthed by WLC confirms a collaboration between the Polish and US intelligence agencies.

For our previous extensive coverage please see this link.

2012-05-12 [UPDATED 05-13] Nabeel Rajab's detention extended amid worldwide calls for his release

This is Part Three in WL Central's continued coverage of the arrest of Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab. He was arrested on May 5 at the Bahraini International Airport, following the announcement of his appearance on Julian Assange's talk show "The World Tomorrow." A representative of the public prosecution ordered that Rajab be detained for one week for "insulting a statutory body" via Twitter. Rajab denies the charges, saying they are aimed at hindering his human rights work and his right of expression. He was also charged unrelated to his current detention for "participating in illegal assembly."

Rajab's interview on "The World Tomorrow," alongside Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, aired May 8. The episode is available online in English, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Italian. Extended transcript of the entire 3 hour interview is also available.

Many organizations have been calling for Rajab's release as well as the release of other political prisoners in Bahrain. Major protests have broken out in Bahrain. Meanwhile, the U.S. has resumed some arms transfers to the Bahraini Government amid calls for harsher crackdowns on the uprising. See Part One and Part Two of our previous coverage for more information.

Nabeel Rajab was taken to the public prosecution today to be interrogated on additional charges of "illegal gathering." He will be held in detention for a week while these charges are investigated. This is the second time his detention has been extended; originally he was only to be held for a day, which was then extended to a week, and now this second week has been added. He was previously being held on charges of "insulting a statutory body" via Twitter. He also appeared in Bahrain’s Minor Criminal Court to face charges of "participating in illegal assembly."

Front Line Defenders and Article 19 have condemned the arrest, detention, and trial of Nabeel Rajab, joining many other organizations including Amnesty International, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the International Federation for Human Rights.

Human Rights First believes the United States lacks the "political will to exert pressure on the [Bahraini] dictatorship," after they resumed some arms transfers to the country last week, despite the Bahraini Government's calls for harsher crackdown on the uprising. The arms shipments, worth $53 million, were previously halted amid the protests and calls for reform.

Another large protest took place in Bahrain today, with citizens calling for the release of political prisoners, including Nabeel Rajab and Abdulhadi al-Khawaja. Bahraini security forces fired tear gas and birdshot to disperse the protests.

UPDATE 2012-05-13 20:50 BST: Nabeel Rajab has a hearing set for May 16 regarding the Twitter defamation case. His lawyer, Mohamed Al Jishi, says Rajab faces "many accusations and malicious charges" similar to those of other detained Bahraini human rights activist, Zainab al-Khawaja. He will also appear in court on May 22 regarding charges of triggering illegal gathering, which stem from a speech he made during a January demonstration.

Gulf Arab leaders are expected to announce a political union between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain when they meet on Monday. The Bahraini opposition movement has condemned the planned announcement. Last year, Saudi forces came into Bahrain to help suppress the uprising, which ended in the death of at least 40 protestors.

This comes just after the United States resumed some of its arms shipments to the Bahraini Government. Carlos Latuff created a political cartoon regarding the announcement.

2012-05-13 WikiLeaks News Update: Stratfor ops in Russia; Ex-Guantanamo detainee on Assange show; Other news

WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 526 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 523 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 720 days.
A secret Grand Jury has been active in the U.S. without transparency for 606 days.

WikiLeaks News:

• Russian Reporter analysed and investigated a large batch of Stratfor emails from analyst Lauren Goodrich about her alleged conduct in Russia and contact with Russian Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika, or "godfather" as she calls him. She tells stories of Chaika owning his life to her and supplying her with information. RR believes much of this to be false, due to the fantastical nature of it all. Since she was the only person at Stratfor determining information delivery concerning Russia, she likely gave misleading info to her colleagues, as well as anybody who relied on Stratfor's data--nearly 2.5 million people, including the CIA, State Department, DoD, and Air Force. See the full emails at the WikiLeaks website.

• Jacob Appelbaum was on The Alyona Show discussing the Tor Project, surveillance, the fight for anonymity, CISPA, and WikiLeaks. Watch the interview below.

• EFF's Trevor Timm recalled a "forgotten Biden gaffe," where Vice President Joe Biden said WikiLeaks caused no real damage just two days before he labelled Julian Assange a "high-tech terrorist."

• Traci Birge has written a new analysis of Swedish tabloid Expressen's press awards and the paper's failure to prove its claims that WikiLeaks was planning a smear campaign against Sweden.

• The "Did You Have Any Idea?" video series has a new webpage displaying links to all their videos and interviews with WikiLeaks supporters.

• Twitter user @SomersetBean has been creating WikiLeaks posters and graphics, all of which are available at his blog. Recently, he's created a poster listing WikiLeaks' awards, a heart-based modification of the WikiLeaks logo, and a Julian Assange mask. A design of his is now featured in the Official WikiLeaks Store.

• The Official WikiLeaks Store is having a sale: $15/€10 off of unisex hoodies and free shipping for any orders over $30/€30. The coupon code is WIKIMAY and is valid through May 18. All proceeds go to WikiLeaks.

Julian Assange News:

• WikiLeaks announced that next week's guest on "The World Tomorrow" will be a "former Guantanamo detainee/Al Quada suspect." The episode will focus on the future of Islam. Meanwhile, former President George W. Bush and 7 members of his administration were convicted of war crimes in absentia by a Malaysian court, which had an ex-Guantanamo detainee provide testimony.

• The Next Web has published a review covering the first four episodes of "The World Tomorrow," which asks the question, "Does Julian Assange's TV show pave the way for more high quality alternative programming?"

• Christine Assange gave an in-depth interview about the sexual misconduct allegations against her son, focusing on relaying the facts of the case and dissecting the many smears by the media.

Bradley Manning News:

• Chase Madar, author of "The Passion of Bradley Manning," gave an interview with Motherboard where he discussed Bradley, WikiLeaks, and the silence of liberals throughout the ordeal.

............................................

Upcoming Dates & Events:


May 15: Support Assange protest at Sydney Convention Centre where PM Julia Gillard will speak, 1PM.

May 23: Julian Assange to speak on the impact of increasing transparency at EIM 2012 in The Netherlands, 4:35PM.

May 26: Bradley Manning will have been imprisoned for two years without trial.

May 27: "Incident in New Baghdad" to air on The Documentary Channel, 8PM.

June 6-8: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

July 16-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

August 27-31: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 19-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 21-October 12: Bradley Manning's court martial.

2012-05-15 WikiLeaks News Update: "The World Tomorrow" Episode 5; Noam Chomsky on WikiLeaks; Other news

WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 528 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 525 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 722 days.
A secret Grand Jury has been active in the U.S. without transparency for 608 days.

WikiLeaks News:

• Noam Chomsky was on Democracy Now! discussing WikiLeaks, targeted assassinations by the Obama administration, and Latin America's break from the U.S. Chomsky said "WikiLeaks is a service to the population" and that Julian Assange should get the presidential medal of honor. Watch the interview below or view the transcript.
  

• WikiLeaks cables show that an individual claiming to be an LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) suicide bomber went to the U.S. Embassy in Colombo to request asylum.

• Professor Ferrada de Noli has written an analysis of WikiLeaks cables regarding Swedish honor killings and the mass deportation of refugees.

• Firedoglake's Kevin Gosztola spoke at the People's Summit in Chicago, discussing what WikiLeaks cables revealed about the war in Afghanistan. Watch the panel below.
  

• A blog on the WikiLeaks grand jury has written a two-part profile on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and his actions against WikiLeaks. (Part 1, Part 2)

• A musical album with songs inspired by the Occupy movement has been released. Some of the lyrics mention WikiLeaks, such as, "While the City sleeps, I'm reading WikiLeaks; Creating picket signs. Go ahead, pick a street!"

• The University of Adelaide is holding a lecture entitled "Don't Shoot the Messenger" on May 21 at 5PM. The lecture will be presented by law Associate Professor and online media expert Dr Melissa de Zwart who will discuss the efforts to shut down WikiLeaks and silence Julian Assange.

• A photo collection of the "WikiLeaks Fleet," vehicles displaying vinyl WikiLeaks support decals, has been uploaded to Flickr.

• Birgitta Jónsdóttir gave an interview where she discussed her first time seeing the "Collateral Murder" video and the case against Bradley Manning.

Julian Assange News:

• Episode 5 of "The World Tomorrow" aired, featuring former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Moazzam Begg and human rights campaigner Asim Qureshi. Begg discussed the treatment he endured at Guantanamo and the false confession he signed. Much of the conversation also focused on the future of Islam and Sharia law. The episode is available online in English, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and Arabic. Full, unedited transcript of the entire interview is also available.
  

Bradley Manning News:

• Denver Nicks gave an interview with TIME magazine to discuss his new book about Bradley Manning, "Private." He talks about why he decided to write the book and whether he thinks Bradley is a hero or traitor.

• The Bradley Manning Support Network issued a news update for May 14 which covers support events in Wales and Pasadena, and the Army's overreaction by charging Bradley with "aiding the enemy."

............................................

Upcoming Dates & Events:


May 21: "Don't Shoot the Messenger" panel at University of Adelaide, 5PM.

May 23: Julian Assange to speak on the impact of increasing transparency at EIM 2012 in The Netherlands, 4:35PM.

May 26: Bradley Manning will have been imprisoned for two years without trial.

May 27: "Incident in New Baghdad" to air on The Documentary Channel, 8PM.

June 6-8: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

July 16-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

August 27-31: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 19-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 21-October 12: Bradley Manning's court martial.

2012-05-16 WikiLeaks cable completely unrelated to Iran execution

On 16 May 2012 The Times published a piece claiming that information found in an embassy cable released by WikiLeaks directly led to the execution of Majid Jamli Fashi, an Iranian kickboxer. Within hours, media outlets around the world picked up the article and the story went viral.

Nothing could have been further from the truth.

Once the Times published, the Daily Mail picked it up, Rupert's The Australian syndicated it, and then the Drudge got it, skyrocketing comments on Twitter.

The WikiLeaks twitter feed reacted swiftly and mercilessly. Spread over a succession of tweets:

Murdoch's Times tries to smear WikiLeaks for Iranian hanging. Media morons run with it without fact checking. The absolute contempt for the readers and the truth shows why there must be urgent reform. Let us consider the Iranian smear. We have: Wrong guy. This isn't the guy in the cable. Wrong publication. Spiegel, not WL, selected the cable, but anyway, it was redacted. Wrong country. Israel isn't even mentioned in the cable. In fact there's no connection whatsoever with the story other than it mentions martial arts. And yet dozens of 'press' outlets are running with it. Idiots! Wrong timeline. The guy (that the cable, as far as can be determined, has nothing to do with) was sentenced last August.

What seems to have happened is Rupert's journalist Martin Fletcher decided to research the background to the Fashi case, found a transplanted Alabama professor in Birmingham (Scott Lucas) who'd been following it, read a few of his articles from last year on the subject, and contacted him. Rupert's been keen to smear WikiLeaks for years, having failed at least twice before.

Lucas' article from 29 August 2011 refers to an embassy cable redacted by Spiegel Online and published simultaneously by WikiLeaks 3 December 2010, only a few days after the beginning of Cablegate.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 000687

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2019
TAGS: PGOV [Internal Governmental Affairs], PHUM [Human Rights],
AJ [Azerbaijan], IR [Iran]
SUBJECT: IRAN: NINJA BLACK BELT MASTER DETAILS USE OF MARTIAL ARTS CLUBS
FOR REPRESSION; SAYS TABRIZIS "PRAGMATIC," CONFLICTED ON POST-ELECTION PROTESTS

REF: A) BAKU 575

Classified By: POL/ECON COUNSELOR ROB GARVERICK, REASON 1.4 (B and D)

Iranian Martial Arts Clubs Used for Political Repression

The cable went on to tell the story of XXXXXXXXXXXX, a licenced martial arts coach and trainer from Tabriz who was in Baku at the time, possibly for the martial arts tournament being held there (which Fashi also attended). XXXXXXXXXXXX told the embassy contact (for reasons unknown) that private martial arts clubs in Iran were under 'intense pressure' to cooperate with Iranian intelligence and Revolutionary Guard organisations and had even been involved in contract killings.

XXXXXXXXXXXX, who otherwise held classes in Taekwondo, was en route to Japan at the time. (Fashi was a kickboxing coach.)

Lucas was aware of the cable and speculated that XXXXXXXXXXXX might in fact be the condemned Fashi, despite the martial arts categories not matching and despite nothing else adding up save the fact both XXXXXXXXXXXX and Fashi may have been in Baku at the same time.

In September 2009, an Iranian political source - who also happens to be trained in martial arts - tells the US Embassy in Azerbaijan that the regime is pressuring martial arts clubs, despite suspicions that they could be assisting opposition groups, to provide instruction for the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards.

The outcome supposedly went beyond training: the source maintains that one of his acquaintances killed at least six intellectuals and young "pro-democracy activists" before he himself was eliminated.

Guess where the US Embassy that posted the report was located? Baku in Azerbaijan.

Lucas is one of two sources the article in The Times cites. The other offered only a colour quote. Lucas asks in conclusion:

So was Jamali Fashi the source? Was he named by the source?

The Lucas article was published 29 August 2011. 'Cablegate2' began only three days later on 1 September, after which a full unredacted copy of 09BAKU687 appeared online. The identity of XXXXXXXXXXXX was revealed at that time and it wasn't Fashi. But this fact went unnoticed by Lucas and Martin Fletcher of The Times.

Majid Jamali Fashi, 24, was arrested one month after the unauthorised publication of a cable from the embassy, in Azerbaijan, which described one of its sources as an Iranian martial arts expert. Mr Fashi had visited Azerbaijan the previous month for a kick-boxing tournament.

Fashi was indeed arrested in January 2011 along with nine others believed to be part of the same cell. The Iranian authorities stated that the cell was infiltrated by a 'third country' that turned over the information to them. At no time have the Iranian authorities mentioned any embassy cable in connection with the case.

UPDATE 2012-05-18: Scott Lucas has published a new article which reevaluates the role of WikiLeaks in the controversy.

... Jamali Fashi was not the person who spoke to the Americans. Indeed, given that the source had left Iran in mid-July, with the aim of getting a visa for a foreign country, it is unlikely that he had any connection with the kickboxing team that was in Azerbaijan.

