Melzer Asks Trump to Pardon Assange
December 22, 2020
The UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment has written to the U.S. president asking him to
grant a pardon to the imprisoned publisher.
Nils Melzer, the UN special rapporteur on torture, has written an open
letter to Donald Trump asking him to show mercy on the WikiLeaks publisher
and to issue him a full pardon. He has added his voice to a growing number
of public figures appealing to Trump to free Assange.
The United Nations Human Rights Special Procedures division issued the
following press release on Tuesday morning, which contains the text of
Melzer's letter to Trump.
UN expert asks U.S. President Donald Trump to pardon Julian Assange
GENEVA (22 December 2020) - A UN human rights expert today issued an open
letter to U.S. President Donald Trump, asking him to pardon Wikileaks
founder Julian Assange, who has been held in Belmarsh high security prison
since his arrest by British authorities inside the Embassy of Ecuador in
London in April 2019.
A British court is set to rule on 4 January whether Assange should be
extradited to the U.S. to face criminal prosecution and, if convicted, up to
175 years in prison for the publication of secret documents through the
whistleblower platform WikiLeaks in 2010. This is the text of the letter
from Nils Melzer, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment:
"Mr. President,
Today, I respectfully request that you pardon Mr. Julian Assange.
Mr. Assange has been arbitrarily deprived of his liberty for the past ten
years. This is a high price to pay for the courage to publish true
information about government misconduct throughout the world.
I visited Mr. Assange in Belmarsh High Security Prison in London, with two
independent medical doctors, and I can attest to the fact that his health
has seriously deteriorated, to the point where his life is now in danger.
Critically, Mr. Assange suffers from a documented respiratory condition
which renders him extremely vulnerable to the Covid-19 pandemic that has