2012-05-18 WikiLeaks News Update: Assange likely to win Senate seat; Other news

WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 532 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 529 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 726 days.
A secret Grand Jury has been active in the U.S. without transparency for 612 days.

WikiLeaks News:

• WikiLeaks was faced with 3 days of DDoS attacks, but the website is now up and running.

• Many papers reported that a WikiLeaks cable led to the hanging of an Iranian kick-boxer. This is blatantly false. WikiLeaks sent out a series of tweets on the issue:

  Murdoch's Times tries to smear WikiLeaks for Iranian hanging. Media morons run with it, without fact checking. The absolute contempt for the readers and the truth shows why there must be urgent reform. Let us consider the Iranian smear. We have: Wrong guy. This isn't the guy in the cable. Wrong publication. Spiegel, not WL, selected the cable, but anyway, it was redacted. Wrong country. Israel isn't even mentioned in the cable. In fact, there's no connection whatsoever with the story other than it mentions martial arts. And yet dozens of "press" outlets are running with it. Idiots! Wrong timeline. The guy (that the cable, as far as can be determined, has nothing to do with) was sentenced last August. Here is the Iranian Ninja cable the idiots are going on about:
  http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/09/09BAKU687.html
  Forbes' Andy Greenberg wrote an article debunking the claim, WL Central's analysis can be found here, and Scott Baker published an update today as well.

• Khaled al-Masri, who was abducted and taken to a U.S. detention center in Afghanistan, will have his case heard by the European Court of Human Rights. WL Press has posted relevant WikiLeaks cables and articles.

• Jennifer Robinson was on ABC Radio National Law Report discussing her work with WikiLeaks, being put on an inhibited list, and the other causes she works for.

• The WikiLeaks website and chat is now available as a Tor hidden service, at http://byzxmxpylddoahaw.onion/ and http://isax7s5yooqgelbr.onion/.

• Robert Parry wrote an in-depth analysis entitled, "How the US Press Lost its Way," which discusses how failures in mainstream media led to "the era of WikiLeaks."

• Andrew Kreig authored an analysis on the Obama administration's war on leaks, commenting on how it extends far beyond WikiLeaks itself.

Julian Assange News:

• A new poll shows that Julian Assange is likely to win a Senate seat, especially if he chooses to run in New South Wales. An analysis on the poll comments that if extradited to the US, his votes would likely increase.

• Online Opinion published an analysis of jurisprudence in the case against Julian Assange, which discusses how his fate will be determined by theoretical issues about legal philosophies.

Bradley Manning News:

• John Pilger wrote an article about how Obama's advocacy of gay marriage is a distraction, noting how Bradley Manning was attacked for being homosexual and declared guilty by Obama.

• Daniel Ellsberg accepted Global Exchange's human rights award on behalf of Bradley Manning. Watch his acceptance speech below:

• A promo video for the upcoming play "bradass87," staged in the back of the WikiLeaks Truck, has been released.

............................................

Upcoming Dates & Events:

May 21: "Don't Shoot the Messenger" panel at University of Adelaide, 5PM.

May 23: Julian Assange to speak on the impact of increasing transparency at EIM 2012 in The Netherlands, 4:35PM.

May 26: Bradley Manning will have been imprisoned for two years without trial.

May 27: "Incident in New Baghdad" to air on The Documentary Channel, 8PM.

June 6-8: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

July 16-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

August 27-31: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 19-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 21-October 12: Bradley Manning's court martial.

2012-05-19 Growing bipartisan opposition to NDAA indefinite detention

On May 16th, a New York state federal judge granted a preliminary injunction to block provisions of the NDAA that allow indefinite detention, claiming they are unconstitutional. The decision is part of growing bipartisan opposition to the NDAA that includes prominent members of the US military.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest, originally appointed by Obama, clashed with the current administration by censuring the NDAA, saying that the act has a "chilling impact on First Amendment rights" to free speech, and infringes on the Fifth Amendment's right to due process.

The suit for the injuction was brought by the Stop the NDAA! group, pictured below left to right: Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hedges; US military analyst Daniel Ellsberg (who released the Pentagon Papers); famed linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky; Icelandic parliamentarian Birgitta Jónsdóttir; executive director of RevolutionTruth Jennifer Bolen; activist Kai Wargalla; and activist, founder of US Day of Rage, and WL Central reporter Alexa O'Brien.

The plaintiffs argued that the wording of section 1021 in the act was so vague that journalists, activists and protestors could be included among those whom the military could detain indefinitely and without charge. Judge Forrest agreed:

At the hearing on this motion, the government was unwilling or unable to state that these plaintiffs would not be subject to indefinite detention under [section] 1021. Plaintiffs are therefore at risk of detention, of losing their liberty, potentially for many years... An individual could run the risk of substantially supporting or directly supporting an associated force without even being aware that he or she was doing so... In the face of what could be indeterminate military detention, due process requires more.

In response, the 'Stop the NDAA!' group declared the ruling a victory and stated that it opened the way for further legal action against the act.

Bipartisan opposition

Judge Forrest's decision to block the provision for indefinite detention reflects an increasing level of anxiety felt by members of both the Republican and Democratic parties about the negative impact of the NDAA on civil liberties. And the concern is shared by the military as well: the very same day Judge Forrest issued the injunction, a nonpartisan group of forty retired US generals and admirals signed a letter urging congressmen to vote for the Smith-Amash Amendment, which would have banned indefinite detention within the United States and repealed the policy mandating military custody for foreign terrorism suspects.

Given that national security was the underlying argument for passage of the NDAA in the first place, the fact that respected members of the US military are now openly critical of the provisions concerning indefinite detention is highly significant.

Gohmert-Landry

Moreover, the Smith-Amash Amendment was not the only NDAA amendment under consideration in Congress at that time. There was also a second amendment addressing the issue of indefinite detention of US citizens: the Gohmert-Landry-Rigell-Duncan-Barletta Amendment brought forward by Republican congressmen. While the Smith-Amash Amendment failed, the Gohmert-Landry Amendment passed; and although many would argue that the Gohmart-Landry Amendment didn't go far enough in protecting civil liberties, its passage reflects the growing perception in both parties that the NDAA is fundamentally flawed and needs to be changed.

2012-05-20 WikiLeaks Announces 'New Encrypted Facebook'

The WikiLeaks Twitter feed announced on 20 May 2012 that the WL Friends/Friends of WikiLeaks (FoWL) network is ready to launch an 'encrypted Facebook'. This comes amidst growing concern for user privacy and safety at the Facebook website.

Facebook recently came out in support of CISPA, a proposed US law that infringes on privacy and freedom of speech. Facebook's attitude towards user privacy has led some to leave the site. "...I think it's important to not use services that you have issues with, even if they are free," wrote Engadget and Gizmodo cofounder Peter Rojas, and artist Hazel Dooney recently cited the same issues on her blog as her reason for leaving.

The 'about' page at Friends of WikiLeaks states:

Friends of WikiLeaks (FoWL) is an independent network made up of people from across the globe who defend WikiLeaks and promote its mission and values. We are a global collection of people with shared beliefs and intentions linked together as a strong and resilient network.
FoWL clarified that it is independent from WikiLeaks:

FoWL is not a subsidiary of WikiLeaks, nor is it subordinate to WikiLeaks. FoWL is a separate network that has the express purpose of supporting, promoting, publicizing and encouraging any individual or collective which shares WikiLeaks' common values and goals.

12 reasons

One WikiLeaks tweet noted that "Facebook sells your information to governments, is lauded by MSM. WikiLeaks gives government information to you for free and we're terrorists". Following this statement, WikiLeaks tweeted a dozen reasons why this new site is better than Facebook.

1. WL Friends introduces you to people you want to know, but don't know yet. Facebook connects you to people you already know - no point.
2. Facebook is a mass surveillance tool. You put your friends into it, you betray your friends. Do friends betray friends? WL Friends doesn't know your friends. It introduces you to new friends.
3. Facebook records everything you do, hands it over to the US government and corporations. WL Friends doesn't.
4. WL Friends keeps your data so encrypted, not even the system admins can decrypt it. You and your friends decrypt on login automatically.
5. WL Friends uses military grade cryptography and the best industry standards (OpenPGP + Elliptic Curves).
6. WL Friends even uses homomorphic encryption for certain operations so WL Friends doesn't even know how many friends you have.
7. The more you use WL Friends, the less you use WL Friends. WL Friends is designed to build, not control, a robust network of shared value.
8. WL Friends is designed for more than just WikiLeaks. It is a general solution to build a robust support network under hostile conditions.
9. Friends of Israel, Friends of Palestine, Friends of the Tea Party, Friends of Catholicism are all possible with WL Friends.
10. WL Friends is designed to make infiltration costly. No person can be seen to be more important than any other or individually targeted.
11. WL Friends builds a strong support network instantly for any shared belief by connecting supporters in a way that maximizes communication.
12. As time goes by the WL Friends network for any shared belief is designed to mathematically grow stronger and stronger.

'Beta stage'

The Friends of WikiLeaks site is now signing up members.

FoWL is currently in its beta stage. This means that people from all over the world are registering to be part of this network to support WikiLeaks. For some time, nothing else will happen - we need the network to be of a certain size before we can start introducing you to candidate friends. Registering now will allow you to be a part of the network before the beta stage network gets full. As soon as we are ready to give you some candidate friends we will let you know.
It takes less than 5 min to register at https://wlfriends.org.

2012-05-21 The U.S. military's post-Manning monitoring: Where does it end?

In the wake of Pfc. Bradley Manning's alleged part in Cablegate, the U.S. Army is still reeling from the blow it received from the biggest security breach in its history. Now, not only has the U.S. military drastically increased its monitoring of soldiers, but it's also working with the secretive DARPA agency -- combining new computer software with behavioral science techniques to try and predict when a "good" soldier will "go rogue."

Two years after Cablegate -- in which intelligence analyst Bradley Manning allegedly caused the biggest security breach in the history of the U.S. Army, by passing along to WikiLeaks hundreds of thousands of pages of classified documents -- U.S. military agencies are scrambling to find ways to prevent security breaches before they occur. In an effort to effectively predict "[w]hen a soldier in good mental health becomes homicidal or a government employee abuses access privileges to share classified information," or otherwise becomes an “insider threat”, the military is ramping up plans to monitor and analyze its employees' email, internet, and other network usage. To this end, military agencies are now melding computer software and behavioral science, in an attempt to "look beyond computers to spot the point when a good soldier turns."

Certain government agencies, like the CIA and Pentagon, have already implemented some measures to limit data transfer by employees. But now the military wants to go even further, by finding ways to watch what every soldier is doing -- using software to monitor keystrokes, downloads, file transfers, and web searches on Army computers --- and then detect, record, and report any "abnormal" behavior. Such software could spy on almost any computer activity and identify any time that an employee "searches outside of his or her job description, downloads massive amounts of data from a shared hard drive ... moves the data onto a removable drive," or visits restricted websites. The program could then capture the activity, alert authorities, prevent the user’s access, or feed the person “dummy data” to watch what they do next.

Behavioral science meets computer science

Combining technology and psychology, researchers have been analyzing the behavior of past "malicious insiders" for patterns of behavior before they "acted out." After amassing 700 "insider threat" case studies, Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute identified two general profiles of insiders who steal business information. One, the “entitled independent,” is "disgruntled with his job [and] typically exfiltrates his work a month before leaving." The other is an “ambitious leader” who "steals information on entire systems and product lines, sometimes to take to a foreign country, such as China." Commenting on these initiatives, West Point computer science professor Col. Greg Conti stated: “Predictive models are kind of the holy grail. When you see that no one else has done something but bad guys, you can start being predictive.”

DARPA's dark hand

Heavily involved in this effort at developing new predictive software models is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is actively seeking software algorithms to identify and pre-empt "the next Bradley Manning." According to its website, the Army's secretive research agency "was established in 1958 to prevent strategic surprise from negatively impacting U.S. national security and create strategic surprise for U.S. adversaries by maintaining the technological superiority of the U.S. military ... As the DoD’s primary innovation engine, DARPA undertakes projects that ... create lasting revolutionary change." Credited with such technological innovations as GPS, the internet, and stealth technology, DARPA is reportedly working on such projects as: the ArcLight naval missile system that can strike targets nearly anywhere in the world; BigDog, a 4-legged robotic pack mule prototype (trust us, you have to check this out); EATR, a robotic vehicle that can forage for plants to fuel itself; Transformer, a flying armored car; cyborg remote-controlled insects; artificial intelligence software; exoskeltons; and a thought-controlled prosthetic arm; as well as the U.S. military's "insider threat" software research.

One of DARPA's main predictive software projects is Anomaly Detection at Multiple Scales, or ADAMS, launched last year under the agency's Information Innovation office. Using accused Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan as a model, the program searches millions of digital communications, using a unique algorithm, to rank threats. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have teamed up with DARPA, the Army Research Office, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), and other universities in a US$35 million effort to develop new approaches for identifying and pre-empting "insider threats" by analyzing billions of computer logins, keystrokes, emails, text messages, IMs, and file transfers for "unusual" activity. Noting that "There are currently no established techniques for detecting anomalies in data sets of this size at acceptable false positive rates," DARPA states: "The focus is on malevolent insiders that started out as 'good guys.' The specific goal of ADAMS is to detect anomalous behaviors before or shortly after they turn."

Using algorithms to pinpoint rogue soldiers

Part of ADAMS is the "Proactive Discovery of Insider Threats Using Graph Analysis and Learning" (PRODIGAL) project, which can scan and read approximately a 250,000,000 IMs, texts and emails each day. PRODIGAL scours for emails to unusual recipients, specific words, and files transferred from unexpected servers for changes that may indicate when an employee "goes rogue." The system then ranks the unusual activity and passes along the most "suspicious" events to agents. Processing terabytes of data per day, the new system is designed to aid in analyzing the many thousands of anomalies, or unexplained events, that they may receive on a daily basis. Initially, PRODIGAL is supposed to scan only the communications of military volunteers and people who work in federal agencies. But "[s]ome people say it's one step further toward a police state," commented author and Department of Homeland Security consultant Anthony Howard.

Former L0pht collective hacker Peiter “Mudge” Zatko -- who once told a congressional committee that his group could shut down the internet in 30 minutes -- leads yet another new DARPA project, Cyber Insider Threat (CINDER), which is, as FAS intelligence-policy expert Steven Aftergood states, “a sort of system-wide surveillance of Pentagon networks.” According to an agency job posting, CINDER's goal is to “greatly increase the accuracy, rate and speed with which insider threats are detected and impede the ability of adversaries to operate undetected within government and military interest networks.” Rather than focusing on individual users, however, CINDER's algorithms are intended to reveal users' “malicious missions,” or patterns of subversive or infiltrative behavior within military networks. Another, private-sector anomaly-detection program is Raytheon’s SureView, software that records any sort of pre-programmed security breach or policy violation and replays the event "like a DVR,” to be viewed by federal agents. Some such "suspicious" events captured by the program might include deliberate IP theft, mobile and internal users "that 'take themselves offline' or use encryption to avoid detection," and “'screen capture” that has been encrypted and saved to a USB drive." Another system, the Einstein project, scans the communications of government employees for keywords and reports "suspicious activity" to the National Security Agency.

Obama's "Insider Threat Task Force"

These various efforts sync with initiatives by U.S. President Barack Obama, who recently issued an executive order mandating Attorney General Eric Holder and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to implement an Insider Threat Task Force that would "deter, detect and mitigate insider threats" by protecting classified information and networks and monitoring users. The order also directs individual agencies to establish their own “insider threat programs” to monitor employees for “behavioral changes.” Senior officials from the Department of Defense and the National Security Agency have been tapped to act as a new Executive Agent for Safeguarding Classified Information on Computer Networks in devising technical means for protecting classified information. The Insider Threat Task Force is scheduled to launch in October.

But does it work?

But despite the high-level emphasis on these anomaly-detection programs, some remain unconvinced that DARPA and other government agencies really know what they're looking for. As DARPA itself admitted: "Anomalous behavior could be “comprised of entirely ‘legitimate’ activities.” "All this suggests," commented WIRED journalist Spencer Ackerman, "the blind are still leading the blind when it comes to stopping internal military subversion. It’s far from clear what kind of data — troops’ e-mail? web trails? book orders? — Darpa [sic] would use to ferret out troops who pose a risk to themselves or others. Nor is it clear if any such effort can succeed against a soldier who just snaps."

And where does it end?

Cyber-security expert and Green Armor Solutions CEO Joseph Steinberg pointed out that no one even knows whether all of the additional surveillance is effective: "Since there is no real data publicly available to substantiate that any of this technology is preventing terrorist attacks or strengthening our borders from within, [we can't] really say definitively that this technology is doing any good," he said. Moreover, the data mined en masse "can easily be mishandled. Where does it end?" added Howard.

2012-05-21 WikiLeaks News Update: WL Friends soon to launch, "World Tomorrow" guest announced, other news

WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 534 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 531 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 728 days.
A secret Grand Jury has been active in the U.S. without transparency for 614 days.

WikiLeaks News:

• "Friends of WikiLeaks" is almost ready to launch. WikiLeaks tweeted a list of 12 reasons why WLFriends is better than Facebook, noting its strong encryption and mathematical formula for social networks to continuously grow stronger.

• WikiLeaks faced DDoS attacks again on May 20, after having just recovered from fighting them off for three days.

• Prosecutors will examine the contents of the three CDs containing data on Julius Baer bank customers, which were passed to WikiLeaks by Rudolf Elmer.

• After Australia just adopted the "WikiLeaks amendment," which allows spy agencies to target individuals and organisations that oppose the government's interests, Attorney General Nicola Roxon now wants to allow the ASIO to intercept and store any individual’s information.

Julian Assange News:

• Episode 6 of "The World Tomorrow" will feature Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. He will discuss the U.S., China, media wars, and the future of Latin America. The episode airs Tuesday, May 22 at 12:30PM London time. Actualidad RT released a promo video and summary for the episode (Spanish).

• Julian Assange will be speaking on the impact of increasing transparency at EIM2012 in The Netherlands, May 23 at 4:35PM.

• John Hawkins, a writer for Right Wing News, called for the assassination of Julian Assange, referencing erroneous claims that a WikiLeaks cable resulted in the death of an Iranian kickboxer. Hawkins joins many other right-wing political figures which have also called for the death of Mr. Assange.

Bradley Manning News:

• WikiLeaks announced that it, along with the CCR, is going to file a law suit against the U.S. Military regarding the Bradley Manning case.
  
  

  WikiLeaks + Center for Constitutional Rights is about to file suit against the US military over Manning case

  — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) May 21, 2012

• The Pentagon used software to monitor the Twitter debate over Bradley Manning's pre-trial hearing last December.

• An article in The Baltimore Sun argues that Bradley Manning's case needs to get more media attention so people are aware of the appalling treatment he's received.

............................................

Upcoming Dates & Events:


May 23: Julian Assange to speak on the impact of increasing transparency at EIM 2012 in The Netherlands, 4:35PM.

May 26: Bradley Manning will have been imprisoned for two years without trial.

May 27: "Incident in New Baghdad" to air on The Documentary Channel, 8PM.

June 6-8: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

July 16-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

August 27-31: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 19-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 21-October 12: Bradley Manning's court martial.

2012-05-23 "The World Tomorrow": "High quality" pirate programming to fight the rising propaganda wave?

Initially excoriated by mainstream media sources, Julian Assange's TV show, "The World Tomorrow," is now being hailed as the leading edge of a new era of "high quality alternative" broadcasting. The show's influence may become even more important, as two U.S. senators seek to overturn a longstanding ban on using the media for pro-government propaganda.

From zero to hero

In the immediate, critical fury that followed its April debut, The New York Times opined that "The World Tomorrow" -- the new TV program produced by WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange (whom the Times characterized as a "nut job") -- was "unlikely to win high ratings or change many minds." Forbes dismissed the show as an overly-placating snoozefest, while The Guardian called Assange a "useful idiot". (All of this came as no surprise by Assange, who -- having anticipated the outrage that his small-screen foray would inspire -- had already drafted a list of prefabricated smears and published them for his detractors to use.)

Now, however, that six of the show's twelve episodes have aired, some media voices are starting to show their admiration for the firebrand publisher's latest enterprise. In one article from last week, BBC commentator Jamillah Knowles described "The World Tomorrow" as "high quality alternative programming"; while Salon journalist Glenn Greenwald lauded Assange for "fulfilling the key journalistic functions of airing otherwise suppressed perspectives, highlighting highly consequential issues that are otherwise ignored, and shining a light on the world’s most powerful political factions." Initially distributed online by Russia Today (RT), "The World Tomorrow" has, meanwhile, been picked up by other stations.

Knowles praises Assange's directness, easy "camaraderie" with his guests, and ability to attract such notables as Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah; new Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki; Arab Spring ringleaders Alaa Abd El-Fattah and Nabeel Rajab; former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg; and Ecuador President Rafeal Correa. Musing on the program's place within "future pirate TV," Knowles also lauds "The World Tomorrow" for its production quality and innovations. One such novelty includes Assange's decision to release the complete transcripts and notes from each episode, comprising hours of material that did and didn't make the final cut. As Knowles comments: "These notes in themselves are pretty interesting as they show the relationship between the participants more clearly than the broadcast edits manage to." Moreover, she states, Assange's approach demonstrates "a certain understanding of the web that mainstream media may yet have to grasp."

Pirates to fight a new wave of propaganda?

"So," Knowles asks, "are we ready for other contentious figures to broadcast their own shows online when they are not prepared to play by the rules of existing media companies?"

It's a question that this week promised to become ever more salient, as news media sources revealed that, during talks on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (NDAA), U.S. Congressmen Mac Thornberry and Adam Smith introduced the “Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012" (H.R. 5736). This amendment would reverse long-standing U.S. law that currently prohibits the use of psychological operations (PSYOP) and the distribution of pro-government propaganda within U.S. borders.

Allegedly intended to counter anti-U.S. internet campaigns by al-Qaeda and other "radicals," the proposed legislation would allow the U.S. State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors to “prepare, disseminate and use public diplomacy information” both overseas and at home. For decades, federal law has permitted PSYOP use overseas, but banned it domestically. The Smith-Mundt Act could change that, and permit the federal government to use U.S. mainstream media sources as uncritical mouthpieces. In response, RT muses, "Does that mean that the anti-Nazi and damning communism adverts that were a hallmark of America during the Second World War and the Cold War, respectively, will be updated to outrage Americans against the country’s alleged enemies?"

Whatever the answer to that question, the market for such "high quality alternative TV" as Assange's "The World Tomorrow" may soon increase, as 21st-century viewers -- more sophisticated than their 1950s counterparts -- tire of mainstream media manipulation and turn increasingly toward other sources for news and information.

2012-05-23 WikiLeaks News Update: Assange verdict date set, "World Tomorrow" episode 6, other news

WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 536 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 533 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 730 days.
A secret Grand Jury has been active in the U.S. without transparency for 616 days.

WikiLeaks News:

• There are only 3 days left to join the WLFriends core.

• The restrictions on WikiLeaks' Guantanamo files are being challenged in court. Lawyers for Guantanamo prisoners are currently able to access the documents, but cannot download, save, print, disseminate or transport them.

• An essay by James Freedman of Stanford Law School discusses the possibility that WikiLeaks could be prosecuted under copyright law, rather than the Espionage Act.

Julian Assange News:

• The UK Supreme Court will hand down the judgment for Julian Assange's extradition case on May 30 at 9:15AM London time. The session will last about 10 minutes and be live-streamed via Sky. Rallies are planned worldwide regardless of the outcome.

• An article in El Telegrapho looks at Christine Assange's ongoing fight for the safety and protection of her son.

• Episode 6 of "The World Tomorrow" premiered, featuring Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. The episode is available to watch in English, Spanish, and Russian. Full, unedited transcript of the entire interview is also available.

• Salon's Glenn Greenwald reviewed the first six episodes of "The World Tomorrow," comparing it to the political shows currently available on US television.

Bradley Manning News:

• The Bradley Manning Support Network issued news updates for May 21 and May 22. They cover support for Bradley at NATO protests, the CCR's lawsuit against the military, and a segment from The Young Turks where Chase Madar and Patrick Meighan call Manning a hero

............................................

Upcoming Dates & Events:


May 23: Julian Assange to speak on the impact of increasing transparency at EIM 2012 in The Netherlands, 4:35PM.

May 26: Bradley Manning will have been imprisoned for two years without trial.

May 27: "Incident in New Baghdad" to air on The Documentary Channel, 8PM.

May 30: UK Supreme Court to hand down judgment in Julian Assange's extradition case, 9:15AM.

June 6-8: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

July 16-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

August 27-31: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 19-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 21-October 12: Bradley Manning's court martial.

2012-05-26 WikiLeaks News Update: Support events for Julian Assange; New motions in Manning hearing; Other news

WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 539 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 536 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 733 days.
A secret Grand Jury has been active in the U.S. without transparency for 619 days.

WikiLeaks News:

• WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson gave an exclusive interview with Mediamax in which he discussed WikiLeaks and Armenia. He also commented on the upcoming verdict in Julian Assange's case, saying: "There is no end in sight to the persecution of WikiLeaks, its founder, staff and friends."

• An article in Al Jazeera analysed the Cuban health program in Venezuela, referencing WikiLeaks cables which show that some Cuban doctors were being forced by Cuban authorities to work under President Chavez' social mission programs.

• MarQ Spekt & Kno have released a new music video for their song, "WikiLeaks." Watch the video below.
  

• New 'Friends of WikiLeaks' t-shirts and mugs are available at the official store. Receive 15% off your order with the code 'WLFRIENDS.' All proceeds go to WikiLeaks.

• A Philosophy Professor of the University of Barcelona analysed how Friedrich Nietzsche may have viewed the actions of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange.

Julian Assange News:

• Julian Assange spoke at a screening of "Shadows of Liberty," wearing a kevlar Guy Fawkes mask made by the creator of the WikiLeaks Truck. He said it may be his last time in public, but he believes he made his days count. Watch a video clip of his speech below, followed by Jennifer Robinson discussing his extradition case.
  

• We have published a guide on how people around the world can support Julian Assange in his fight against extradition. It includes dates and places of worldwide rallies, how to donate, how to build community and spread information, and many other resources.

• There is a renewed call to action for UK supporters of Julian Assange to send letters to their MPs regarding his potential extradition. This could possibly prevent his extradition in the event the Supreme Court rules against him, as many UK MPs are pushing for reform.

• Julian Assange's Swedish lawyer Per E Samuelson was on Radio Sweden to comment on the announcement of the upcoming Supreme Court verdict. He said they have been waiting a long time and are prepared for either outcome.

• Julian Assange spoke at EIM2012 in The Netherlands. The event was not live-streamed, but here are some tweets from attendees:
  • 'Friends don't expose friends to the things Facebook does.'
  • 'If you're not paying for the product (e.g. Facebook), then you are the product.'
  • 'A mobile phone is a tracking device that also makes calls.'
  • Assange warns that eavesdropping and hacking constantly occur and over borders. Who protects the individual citizen?
  • U.S. citizen's ability to bear arms was created to prevent dictatorship. How 'armed' we are now as digital citizens against the government?

• Little, Brown and Company published a report which attempts to frame Julian Assange in an FBI plot. WikiLeaks tweeted that the report has no credibility and that it even says Assange has been charged, when he has not.

Bradley Manning News:

• As of today, Bradley Manning has spent two years in prison without trial.

• The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a petition requesting press and public access to the documents in Bradley Manning's court martial. The petitioners include Julian Assange, Glenn Greenwald, Amy Goodman, Kevin Gosztola, Jeremy Scahill, and Chase Madar. Gosztola wrote an article explaining why he is challenging the secrecy surrounding Bradley's trial.

• Bradley Manning's lawyers are seeking dismissal of 10 of the 22 counts he is facing. David Coombs has posted the five motions which have been filed for the upcoming June 6-8 motion hearings.

• Maj. Thomas Hurley rejoined Bradley Manning's defence team, after previously having left to defend Sgt. Robert Bales, who is charged with fatally shooting 17 Afghan civilians.

• More than forty U.S. veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars discarded their war medals as an act of protest. One veteran said he did so on behalf of Bradley Manning, while another called for Bradley's freedom.

• The Bradley Manning Support Network is looking to hire an event organizer in the Washington D.C. area. They are also asking for donations to help support the new position.

• Adrian Lamo, who turned Bradley Manning in to U.S. authorities, gave an interview with IBTimes in which he attacked WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, and Anonymous. He falsely stated that WikiLeaks' releases cost thousands of lives, yet to this day not a single person has been physically harmed due to anything WikiLeaks has released.

............................................

Upcoming Dates & Events:


May 26: Bradley Manning has been imprisoned for two years without trial.

May 27: "Incident in New Baghdad" to air on The Documentary Channel, 8PM.

May 30: UK Supreme Court to hand down judgment in Julian Assange's extradition case, 9:15AM.

May 30-31: Worldwide rallies in support of Julian Assange.

June 6-8: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

July 16-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

August 27-31: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 19-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 21-October 12: Bradley Manning's court martial.

2012-05-27 A petition to Nick Clegg on behalf of Julian Assange

Foreword: On Sunday 27 May 2012, Swedish state media again attacked Julian Assange, this time in an attempt to link him to an unrelated ongoing murder investigation and to blame him for the difficulties Swedish authorities have had in their investigation.

This latest attack shows how thoroughly Swedish state media are biased against him and how public opinion has been poisoned against him, to the extent it's now inconceivable he can receive a fair trial.

We urge our readers to write to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and bring this to his attention, to ask him to act to protect Julian from unfair extradition. A template letter is provided below - it's based on an earlier petition published by Justice for Assange.

Send to: nick.clegg.mp@parliament.uk

Dear Mr Clegg,

I am writing to bring to your attention my concern about the deeply flawed European Arrest Warrant (EAW) system, which mandates that our judges put 'mutual recognition' of Europe's many different - and often incompatible - judicial systems above the need to check whether the evidence even shows there is a prima facie case to answer. Literally thousands of people have been extradited to Europe via EAWs - their lives disrupted, losing their jobs, homes, family and access to support networks or English-speaking lawyers - to face lengthy imprisonment awaiting trial under a legal system that is alien to them, often on what amounts to very trivial charges. Where is the UK courts' right to insist on proportionality before this happens? Or to insist that European prosecutors use Mutual Legal Assistance to question people before issuing these draconian EAWs? Why must our judges operate under a system which tells them they must ignore evidence even though it plainly shows that extradition is not justified?

The case of Julian Assange, which is presently before the UK Supreme Court, is particularly disturbing. His extradition via the EAW is demanded by an investigating prosecutor for questioning in a case concerning consensual but unprotected sex, where he has not been charged, and where the forensic DNA evidence indicates there has been wrongdoing and abuse of process in issuing the extradition warrant. Were Assange to be extradited to Sweden, the Swedish judicial system would allow for indefinite pre-trial detention and for trials to be held behind closed doors, heard by a judge and three politically appointed lay jurors who have no legal training. Furthermore, he faces an overwhelmingly hostile media environment in Sweden, and there are justifiable fears about the "temporary surrender" mechanism available in the US/Sweden bilateral treaty for onward rendition to face potential espionage charges in the US, which has had a secret sealed indictment against Assange for more than a year.

The Irish Supreme Court has just unanimously ruled that European Law does not permit extradition for the purposes of questioning only. In the UK, however, unless the Supreme Court upholds his appeal on the basis that a partisan prosecutor is not a proper judicial authority, Assange's case will have created the perfect storm of precedents - meaning that, henceforth, any person can be extradited from the UK to anywhere in Europe, without charge, without evidence, by any prosecutor, anywhere, and without proper judicial oversight.

Recent developments make Mr Assange's situation even more worrying. Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has taken to writing blog posts and multiple tweets declaring WikiLeaks is planning a smear campaign against him and this is therefore an attack on Sweden. This is based on entirely fabricated articles by the Swedish newspaper Expressen, which was also responsible for breaking the confidentiality of a preliminary investigation by relaying the news "WikiLeaks' Julian Assange hunted down, suspected of rape" to the world's media hours before a senior Swedish prosecutor decided the rape allegation was false. Prejudicial public remarks have also been made by Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, Justice Minister Beatrice Ask and Prosecutor General Anders Perklev. It is inconceivable that Julian Assange will receive a fair trial in Sweden in a case which has become so highly politicised there.

Under the Human Rights Act 1998, UK Home Secretary Theresa May has a legal obligation to safeguard individuals' rights under the European Convention of Human Rights, including Article 6, the right to a fair trial; and I would respectfully ask you to remind the Home Secretary of her obligations in respect of this case.

Yours sincerely,

2012-05-27 Swedish state media grasps at straws to smear Assange with link to murder case

Sunday 27 May 2012 Stockholm: Swedish state radio attempted early this morning to lay the blame for difficulties in the ongoing investigation of an unrelated Swedish murder case on Julian Assange.

Their article published online attempts to claim Assange is obstructing the course of justice by appealing his case before the UK Supreme Court and that killers pursued by Swedish authorities might go free as a result of a ruling in his favour.

Background

Two brothers were arrested in London on suspicion of involvement in the November 2011 murder of a 22 year old man in Stockholm's Old Town. The man was found fatally wounded and later passed away in hospital. The two brothers fled Sweden after accusations were brought against them. The one brother agreed to be extradited back to Sweden where he is now sitting in detention, but the other has refused.

Radio Stockholm interviewed Joakim Eriksson, the prosecutor handling the case, who said he hoped for help in the extradition proceedings based on the Supreme Court's ruling in Julian Assange's case, which will be handed down on 30 May.

This latest gambit comes less than 72 hours before the ruling is to be announced in London.

Sweden wagging the EU again

The Swedes seem again to be involved in a 'wag the dog' scenario - or more correctly: to change the entire EU to suit their ideas of jurisprudence.

The Swedish authorities have already distinguished themselves by having their prisons condemned by human rights organisations. They have no trial by jury save in freedom of the press proceedings. They don't even have educated jurists sitting on their court benches. They offer no bail whatsoever to people in Julian's situation. They vehemently opposed his house arrest in December 2010, insisting he spend the holidays in Wandsworth prison.

They open, then shut, then reopen the Assange case, then refuse to come to an agreement to question Assange, refuse to use accepted means of interrogation for over 500 days. They hint that they want Assange in isolated custody to 'soften him up', and they refuse to notify Assange of the accusations against him in a language he understands.

They also refused to let Assange's attorney Björn Hurtig view the complete case documentation and attempted (unsuccessfully) to stop him from witnessing at the High Court in Belmarsh this past February.

And now they're trying to blame Julian Assange for an attempt by the highest court in England to bring about a much-needed reform in EAW policy.

2012-05-28 The fire this time: The martyring of Julian Assange

"We can never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was 'legal.'"
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Did you read Bonfire of the Vanities?" George asked me. I nodded, and he continued: "Do you remember that scene where he's getting out of the car, and there are all these people screaming his name, women throwing themselves at him? I mean, here's this guy who's in a terrible situation, but he's like a big celebrity."

Aussie publisher and Assange family acquaintance George Hirst had met me at the law school's cafe, so we could confer on ideas for helping the WikiLeaks leader. George and I both worried about Assange's potential extradition to the U.S., where harpy Hillary Clinton and other government vengefuls could use the EU's lax extradition laws to prosecute Assange, torture him, or worse. Now, months later, on the eve of the UK Supreme Court's final decision, we are all about to learn whether or not the embattled publisher will be extradited to Sweden, and then perhaps to the United States.

But the truth is that some of us already know how this will probably turn out. The Obama administration likely aims to ultimately extradite Assange to the U.S., derail the Australian's promising Senate run, deflate his surge in popularity, and generally suppress this youngish upstart who dared challenge the established power structure. By prosecuting the 40-year-old publisher under trumped-up espionage and conspiracy charges, the administration would love to make of Assange an example for the rest of us about what will happen if we step out of line.

Assange: Cyber-messiah for the ages

In the process, however, the administration would work its own undoing. Any attempt to crucify the brilliant, handsome, famous, media-savvy rebel carries the risk of immediately making of Assange a martyr -- a sort of cyber-messiah for a mostly-mute younger generation oppressed by a government whose leaders no longer appear to believe themselves bound by the rule of law.

Certainly, Assange's detractors might say his own vanities helped fuel the media and legal firestorm that has engulfed him since the November 2010 release of the Cablegate files. That receiving attention from young women on all continents must have gone to the head of the newly-renowned wunderkind, who then made the mistake of bedding two females who reported him to the police (in what Assange believes to be a politically-motivated investigation). Nevertheless, a public airing of the government's grievances against the WikiLeaks founder can only cast into stark relief the far less forgivable sins of the "world leaders" who will have conspired to put Julian Assange behind bars. Because:

A generation's manifesto

when you place a man under house arrest, and you force him into shackles and under constant video surveillance for more than a year, all without charging him with any crime;
when you find a person whose name you have placed on a list, and you kidnap him from a daylit crowded street, and you beat him and force him to swallow drugs, and you shove a suppository in his rectum, and you force him to strip naked and you put him in a diaper and chains, and then you make him board a plane but refuse to tell him where the plane is going, and then that plane arrives in a foreign country where the person you have kidnapped is jailed, beaten, tortured, and "disappeared" for as long as your whim dictates;
when you have repeatedly tortured adult men and women by raping them and forcing them to wear chains like animals;
when you have placed the names of "undesirable" Americans on secret lists and marked them for assassination;
when you have used unpiloted drones to murder targeted American citizens and their children abroad, and you have then deployed armed surveillance drones into the skies above our homes;
when you have relied on secret courts to issue secret orders for secret wiretaps and searches of the homes of law-abiding citizens;
when you have assembled secret grand juries to secretly review evidence in secret hearings against those who challenge your authority;
when you have forced this generation's rising stars into crushing poverty by circulating secret financial blacklists that police and intelligence agencies use to bankrupt and destroy the futures of selected citizens;
when you have destabilized and corrupted the global economy with deregulation that you knew would benefit no one except the boards and officers of major corporations;
when you have used secret experimentation programs as a pretext for genocide, injecting syphilis into unsuspecting children and adults;
when you have spent a century secretly sterilizing women in hospitals, while telling them that they were undergoing some other treatment, and when you have used this technique to wipe out entire Indian nations;
when you have physically debilitated younger generations by force-feeding us genetically-modified organisms and other known toxins, and have refused to tell us what you were doing or to regulate these chemicals that cause cancer, obesity, and infertility;
when you have tested dangerous drugs on us without our permission;
when you have hunted and murdered black children and families for no justifiable reason;
when you willfully flout the law by hiring private contractors to commit murder, torture, and other violations for which they will never be held accountable;
when you have passed laws that permit you to imprison your own citizens indefinitely, without charge and without due process of law;
when you introduce laws that would strip dissident Americans of their U.S. citizenship;
when you have allowed our legislators to sell themselves to the highest-bidding lobbyists;
when you have permitted police forces to use tear gas and pepper spray to assault peaceful protesters;
when you have allowed police officers to secretly attach tracking devices to our cars, clothes, and identification papers;
when you defy the letter of the U.S. Constitution and the spirit of the Declaration of Independence by secretly intercepting and storing all of the communications and other personal data of every law-abiding citizen;
when your intelligence agencies have conspired with foreign governments to attack your own citizens at home;
when you have repeatedly pledged your allegiance to a foreign terrorist state that has killed millions of civilians and repeatedly betrayed the interests of your citizens;
when you have used poverty, poor education, pepper spray, toxic food, and military weaponry to intimidate us;
when you have terrorized us day and night,
when we have asked for leadership, and instead you have given us narcissistic sociopaths willing to cooperate in mass murder;
when you have promised us "change," and when we have seen that this meant a change for the worse;
when you have done all of these things, and more,
and all because you could,
only because you could --
then how can you not foresee that your own vanity must also soon go up in flames?

2012-05-28 What we know about the Information Review Task Force | US v PFC #Manning #WikiLeaks #Assange

On July 29, 2010, the then Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, ordered the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Ronald L. Burgess, to stand up an Information Review Task Force, to lead a comprehensive review of the documents allegedly given to WikiLeaks in concert with interagency participants.

The Information Review Task Force was a 24 hour/day operation, comprised of 80 people, largely "intelligence analysts" from the "DIA and from the PAC [USPACOM, United States Pacific Command] and CENTCOM [US Central Command] and USD(I) [Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence]. The FBI and Army CID [Criminal Investigation Command], were also represented," according to Department of Defense Press Secretary, Geoff Morrell:

And then also there are counterintelligence experts, you know, as part of this organization as well, who are there to make determinations about whether or not any TTPs [Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures] have been exposed and whether or not any adjustments need to be made, in light of that exposure.

Witness No. 5, unknown, on defense's Article 32 Witness List, a law enforcement agent also "detailed the collection of classified information for the Information Review Task Force."

In August, the Information Review Task Force had, according to Morrell, gone through 70,000 documents that were already online. They had also had done around 400 keyword searches.

They've gone through, I think, the 70-odd thousand documents that are online. They've done about 400 keyword searches through the -- through the 70-odd thousand documents that are online, looking for areas that are of particular concern to us. They then take whatever they find, and whatever hits they find, they then create batches of those documents for further, more extensive review.

And eventually, once we have done that sort of first triage kind of operation, there will be a painstaking, deliberate, page-by-page, word-by-word evaluation of every single document. But right now this team of 80, working around the clock, is going through them.

In July, the US State Department, according to Patrick Kennedy, Under Secretary for Management and Witness No. 44 on the Defense's Article 32 Witness List, worked with the Department of Defense on the Information Review Task Force "to review any purported State material in the release and provide an assessment, as well as a summary of the overall effect the WikiLeaks release could have on relations with the host country." That work, according to Kennedy, was concluded in August 2010.

In October, the Information Review Task Force, worked on comparing the original Iraq SIGACTS (Significant Activity Reports) with the redacted Iraq War Logs published by WikiLeaks and presumably their media partners: The Guardian, the New York Times, Der Spiegel, Al Jazeera, and Le Monde.

The damage assessment and national security impact statements by the Information Review Task Force concluded, according to defense documents, "that all the information allegedly leaked was either dated, represented low-level opinions, or was commonly understood and known due to previous public disclosures," and contradicted pubic statement's by officials, which former Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, himself stated, were "fairly significantly overwrought."

According to defense, the results of the Information Review Tasks Force's damage assessments also undercut the testimony of the Official Classification Authorities (OCAs) for the leaked documents. Those statements by OCAs included the classification reviews and national security impact statements of :

• Robert Rowland (sp.). No further information was given in court regarding this individual except that he was considered an "essential witness" along with Culky (sp.) by defense for the Article 32, and further that the Government had not provided the Defense with the contact information for this individual into March 2012. Information about Rolland was redacted from open court on March 16, 2012. It is my opinion that Rolland (sp.) is witness Number 48 on the Defense's Pretrial Witness List.

• Rear Admiral David B. Woods, Commander, Joint Task Force Guantanamo, review of the disclosure of five documents, totaling twenty-two pages" and its impact on national security.

• Patrick F. Kennedy, Under Secretary, Management, Department of State, review of the disclosure of Department of State Diplomatic Cables stored within Net_Centric Diplomacy server and part of SIPDIS.

• Vice Admiral Robert S. Harward, Deputy Commander, US Central Command (USCENTCOM) for the classification determination and impact on national security for the CIDNE Afghanistan Events [Afghan War Diary], CIDNE Iraq Events [Iraq War Logs], other briefings and the BE22PAX.wmv video [Garani Airstrike Video]

• Robert E. Schmidle, Deputy Commander, US Cyber Command, the Original Classification Authority, who concurs with the classification made by Mr. Betts, US Cyber Command, Chief Classification Officer's, declaration about the information contained 'the alleged chat logs' and its impact.

• Mr. Betts, US Cyber Command, Chief Classification Officer and the Original Classification Authority for "the alleged chat logs" and the information contained therein.

• Rear Admiral Kevin Donegan, USCENTCOM, Director of Operations, the Original Classification Authority, who conducted classification reviews for two PowerPoint (PPT) slide presentations of official reports originated by USCENTCOM, and their impact on national security due to the release of the information.

• James Culky (sp.), 4th Cavalry Division, Brigade S2, the Official Classification Authority for the July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike video, also known as "Collateral Murder."

After repeated attempts by defense to obtain information regarding the Information Review Task Force from the Article 32 pretrial Investigating Officer, the Special Court Martial Convening Authority, and the General Court-Martial Convening Authority, Judge Lind finally ordered on March 23, 2012 that the Government report to the defense whether the DIA (among others) had any "investigative files relevant" to the case.

Between April 9 and 13, 2012 the US Government provided PFC Manning's Defense just 12 pages of Brady Material from the Information Review Task Force. Brady disclosure "consists of exculpatory or impeaching information and evidence that is material to the guilt or innocence or to the punishment of a defendant."

Then on April 20, 2012, the US Government responded to Judge Lind's ruling saying the DIA doesn't have any "investigative files relevant to the case," but they did provide defense with an April 17, 2012 file related to HQDA [Headquarters, Department of the Army is the executive part of the Department of the Army at the seat of Government], which "revealed," according to defense, "that the DIA did have what the Defense would consider 'an investigation' into the alleged leaks."

See also: "Almanza Article 32 Investgating Officer Friends w Dep Gen Counsel for Contracting at Defense Intel Agency"

Below is a list of references to the Information Review Task Force found in the Time Line.

• July 29, 2010, Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates (Article 32 Defense Witness List Number 37) directs Defense Intelligence Agency to lead a comprehensive review of the documents allegedly given to WikiLeaks and to coordinate under the Information Review Task Force (IRT, formerly TF 725) to conduct a complete damage review.

  See Number 37 Defense Article 32 Witness List, Dec 2 2011

  "XXXXXXXXXX [ROBERT GATES, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE] will testify that the Afghanistan and Iraq SIGACT releases did not reveal any sensitive intelligence sources or methods. He will also testify that the Department of Defense could not point to anyone in Afghanistan or Iraq harmed due to the documents released by WikiLeaks. He will testify that the Afghanistan and Iraq SIGACTs are simply ground-level field reports that document dated activities which do not disclose sensitive information or our sources and methods. XXXXXXXXXX[ROBERT GATES, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE] will also testify that the initial public descriptions of the harm to foreign policy due to the publication of diplomatic cables were "fairly significantly overwrought." He will also testify that although the disclosures were embarrassing and awkward, they did not represent significant consequences to foreign policy. Finally, XXXXXXXXXX [ROBERT GATES, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE] will testify that on 29 July 2010, he directed the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to lead a comprehensive review of the documents allegedly given to WikiLeaks and to coordinate under the Information Review Task Force (IRTF, formerly TF 725) to conduct a complete damage review. He will testify that the damage review confirmed that the alleged leaks represented a low to at best moderate risk to national security. Specifically, that all of the information allegedly leaked was either dated, represented low-level opinions, or was already commonly understood and know due to previous public disclosures." [For "fairly significantly overwrought" quote, see DOD News Briefing with Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen from the Pentagon, November 30, 2010]

  "The results of this damage review [BY THE DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, DIRECTED BY FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT GATES] undercut the testimony of each of the representatives from the OCA [Original Classification Authorities] for the charge documents in this case.  Specifically, the damage assessments concluded that all the information allegedly leaked was either dated, represented low-level opinions, or was commonly understood and known due to previous public disclosures."(See 5c of Manning Defense Request for Production of Evidence for Article 32, November 22, 2011)

  *Picture to the left of Ronald L. Burgess, Jr., Director, DIA. "The Secretary also tasked the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency [Ronald L. Burgess, Jr.] to stand up an Information Review Task Force to assess, in concert with interagency participants, the substance of the data disclosed." (Source:Teresa Takai, Department of Defense Chief Information Officer and Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration; and Thomas Ferguson, Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence - Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Hearing on Information Sharing in the Era of Wikileaks, March 10, 2011)

• Jul thru Aug 2010, State Dept works with DOD Information Review Task Force to identify State Dept material in WikiLeaks possession. Chiefs of Mission reviewed any material in the release and provided assessment and summary of overall effect in their host country. This review was completed in August 2010.

  "When DoD material was leaked in July 2010, we worked with DoD to identify any alleged State Department material that was in WikiLeaks' possession. We immediately asked Chiefs of Mission at affected posts to review any purported State material in the release and provide an assessment, as well as a summary of the overall effect the WikiLeaks release could have on relations with the host country." (Source: Testimony of Patrick F. Kennedy, Under Secretary for Management, Statement Before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, March 10, 2011)

• Aug 2010, State Dept completes work with DOD Information Review Task Force, to identify State Dept material in WikiLeaks possession. Chiefs of Mission reviewed any material in the release and provided assessment and summary of overall effect in their host country. This review was started in July. State Department instructs all Chiefs of Missions to familiarize themselves with content in the Net Centric Diplomacy (NCD) database.

  "Following the completion of the review in August, when it was believed that purported State cables might be released, the State Department instructed all Chiefs of Missions to familiarize themselves with the content in the Net Centric Diplomacy (NCD) database should a release actually occur." (Source: Testimony of Patrick F. Kennedy, Under Secretary for Management, Statement Before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, March 10, 2011)

• Aug 5, 2010, Department of Defense, Press Secretary, Geoff Morrell details the composition and tactics of the Information Review Task Force.

  Q What is the status -- what do you now know about what they have? Do you know what they have? Because until now, you've said -- the department has said that the task force is looking at it and reviewing at it. As we sit here today, do you know what WikiLeaks has in totality?

  MR. MORRELL: Well, I think I've addressed this question.

  We know what is on the website, and we have this -- the task force that we have set up to review the -- review this material has been working -- as I've described before, they have a 24-hour operation. They have roughly -- they're up to about 80 personnel. And they are -- they are reviewing it.

  They've gone through, I think, the 70-odd thousand documents that are online. They've done about 400 keyword searches through the -- through the 70-odd thousand documents that are online, looking for areas that are of particular concern to us. They then take whatever they find, and whatever hits they find, they then create batches of those documents for further, more extensive review.

  And eventually, once we have done that sort of first triage kind of operation, there will be a painstaking, deliberate, page-by-page, word-by-word evaluation of every single document. But right now this team of 80, working around the clock, is going through them.

  And as we find things that are of concern, we are notifying appropriate entities -- be they foreign governments, when they come up; be they -- if there are Afghan citizens who are named or Afghan -- and in this case, if there are -- if there are Afghan citizens who are named, we are informing the command in Kabul, who is then sharing the information with the appropriate subordinate commands and units so that they can take appropriate action to safeguard those people.

  Q But you haven't opened the 15,000 yet?

  MR. MORRELL: What I've said is, the 15,000 -- the way I've described it is we have -- we believe we have some idea of what those 15,000 could be, and are reviewing what we believe to be, potentially, those 15,000. We do not know for sure if the 15,000 we believe they have and are waiting to post are indeed the same documents that they do indeed have and are waiting to post.

  Q Can I -- can I --

  MR. MORRELL: You seem -- Tony, I'm really concerned about you today.

  Q I'm listening --

  MR. MORRELL: You are laughing. You're scowling. You seem to be confused.

  Q Well, yeah, but your last comment was hard to follow because it had so many different --

  MR. MORRELL: Well, follow up. I'm happy -- I'm happy to -- I'm happy to hold your hand through this process.

  Q I don't have -- (off mike) -- but her question is a good one. Why didn't you move sooner? And what --

  MR. MORRELL: I think I've -- I think I've answered it. We've been evaluating appropriate courses of action. This is the one that was deemed appropriate at this time. We're moving out on it.

  Q If Pandora's Box has been open for a week. Realistically, what purpose would be served by you getting back documents that the world have had -- has had access to for a week?

  MR. MORRELL: Well, as I said before, Tony, the longer they hang out there, the more opportunity there is for those to wish us harm -- do us harm, to use those documents to their advantage. So we're trying to, as best we can, mitigate the damage caused by this and compel them to take those documents off the Internet and return them to their rightful owner, the United States government.

  Al Pessin.

  Q Can you say from these keyword searches how many Afghan citizens have been identified and what actions generally speaking have been taken to protect them?

  MR. MORRELL: Yeah, I'm not going to get into how many and what kinds of people. I mean, there clearly have been Afghan names, which have been found doing searches of these -- of these documents. And as such, they have -- that information has been shared with the command. And they will make judgments about how to proceed with it.

  We have housed within this task force of 80-odd people, and it's still growing by the way -- I think, you know, it could grow as -- there are -- we have personnel on hand, they're flowing in, that could take it to about 120-125.

  But they are going through this. The personnel they have are people steeped in -- largely they're intelligence analysts who we've gotten from DIA and from the PAC and CENTCOM and USD(I). The FBI and Army CID are also represented.

  And then also there are counterintelligence experts, you know, as part of this organization as well, who are there to make determinations about whether or not any TTPs have been exposed and whether or not any adjustments need to be made, in light of that exposure. (Source: Transcript DOD News Briefing with Geoff Morrell from the Pentagon, August 5, 2010)

• Aug 8, 2010, Robert Gates, Former Secretary of Defense, sends a letter to Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Arms Services Committee in response to his July 28, 2010 letter. The Information Review Task Force to date, has "not revealed any sensitive intelligence source and methods comprised by this disclosure."

  *Picture to the left of Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Arms Services Committee. Gates writes to him: "After consulting with the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, I have directed a thorough investigation to determine the scope of any unauthorized release of classified information and identify the person or persons responsible. I have also established an interagency Information Review Task Force, led by the Defense Intelligence Agency, to assess the content of any compromised information and the impact of such a compromise. Our initial review indicates most of the information contained in these documents relates to tactical military operations. The initial assessment in no way discounts the risk to national security; however, the review to date has not revealed any sensitive intelligence source and methods comprised by this disclosure.

  The documents do contain the names of cooperative Afghan national and the Department takes very seriously the Taliban threats recently discussed in the press. We access the risk as likely to cause significant harm or damage to the national security interest of the Unites States and are examining mitigation options. We are working closely with our allies to determine what risks out mission partners may face as a result of the disclosure. There is a possibility that additional military documents may be published by WikiLeaks and the Department is developing courses of action to address this possibility.

  The scope of the assessment and nature of the investigative process requires a great deal of time and effort. I am committed to investigating this matter and determining appropriate action to reduce the risk of any such compromises in the future. We will keep you informed as additional information becomes available."Robert Gate's, Secretary of Defense letter to Karl Levin, Chairman of the Arms Services Committee, August 8, 2010

• October 22, 2010, Department of Defense Press Services says that DOD [Information Review] task force has been combing through the Iraq data base to assess the damage that the WikiLeaks publication of the activity reports could pose to the U.S. military, Iraqi allies and on-going operations.

  "A DOD task force has been combing through the Iraq data base to assess the damage that the WikiLeaks publication of the activity reports could pose to the U.S. military, Iraqi allies and on-going operations." (Source: Press Secretary Calls WikiLeaks Release Shameful, American Forces Press Service, October 22, 2010)

• October 25, 2010, Department of Defense press service announces that "a joint task force led by the Defense Intelligence Agency [the Information Review Task Force] is comparing the original with redacted documents [Iraq War Logs], [Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Col. Dave Lapan] said, to assess the damage that WikiLeaks' publication of the classified Iraq significant-activities reports, called the SIGACTS data base, could pose to the U.S. military, Iraqi allies and current operations." The press release also quotes Clinton October 22, 2010 comments that WikiLeaks release of Iraq War Logs threaten US national security.

  "The U.S. Central Command has the names of those potentially at risk and "is deciding whether they're going to make notifications or not," Lapan said."

  "A joint task force led by the Defense Intelligence Agency is comparing the original with redacted documents, he said, to assess the damage that WikiLeaks' publication of the classified Iraq significant-activities reports, called the SIGACTS data base, could pose to the U.S. military, Iraqi allies and current operations." (Source: DOD News Briefing with Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen from the Pentagon, November 30, 2010)

• March 10, 2011, Paul Kshemendra Program Manager Office of National Intelligence, Corin Stone, Executive Office of National Intelligence; Teresa Takai, Chief Information Officer Department of Defense and Thomas Ferguson, Principal Deputy Undersecretary, Department of Defense, Senate Committee Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, Information Sharing and WikiLeaks.

  (Source: Link to Senate Committee Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, Information Sharing and WikiLeaks Website which features, video and transcripts)

• On November 22, 2011, Defense files a Request for the Production of Evidence.

  (Source: Defense Request for the Production of Evidence, US v Manning, November 22, 2011)

• On December 2, 2011, Defense files an Article 32 Witnesses List. See No. 5 [unidentified Law Enforcement Agent] and No. 37 [Robert Gates]

  XXXXXXXXXX [WHO IS THIS?] is one of the law enforcement agents that conducted work on this case. He interviewed numerous witnesses during the CCIU investigation from 2nd BCT. He also detailed the collection of classified information for the Information Review Task Force's damage assessment. (Source: Defense Request for Article 32 Witnesses, December 2, 2011)

   

   

  "XXXXXXXXXX [ROBERT GATES, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE] will testify that the Afghanistan and Iraq SIGACT releases did not reveal any sensitive intelligence sources or methods. He will also testify that the Department of Defense could not point to anyone in Afghanistan or Iraq harmed due to the documents released by WikiLeaks. He will testify that the Afghanistan and Iraq SIGACTs are simply ground-level field reports that document dated activities which do not disclose sensitive information or our sources and methods. XXXXXXXXXX[ROBERT GATES, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE] will also testify that the initial public descriptions of the harm to foreign policy due to the publication of diplomatic cables were "fairly significantly overwrought." He will also testify that although the disclosures were embarrassing and awkward, they did not represent significant consequences to foreign policy. Finally, XXXXXXXXXX [ROBERT GATES, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE] will testify that on 29 July 2010, he directed the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to lead a comprehensive review of the documents allegedly given to WikiLeaks and to coordinate under the Information Review Task Force (IRTF, formerly TF 725) to conduct a complete damage review. He will testify that the damage review confirmed that the alleged leaks represented a low to at best moderate risk to national security. Specifically, that all of the information allegedly leaked was either dated, represented low-level opinions, or was already commonly understood and know due to previous public disclosures." [For "fairly significantly overwrought" quote, see DOD News Briefing with Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen from the Pentagon, November 30, 2010] (Source: Defense Request for Article 32 Witnesses, December 2, 2011)

• On January 16, 2012, Manning's defense files a supplemental deposition request with the Government.

  c. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. XXXXXXXXXX [DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT GATES] will testify that the Afghanistan and Iraq SIGACT release did not reveal any sensitive intelligence sources or methods. He will also testify that the Department of Defense could not point to anyone in Afghanistan or Iraq who was harmed due to the documents released by WikiLeaks. He will testify that the Afghanistan and Iraq SIGACTs are simply ground-level field reports that document dated activities which do not disclose sensitive information or our sources and methods. XXXXXXXXXX [SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT GATES] will also testify that the initial public descriptions of the harm to foreign policy due to the publication of diplomatic cables were "Fairly significantly overwrought." He will also testify that on 29 July 2010, he directed the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to lead a comprehensive review of the documents allegedly govern to WikiLeaks and to coordinate under the Information Review Task Force (IDTF, formerly TF 725) to conduct a complete damage review. He will testify that the damage review confirmed that the alleged leaks represent a low to, at best moderate risk to national security. Specifically, he will testify that all the information allegedly leaked was ether dated, represented low-level opinions, or was already commonly understood and known due to previous public disclosures. The requested deposition is needed due to the Article 32 Investigating Officer's improper determination that XXXXXXXXXX [FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT GATES] was not reasonably available at the Article 32 hearing. XXXXXXXXXX [FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT GATES] was an essential witness and should have been produced in person at the Article 32 hearing. (Source: Defense Supplemental Memorandum, Request for Oral Depositions, January 16, 2012)

  For Gate's quote "fairly significantly overwrought" see DOD News Briefing with Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen from the Pentagon, November 30, 2010

• On January 18, 2012, Col. Carl R Coffman, Commander of Joint Base Myer and Special Court Martial Convening Authority, denies Manning defense's request to conduct oral depositions of "essential witnesses" including Robert Gates, Former Secretary of Defense, and Patrick F. Kennedy, Under Secretary of Management, State Department, concerning the Information Review Task Force damage assessments. Coffman determined that the "difficulty, expense, and/or effect on military operations outweighed the significance of the expected testimony," despite the possibility of the death penalty for Manning.

  Colonel Coffman determined that the difficulty, expense, and/or effect on military operations outweighed the significance of the expected testimony. This determination is difficult to comprehend given the nature of the charges against PFC Manning. Today's decision is yet another example of the government improperly impeding the defense's access to essential witnesses.

  Based upon Colonel Coffman's decision, the defense intends to renew its request to depose these witnesses with the General Court-Martial Convening Authority, Major General Michael S. Linnington, and, if necessary, with the military judge. (Source: Government Continues to Deny Access to Key Witnesses , David Coombs, January 16, 2012)

 

 

• On January 20, 2012,
  Manning's Defense files a Defense Discover Request, requesting information about the damage assessments including the Information Review Task Force.

  c.) Does the Government possess any report, damage assessment, or recommendation by the Information Review Task Force (IRTF) concerning the alleged leaks in this case? If yes, please indicate why these items have not been provided to the Defense. If no, please indicate why the Government has failed to secure these items; (Source:Defense Discovery Request, US v PFC Manning, January 20, 2012)

• On February 16, 2012, defense files Motion to Compel Discovery in US v PFC Manning.

• On March 23, 2012, Judge Lind orders Government to report on whether DIA (among others) had any "investigative files relevant to this case on."

  6. In its Ruling on 23 March 2012 (Appellate Exhibit XXXI [31]), the Court ordered the Government to report on whether DIA (among others) had any "investigative files relevant to this case." The Government responded on 20 April 2012 that DIA did not have any investigative files relevant to this case. This was surprising to the Defense given that the 12 pages of Brady material that the Government had provided a week earlier revealed that the DIA did have what the Defense would consider "an investigation" into the alleged leaks. (Source: David Coombs, Defense Motion to Compel Discovery No. 2, US v PFC Manning, May 10, 2012 )

• On April 20, 2012, the Government in US v PFC Manning responds to the court ruling dated March 23, 2012 that "the DIA does not have any investigative files relevant to the case."

• On April 9 to 13, 2012, the US Government in US v PFC Manning provides Defense 12 pages of Brady material revealing that the DIA did have "what the Defense would consider 'an investigation' into the alleged leaks."

  6. In its Ruling on 23 March 2012 (Appellate Exhibit XXXI [31]), the Court ordered the Government to report on whether DIA (among others) had any "investigative files relevant to this case." The Government responded on 20 April 2012 that DIA did not have any investigative files relevant to this case. This was surprising to the Defense given that the 12 pages of Brady material that the Government had provided a week earlier revealed that the DIA did have what the Defense would consider "an investigation" into the alleged leaks. (Source: David Coombs, Defense Motion to Compel Discovery No. 2, US v PFC Manning, May 10, 2012 )

• On April 17, 2012. Defense refers to an April 17, 2012 dated HQDA [executive part of the Department of the Army at the seat of Government] file and email from Ashden Fein, Government prosecutor concerning the DIA investigations and damage assessments.

  See Def. Motion to Compel Discovery, dated 10 May 2012:

  Further, that the HQDA [Headquarters, Department of the Army is the executive part of the Department of the Army at the seat of Government] file related to the 17 April 2012 request be produced under R.C.M. 701(a)(2) and 701(a)(6).

  ...

  3. The Defense does not request any witnesses be produced for this motion. [FOOTNOTE 1 The Defense requests the testimony of Ambassador Patrick Kennedy for the purposes of this motion if the Government maintains that the damage assessment items listed for the DOS within paragraph 16, infra, do not exist.] The Defense requests that this Court consider the following evidence in support of this motion:

  a. Appellate Exhibits VIII [8], XXVI [26] XXXI [31], XXXVI [36], XLIX [49], XLVIII [49], and LXVIII [68]
  b. Unofficial Transcript, 23 February 2012
  c. Attachment A (Department of the Army Memorandum dated 17 April 2012)
  d. Attachment B (Email from Ashden Fein, 17 April 2012)(Source: Defense Discovery Request No. 2 of May 10 2012)

• May 20, 2012, defense files, Motion to Compel Discovery No. 2 on .

• On May 10, 2012, defense files Motion to Compel Identification of Brady Materials, US v PFC Manning.

  4. To date the Government has provided the Defense with twelve (12) pages of Brady material taken from an assessment/investigation/working document review by the Office of the National Counterintelligence executive (ONCIX), Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and the Information Review Task Force (IRTF) of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). See Attachment to Appellate Exhibit XXXI [23]. (Source: Defense Motion to Compel Identification of Brady Materials, US v PFC Manning, May 10, 2012)

Other Sources:

• David Coombs, Defense Motion to Compel Discovery No. 2, US v PFC Manning, May 10, 2012
• Defense Motion to Compel Identification of Brady Materials, US v PFC Manning, US v PFC Manning, May 10, 2012
• Defense Motion to Compel Discovery, US v PFC Manning. February 16, 2012
• Defense Discovery Request, US v PFC Manning, January 20, 2012
• Government Continues to Deny Access to Key Witnesses , David Coombs, US v PFC Manning, January 16, 2012
• Defense Supplemental Memorandum, Request for Oral Depositions, US v PFC Manning, January 16, 2012
• Defense Request for Article 32 Witnesses, US v PFC Manning, December 2, 2011 (See Witness 5, 37)
• Defense Request for the Production of Evidence, US v Manning, November 22, 2011 (See No. 5)
• Testimony of Patrick F. Kennedy, Under Secretary for Management, Statement Before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, March 10, 2011
• Teresa Takai, Department of Defense Chief Information Officer and Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration; and Thomas Ferguson, Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence - Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Hearing on Information Sharing in the Era of Wikileaks, March 10, 2011
• DOD News Briefing with Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen from the Pentagon, November 30, 2010
• US Department of Defense, WikiLeaks' Redaction Doesn't Remove Danger, American Forces Press Service, October 25, 2010
• IUS Department of Defense, Press Secretary Calls WikiLeaks Release Shameful, American Forces Press Service, October 22, 2010
• Robert Gate's, Secretary of Defense letter to Karl Levin, Chairman of the Arms Services Committee, August 8, 2010
• Transcript DOD News Briefing with Geoff Morrell from the Pentagon, August 5, 2010

Other Information

• Lieutenant General Ronald L. Burgess, Jr., Director Defense Intelligence Agency, Official Biography
• Ms. Teresa M. Takai, Chief Information Officer, Department of Defense
• Patrick F. Kennedy, Under Secretary, Management, Department of State, Official Biography

2012-05-29 Four days after Julian Assange verdict, US Secretary Clinton to visit Sweden

It is the first bilateral visit to Sweden by a US Secretary of State in a long time, Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt writes, as he wishes a warm welcome to US Secretary Hillary Clinton who will arrive in the country just 4 days after Britain's Supreme Court announces its decision on whether Julian Assange is to be extradited to Sweden.

The announcement of Clinton's visit to Sweden, which will center around the subjects of "Internet freedom, green energy, Afghanistan and the Middle East", as well as other broad topics such as democracy and counter-terrorism, took place just 3 days after the Supreme Court published a date for Julian Assange's verdict to be issued. (The Supreme Court published the date of its judgment on May 23, Secretary Clinton's visit was announced on May 26.)

Julian Assange's verdict will be known tomorrow 30 May, and his extradition to Sweden would occur within the 10 following days. Although extradition to Sweden would facilitate Mr Assange's subsequent surrender to the United States, his extradition to the US is likely to be sought even he is allowed to remain in the UK. Therefore after the verdict is made public, regardless of the outcome, four countries are lined up to say no to his potential extradition to the United States through a series of rallies that will occur in many different cities.

Countries participating in the #Rally4JA initiative include the United States, where 5 cities will protest; the United Kingdom, from where the extradition could happen amidst continuing calls for urgent reform of extradition laws that do not comply with safeguards required by the Joint Committee on Human Rights; and Australia, Mr Assange's homeland. Germany will also participate in the global call for protection of Julian Assange's civil rights, as will individuals from all over the world who are campaigning for this cause by disseminating facts concerning irregularities in Sweden's investigation of Mr Assange, often misrepresented by the media, and the risks he faces if extradited to the US.

It is worth stressing that a US Secret Grand Jury in Virginia has had a sealed indictment against him for over a year. Its existence revealed by WikiLeaks earlier this year, with the publication of emails from US private intelligence firm Stratfor referring to the potential arrest of WikiLeaks' editor-in-chief (and the financial blockade imposed on WikiLeaks since December 2010) in the following terms:

"[b]ankrupt the arsehole first, (…) ruin his life. Give him 7-12 yrs for conspiracy."

Furthermore, numerous public calls for Julian Assange's assassination have been made in the US by prominent figures and, WikiLeaks has just made public, multiple European citizens have been detained and interrogated about Julian Assange by US authorities this week.

In Australia, documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request have revealed Julian Assange's extradition to the United States and possible charges of conspiracy and espionage to be the subject of numerous exchanges between Australian and US intelligence.

In the United States, Bradley Manning has been held in prison for over 2 years, awaiting judgment. Manning, who allegedly submitted classified material to WikiLeaks exposing war crimes and worldwide corruption, now finds himself, for the second consecutive year, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Given the intricate network of political pressure surrounding Julian Assange's extradition, it is safe to assume that the United States "Internet freedom" agenda to be discussed next week in Sweden will include, if not focus, on Julian Assange's imminent surrender.

STAND UP FOR JULIAN ASSANGE BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE:
wlcentral.org/standup

2012-05-30 Facts without truth: How Julian Assange's extradition case is being played by the media

A BBC radio reporter in Stockholm this morning reporting on the Assange case said that Assange left the country not knowing there was an arrest warrant issued for him but managed to avoid bringing up the 5 weeks he waited in Sweden beyond his planned visit to be questioned, only leaving when the Swedes said he could.

The UKSC has the luxury of answering one simple question, whilst the world around swirls with complex issues. Leaving aside the possibility that the case against Assange seems to be politically motivated, that the Americans may want to extradite him, and that the women in question have never claimed that they didn't willingly have sex with Assange, there is still the exploitation of this situation by some powers that be.

There is still the use of the term 'rape' - regarding consensual sex uncoerced by physical intimidation, substances, or any other power dynamic. They may couch the term 'rape' with gentler terms, fully knowing that every time they use his name alongside that word, it reinforces the lingering idea that there's something distasteful or dark about Assange.

And there is the truthful presentation of facts, such as that the UK court has not considered the validity of the accusation (just how can someone rape another by having fully consensual sex?) but no mention of the fact that they have no jurisdiction to do so. Intentionally leaving the audience with the impression that regardless of whether he wins or loses, he's still accused of being a rapist. Perhaps even highlighting the fact that 'he's not arguing that he's innocent' but ignoring the fact that he has no venue to argue that innocence.

Another fact - that Julian has been appealing extradition to Sweden - is always followed by 'to face questioning about the allegations'. Yes, this is true, but what's also true is that he has always been willing to face questioning about the allegations - initially for the weeks he waited in vain in Sweden to do just that, and later as he offered to be questioned in England either in person or via video. For 540 days it has been clear that the Swedish authorities actually don't want to question Julian Assange. If that was what they wanted, they have had more than a year of access to him to do it.

Their real goal all this time, given that they have declined to question him at all, is clearly the extradition. And as the Swedish authorities want to extradite Julian Assange, but have no interest in questioning him, then what is the motivation for the extradition? Surely not the one they claim (to question him) because they refuse to do so. But this pertinent question is never raised in the press. They continue to broadcast their truth without truth.

The swirl of facts without neutrality continues, and will not likely end even after this case is resolved, as long as Assange continues to be considered an enemy by those who have a vested interest in making sure no one - not Assange nor anyone tempted to out the bad guys but unwilling to take up a cross to follow in his footsteps - will cross them as long as this memory lives.

And if they win - those people who want to intimidate anyone who thinks they'd like to see more truth and honesty - then what hope is there?

2012-05-30 UK Supreme Court rules against Assange appeal

Today at approximately 09:20AM the UK Supreme Court ruled against Julian Assange, upholding the European Arrest Warrant which orders his extradition to Sweden. Mr Assange's battle against extradition has so far spanned 540 days, 530 of which he spent electronically tagged under house arrest, the other 10 held in solitary confinement. He has not been charged with any crime and is being extradited solely for the purpose of questioning.

The main point of the court was that the term 'judicial authority' can include public prosecutors because the term is a direct translation from the French version of the EU framework agreement and that version implies that public prosecutors may be regarded as judicial.

The decision was not unanimous: two of the seven judges were in dissent.

Dinah Rose asked the court for 14 days to prepare a comment on the ruling.

The full decision and the press summary are available here.

What happens next?

Julian Assange will remain under house arrest for 14 days while his legal team prepares a submission. The submission regards the ruling being based on the Vienna Convention, something which was not considered in the February hearing.

After the 14 day period, the judges will consider the submission and re-rule on the case.

Julian Assange then has 7 days to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. This would not prevent his extradition, but it could possibly overturn the ruling at a later date.

If the Supreme Court upholds the ruling today to extradite Mr Assange, he will be sent to Sweden within 10 days. Once there, he will be immediately placed in prison, in solitary confinement, incommunicado. Sweden does not have a bail system, and he is likely to spend up to a year in custody.

Implications of the ruling

By ruling to extradite Julian Assange, the UK Supreme Court effectively enforces the potential extradition of any persons to any EU country without evidence or charge being placed.

Potential U.S. extradition

Julian Assange is at high risk of further extradition to the United States. The U.S. and Sweden have a "temporary surrender" agreement which allows the extradition of persons while bypassing usual safeguards of the process. Sweden has not refused an extradition request by the U.S. since 2000.

Stratfor emails released by WikiLeaks revealed that the U.S. has a sealed indictment against Julian Assange. A secret grand jury into WikiLeaks has also been active in Alexandria, Virginia since September 2010.

Cables from the Australian Embassy recently revealed that Julian Assange remains the target of a criminal investigation by the U.S. Government. He is also the focus of intelligence exchanges between the U.S. and Australia.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be in Sweden on June 3 to meet with Swedish officials regarding internet freedom.

2012-05-30 WikiLeaks News Update: Supreme Court split, orders extradition of Assange, then re-opens case

WikiLeaks has been financially blockaded without process for 543 days.
Julian Assange has been detained without charge for 540 days.
Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial for 737 days.
A secret Grand Jury has been active in the U.S. without transparency for 623 days.

WikiLeaks News:

• WikiLeaks now has over 1.5 million followers on Twitter.

• Rap News has released a new episode which focuses on WikiLeaks, Julian Assange's extradition case, and Bradley Manning's court martial. WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson appears as a special guest. Watch the episode below.
  

• WikiLeaks faced DDoS attacks early Tuesday morning, beginning at 3AM GMT. They have since installed more capacity.

• U.S. authorities have detained and interrogated multiple European citizens in relation to WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. Jérémie Zimmermann was stopped by self-identified FBI agents shortly after being interviewed for "The World Tomorrow." Smari McCarthy was detained at a U.S. airport and followed by U.S. officials, who asked that he become an informer.

• Between the NDAA lawsuit and the Bradley Manning case, the U.S. Government can't seem to decide whether WikiLeaks' actions amounted to aiding Al-Qaeda or not.

Julian Assange News:

• Today the UK Supreme Court handed down the verdict in Julian Assange's case, ruling 5-2 in favor of his extradition. Dinah Rose QC, of Mr Assange's legal team, asked for a 14-day period to enter a submission based on the ruling having been on a point not discussed during the February hearing. The court accepted her request, and Julian Assange's extradition is stayed until then, despite MSM reporting his imminent extradition. This is nearly unprecedented and gives the potential for the case to be reopened at a later date.

  For more information on the ruling see the full judgment and the Supreme Court's further statement. Fair Trials International has also issued a statement on the ruling.

• Geoffrey Robertson QC was on ABC 7.30 discussing the verdict of Julian Assange's extradition case. Watch the interview below.
  

• Glenn Greenwald was on Democracy Now! discussing the verdict of Julian Assange's extradition case. Watch the interview below.
  

• John Pilger was interviewed by Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter about the ruling in Julian Assange's extradition case. He discusses the importance of the case, how Mr Assange's human rights have been breached, and the risks if he is extradited.

• ABC's The Drum held a special live-coverage of Julian Assange's extradition verdict being handed down. Panelists on the show were Andrew Fowler, Kara Greiner, and Peter Hartcher. WikiLeaks legal adviser Jennifer Robinson was also interviewed, as well as Greens Senator Scott Ludlam. Watch the full segment below.
  

• Australian diplomatic cables reveal that Julian Assange remains the target of a U.S. criminal investigation and the focus of intelligence exchanges between the U.S. and Australia. Greens Senator Scott Ludlam approached Foreign Minister Bob Carr regarding these newly released documents.

• Episode 7 of "The World Tomorrow" aired, featuring a panel of five members of the London and New York Occupy momements: David Graeber, Marissa Holmes, Alexa O'Brien, Naomi Colvin, and Aaron Peters. Watch the full episode at RT's website.

Bradley Manning News:

• Bradley Manning's defense team has filed a motion that details delays and inconsistencies in the Army's handling of the case, saying they have failed to disclose key evidence that could help Manning's defense.

• Bradley Manning's aunt gave an interview with The Guardian in which she discusses Bradley's life in jail, saying he seems to be in good spirits and optimistic about his case.

............................................

Upcoming Dates & Events:

May 30-31: Worldwide rallies in support of Julian Assange.

June 6-8: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

July 16-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

August 27-31: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 19-20: Bradley Manning motion hearings.

September 21-October 12: Bradley Manning's court martial.

2012-05-31 CIA codename "SIMO" disclosed in WikiLeaks cables

by Novinite.com & TAZ.de

The German edition Taz.de asks rhetorically whether Bulgarian PM, Boyko Borisov, would have remained in office if the US secret service CIA was to appear as key witness of the charges against him. Photo by BGNES

The secret cables of the US Embassy in Sofia, exposing Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, as participant in criminal activities, list a source SIMO, which is now being disclosed as a codename for the CIA.

The information has been revealed in a German investigative report.

The news was published Thursday by the German Deutsche Welle and the site for investigative journalism Bivol.bg, the official partner for Bulgaria of the whistle-blowing WikiLeaks, which released the said cables.

The German investigative report belongs to the online edition TAZ.de of the Berlin-based Tageszeitung. The journalists are adamant that US secret diplomatic cables are based on information from the CIA and that SIMO is a CIA pseudonym used internally. The latter has been confirmed by a former CIA Department Chief, saying diplomats are banned from using the name of the intelligence agency in cables.

Many cables, sent from other countries, also use information from the SIMO source.

One year ago, WikiLeaks and Bivol published a cable written by former US Ambassador in Sofia, John Beyrle, titled: BULGARIA'S MOST POPULAR POLITICIAN: GREAT HOPES, MURKY TIES. In it, the diplomat writes the following about the current Prime Minister of Bulgaria:

"Accusations in years past have linked Borisov to oil-siphoning scandals, illegal deals involving LUKoil and major traffic in methamphetamines. Information from SIMO tends to substantiate these allegations. Borisov is alleged to have used his former position as head of Bulgarian law enforcement to arrange cover for criminal deals, and his common-law wife, Tsvetelina Borislavova, manages a large Bulgarian bank that has been accused of laundering money for organized criminal groups, as well as for Borisov's own illegal transactions."

At the time, Borisov dismissed the cables as rumors, Chief Prosecutor, Boris Velchev, snubbed them, saying they do not include enough grounds to presume any criminal activity, while the US Embassy in Sofia stated the cables were often "incomplete analyses."

Tageszeitung asks rhetorically: "Would Borisov have remained in office if the American secret service CIA had declared itself a key witness in the allegations against the Prime Minister?"

Below is the full text of the TAZ article in English:

Diplomatic Cables from WikiLeaks

The CIA as a Key Witness

Many of the cables published by WikiLeaks contain current, but coded by the CIA information. A Taz investigative report now reveals the secret service codename.

From J. Goetz & H. Burmester

BERLIN Tageszeitung

Diplomats do not have the reputation of being good entertainers. And rightfully so. They like to drown in meaningless phrases and shy away from clear opinions. But the now-legendary diplomatic cables that WikiLeaks has published in the late 2010 have revealed that they can also be different.

Thousands of internal documents prove that US embassy officials have quite the ability to bluntly tell the truth, even when it comes to politicians in the country where they are currently working.

One example of the above is the former Ambassador in Bulgaria, John Beyrle. In a secret cable, published by WikiLeaks, and labeled as classified and top secret, the career diplomat writes to Washington that Sofia Mayor Boyko Borisov was involved "in serious criminal activity." This is an exciting assessment of Bulgaria, because Boyko Borisov is now the Prime Minister of the country.

When WikiLeaks published in 2010 the American diplomatic cables, the American assessment about the Prime Minister became known to the public. Borisov acted unmoved, saying that WikiLeaks released nothing but "rumors". The US Embassy in Sofia stressed that diplomatic cables were often "incomplete analyses".

The Codename SIMO

Would Borisov have remained in office if the American secret service CIA had declared itself a key witness in the allegations against the Prime Minister? Taz' investigation now shows that many WikiLeaks cables contain information about the CIA way of operating and provide insights into secret CIA information on foreign leaders. This information has been so far undetected because in diplomatic cables the CIA is referred to with the alias SIMO.

Thus, according to the Bulgarian cable from 2006, "information from SIMO tends to substantiate the allegations" against the current Prime Minister. The former Bulgarian Interior Minister (editor's note: the publication, as a number of other foreign articles, confuses Borisov's post; he was at the time Chief Secretary of the Interior) is linked to "oil-siphoning scandals, illegal deals involving LUKoil and major traffic in methamphetamines," writes ex-Ambassador Beyrle in May 2006 and refers to the findings of the CIA. Reportedly, as police chief, Borisov has also made sure that his wife was laundering money undisturbed. Moreover, he had Mafia connections.

A former Head of the CIA, confirmed for Taz that SIMO and the CIA are the same thing. "SIMO is an administrative term for the CIA, actually used only for internal purposes, and as such, it should not have been used in the cables."

Fidel's Health and Counterfeited Money

The revelation that SIMO and the CIA are the same thing gives more significant importance to the content of some US cables. The accusations against Bulgaria's Prime Minister Borisov are gaining focus. With the help of the CIA, the former Senate President of Haiti, Joseph Lambert, is exposed as illegal drugs dealer. For Venezuela, the CIA reported in 2006 changes in travel plans of President Chavez, and thus conclusions were made about the poor health of the Cuban Head of State, Fidel Castro.

Such mentions of SIMO are this spicy only in exceptional cases. The majority of cables, where SIMO is used as reference, only allow reverse conclusions about the security measures at US embassies, the cooperation of the CIA with foreign news agencies and the coordination with other US government agencies in the fight against terrorism.

The cables, where SIMO is mentioned, also contain absurd examples of the work of the CIA in foreign countries. For example, a cable from the US Embassy in Ulaanbaatar reported in 2006 that a million dollars in cash had been taken from two North Koreans who entered the country. The men were either government employees or bank employees. SIMO or the CIA was asked to help to check the mountain pile of dollars for fake bills.

The Americans then flew in a hurry a team of the secret service. Meanwhile, the North Korean Embassy in Mongolia asked by a diplomatic note for the money to be returned. The bills proved to be genuine and had to be given back to the North Koreans.

2012-05-31 How the UK's Supreme Court is wrong on the Julian Assange Appeal

Notwithstanding the clear UK meaning of ‘judicial authority’ to mean a magistrate, judge or court; notwithstanding that Parliamentary debates and reading speeches reiterated that definition; notwithstanding the primacy of the UK parliament to enact law for effect in the UK; notwithstanding the Framework Agreement using the same word(s) in an official English version of it as the Extradition Act: the Supreme Court (decided cases) has stated by majority that parliamentarians were conned because an obscure Convention gives a contrary, minority meaning.

This article shall attempt to address - in the main - the issue of application of Article 31.3(b) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties as applied in the majority judgement at the UK Supreme Court Appeal (brought by Julian Assange as plaintiff) handed down on 30th May 2012.

While the writer is no expert on UK and European law, I have much more than a passing familiarity with the right to argue legislative intent in court thanks to our Australian (and NSW) Acts Interpretation Act which allows the introduction into legal argument of extrinsic material such as parliamentary second reading speeches to clarify legislation that is ambiguous or obscure.

For a time the UK case law of Pepper v Hart [1993] AC 593 held sway and allowed such extrinsic material but it appears to have been watered down in later decisions such that it appears to be non operative if not extinct. The UK's legislative intent in the case of the UK's Extradition Act 2003 was quite clear, (as is the definition of a 'judicial authority' in a UK context) as Lord Mance in dissent put it:

I conclude that, whatever may be the meaning of the Framework Decision as a matter of European law, the intention of Parliament and the effect of the Extradition Act 2003 was to restrict the recognition by British courts of incoming European arrest warrants to those issued by a judicial authority in the strict sense of a court, judge or magistrate.

THE MAJORITY
The majority ruled that parliamentary intent had no bearing, or was outweighed by other factors and especially the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties , which states:

31.3. There shall be taken into account, together with the context:
(b) any subsequent practice in the application of the treaty which establishes the agreement of the parties regarding its interpretation;

Lord Phillips said about that treaty (p.67):

In the fifth place the manner in which not merely the Member States but also the Commission and the Council acted after the Framework Direction took effect was in stark conflict with a definition of judicial authority that restricted its meaning to a judge. Article 31.3(b) of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties permits recourse, as an aid to interpretation, to "any subsequent practice in the application of the treaty which establishes the agreement of the parties regarding its interpretation"....The practices of the Member States in relation to those they appointed as issuing and executing "judicial authorities" coupled with the comments of the Commission and the Council in relation to these, provide I believe a legitimate guide to the meaning of those two words in the Framework Decision.

How Lord Phillips can reconcile this with the UK Minister's explicit definition of 'judicial authority' (Magistrate, Judge or Court) in the Parliamentary debate on the Extradition Bill as 'agreement' per the Vienna Convention to later practices of some other EU EAW nations: is a moot point that will likely be raised by Julian Assange's lawyers in due course.

A later question that arises: did the UK acquiesce in some other nations nominating prosecutors as judicial authorities? And is that at all relevant? But this of course is in the context of only a minority of EU nations that are using prosecutors as 'judicial authorities' for the purposes of the EAW system, (which I won't go into as that detail is lengthy and laid out in the judgement).

At one level of logic, minority 'practice' per the Vienna Convention is highly suggestive of the utilization of a minority definition and cannot by any stretch be, or result in, a 'majority' definition. Lord Phillips is applying the meaning of the two words to the Framework Agreement in an EU context, which he is saying overrides any contrary meaning in the UK Extradition Act.

The problem with that is that the UK enacted an Extradition Act, it did not enact the Framework Agreement word for word (nor enact any legislation in the French language - and on that subject, that was another red herring raised by Lord Phillips. This was a justification he used for excising the UK meaning of 'judicial authority' by asserting that French was the 'original' translation, more on that later.)

To say that a minority practice therefore can be determinative or a 'legitimate guide' leading to the definition of a judicial authority encompassing a 'prosecutor'for the majority: raises serious questions in law.

Lord Walker (para 92-94) agreed with the majority on the basis:

The reasoning of the majority that I find most compelling is that on the application of the Vienna Convention...and on the non-application of the principle in Pepper v Hart ...[extrinsic material as above]

...If the parliamentary material is disregarded, as I think it must be, the
Vienna Convention point is to my mind determinative.

Lord Kerr (p.106) raised the point that prior to the Framework Agreement it was traditional for some continental prosecutors to issue extradition warrants, and that this was not extinguished (shades of the the Mabo decision of the High Court of Australia) in the provisions in the Framework decision.

As far as the Vienna Convention was concerned, citing a commentary on it in relation to defining 'agreement':

...it is suggested that what is required to establish the agreement of the parties is that there should be active practice on the part of at least some of the parties to the treaty; that this should not be haphazard; and it must have been acquiesced in or - at least - not objected to by the other parties. Lord Dyson considered that the practice of appointing prosecutors as judicial authorities was sufficiently widespread and free from objection to meet these criteria and, in so far as this conclusion relates to judicial authorities who issue European Arrest Warrants, I agree.

Even if it meets the criteria, should it be determinative considering the Convention says only to 'take it into account' and 'in context' only ? The key to this argument is in wiping out the intent and law of the UK Parliament and make paramount as a basis of reasoning, a somewhat obscure Convention.

(p.108) ...The critical question in the present appeal is whether there is a sufficiently widespread and uncontroversial practice in relation to issuing authorities to allow that provision to come into play in the case of prosecutors who issue European Arrest Warrants. As I understand it, Lord Dyson's conclusion that there is has been accepted by Lord Mance and I agree with both.

I don't think Lord Mance agreed that it was a critical question. The critical question really is whether or not the UK is a nation able to enact legislation without judges enforcing continental interpretations based on minority practice.

(p.109) ...the Framework Decision does not exclude prosecutors from the category of issuing judicial authorities.

In practice, that is a fact, but does that imply and apply a form of compulsory uniformity to the UK which has legislation that excludes prosecutors as judicial authorities?

Lord Dyson on the question of the Vienna Convention (p.131):

The fact that it is only in the majority (and not all) of the Member States
that the issuing judicial authority is a judge is not inconsistent with the existence of an agreement established by subsequent practice that a public prosecutor may be a judicial authority within the meaning of the Framework Decision. There is nothing to suggest that Member States which do not have public prosecutors as their issuing judicial authorities criticise those that do.

Rather than 'not inconsistent' a better choice of word(s) is 'anomaly' which by resolving the case against Assange in the way they did means a principle of 'lowest common denominator' is being applied among other criticisms. I would have thought the ongoing review of the Extradition Act due to numerous complaints inherently is critical of an EAW regime which not incidentally includes prosecutors as judicial authorities.

THE DISSENTERS
Lady Hale (p.191) also referred to Article 31.3(b) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and asked the question:

Given the lack of common or concordant practice between the parties, is the failure to date of those countries which do not authorise prosecutors and other bodies to object to those who do sufficient to establish their agreement?

Nobody in this country seems to have addressed their mind to the issue until it arose in this case. Failure to address minds to an issue is not the same as acquiescence in a particular state of affairs. Subsequent practice does not give support to the respondent's extreme position and there has been no consideration of the principles which might distinguish some prosecutors from others.

This seems to me to be a rather flimsy basis on which to hold that we are obliged to construe a United Kingdom statute contrary both to its natural meaning and to the clear evidence of what Parliament thought that it was doing at the time.

Hear hear. I anticipate supporters of Julian Assange will agree, as well as many if not most Australian practitioners of law.

Further from Lady Hale (p.192.)

We have to interpret the Act of Parliament. Even without reference to the
parliamentary materials, it seems clear that the term "judicial authority" is
restricted to a court, tribunal, judge or magistrate. First, that is the natural meaning of "judicial" in United Kingdom law. We may talk about the "legal system" or the "justice system" when we mean, not only the courts, but those involved in the administration of justice. But when we use the word "judicial" we mean a court, tribunal, judge or magistrate.

Second, the Act uses the same term in relation to both the issuing and executing "judicial authority". The executing judicial authority undoubtedly has to be a court. There is a strong presumption that the same words in the same statute - especially in the same place - mean the same thing.

Better than a presumption when there is no contrary indication in the Act itself.

Third, the point about the European Convention on Human Rights is not that article 5.3 applies to the issue of a European arrest warrant. It clearly does not. The point is that it uses the word "judicial" ("other officer authorised by law to exercise judicial power") in a sense which is clearly only compatible with a court, tribunal, judge or magistrate who is independent of the parties to the case. It could not include the prosecutor who is conducting the case. This indicates a European understanding of the word "judicial" which coincides with ours.

The decision of the majority judges by their selective application of contrary interpretations of the same words against the appellant Assange is worrying to say the least.

(p.193.) It is also quite clear from the parliamentary history detailed by Lord Mance that "judicial" was deliberately inserted into the Bill in order to limit the authorities who could issue European arrest warrants to bodies which we would recognise as judicial. In this respect, I would place more weight on the parliamentary history - in terms of the changes made to the Bill during its passage through Parliament - than on the assurances given by ministers. Why make the amendments eventually made unless to make the matter clear?

Indeed.

Lady Hale's conclusion.
(p.194.) As Lord Filkin said to the House of Lords (Hansard (HL Debates), 1 May 2003, col 858), Parliament is sovereign. This is not a case where Parliament has told us that we must disregard or interpret away the intention of the legislation. I would therefore have allowed this appeal.

Lord Mance on the Vienna Convention (p.242.)
For subsequent practice in the application of the parties to be relevant to be taken into account in the interpretation of the Framework Decision, it must under article 31.3 be practice which "establishes the agreement of the parties regarding its interpretation". It must be practice "which clearly establishes the understanding of all the parties regarding its interpretation", although "subsequent practice by individual parties also has some probative value": Brownlie, Principles of Public International Law, 7th ed (2008) pp 633-634.

Disagreeing with Lord Phillips:
Evidently suspect practice consisting of the use and nomination of executive authorities by a few states cannot come near establishing "the agreement of the parties regarding [the] interpretation of the Framework Decision" within the meaning of article 31.3 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

The overriding principle (p.265):

...our loyalty must be to Parliament's intention in enacting the Extradition Act 2003. The implications of this in the present context are in my view clear.

Lord Mance's conclusion (p.266)
In the result, I conclude that, whatever may be the meaning of the
Framework Decision as a matter of European law, the intention of Parliament and the effect of the Extradition Act 2003 was to restrict the recognition by British courts of incoming European arrest warrants to those issued by a judicial authority in the strict sense of a court, judge or magistrate. It would follow from my conclusions that the arrest warrant issued by the Swedish Prosecution Authority is incapable of recognition in the United Kingdom under section 2(2) of the 2003Act.

Parliament could change the law in this respect and provide for wider
recognition if it wished, but that would of course be for it to debate and decide. Iwould therefore allow this appeal, and set aside the order for Mr Assange's
extradition to Sweden.

Further arguments against the decision.

Craig Murray, former Ambassador and human rights activist expresses rather well the aspect of ignoring UK legislative meanings, taking a swipe at Lord Kerr:

But Kerr then goes on to say that only in the context of European surrender/extradition, "judicial authority" should be understood in a way that is absolutely contrary to its normal English meaning. In a cavalier way Kerr dispenses with a fundamental principle of English Law for centuries, that words are to be construed in their ordinary sense - which every law student in the land learns in week 1 of their course.

Then a swipe at Lord Phillips:

The majority all rested their dismissal of the appeal on the grounds that the parliamentary Act of 2003 must be interpreted in line with the EU decision or "Framework Agreement" which it was created to implement. They specifically state that where there is conflict the EU Framework Agreement must take precedence over British law.

What follows is absolutely astonishing. The Framework Agreement in its English version specifically states, in Article 1, that the European Arrest Warrant must be issued by a "judicial decision".

ie by a court and not a prosecutor.

Lord Philips seeks to get round this by a morally disgusting piece of legal casuistry. He states in terms that the French text should be followed and not the English (para 56 of the judgement). He argues: "The French version is the original and is to be preferred".

But:

...There is no "preferred original". Lord Philips is just getting over an insuperable obstacle to his argument.

Conclusion

It would appear that the Supreme Court's majority decision of the UK in the Assange appeal has not only ignored legal traditions including the primacy of Parliament in making the law, it has decided that any non-UK instrument such as a Framework Agreement treaty or even a Convention in interpreting treaties (neither enacted into UK domestic legislation) can be marshalled, along with some spurious reasonings, to overturn UK law.

The Court has apparently taken upon itself to enforce a sub narrative of EU conformity and solidarity, which means that any EU instrument signed onto by the UK can and will be interpreted by the Supreme Court by:

1)The most convenient 'official EU' language at hand that suits the purpose;
2)The most convenient Convention that suits the purpose;
3)The worst practice of the worst EU members in relation to the UK's legal heritage.

And when all is done they can say that parliamentarians were conned, but the reality is that the power to legislate has been severely impugned and they have usurped and conned the legislature.

This decision means that whenever an EU instrument such as the Framework Agreement is agreed to, the UK parliament may as well enact it word for word, preferably in every official EU language since whatever they intend, whatever they legislate in English, the Supreme Court in its perversity now appears to view the law as if it sits somewhere in a legal mishmash of a triangle combining the best that say Spain, Bulgaria and Estonia have to offer to replace the UK's legal heritage.

2012-05-31 Understanding the Supreme Court verdict in Julian Assange's case

Mainstream media around the world has been plastered with headlines stating Julian Assange's impending extradition to Sweden. But the ruling is far more complicated than that, and the case currently has the potential of being reopened. This is nearly unprecedented, as Britain has not reopened a case since Pinochet in 1999.

The Supreme Court's Ruling

On May 30, the Supreme Court dismissed Julian Assange's appeal by a majority of five to two. The five judges who ruled in favor of the extradition believed that the public prosecutor who issued the arrest warrant for Mr Assange was considered a 'judicial authority' with regards to both the European Union framework deicison on extradition and the Extradition Act.

Dinah Rose QC's Argument

After Lord Phillips read the ruling, Dinah Rose QC, a lawyer for Mr Assange, brought up a concern with the ruling being prinicipally or solely based on interpretation of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. This point was not brought up during the February 1 and 2 hearings, therefore the defence did not have a chance to argue it.

Ms Rose asked for the opportunity to make an application based on this concern. Lord Phillips accepted her request.

What happens next

Julian Assange's legal team must make a submission by June 13 regarding the basis of the ruling.

Until then, Mr Assange's extradition is stayed, and he remains under house arrest under the same conditions he has endured for the past 17 months.

If the application is accepted

If the Supreme Court accepts the application, they will re-open the appeal and accept further submissions. The court may accept paper submissions, or could arrange for a further hearing on the case.

If the application is denied

If the Supreme Court denies the application, then their ruling on Julian Assange's extradition will stand. He will be sent to Sweden within 10 days.

Mr Assange may appeal further to the European Court of Human Rights, though this would not prevent his extradition.

Further Resources:
UK Supreme Court - Full Judgment (PDF)
UK Supreme Court - Press Summary (PDF)
UK Supreme Court - Further statement
WL Central - Transcript of judgment hearing
Fair Trials International - Statement on verdict
Justice for Assange - Supreme Court appeal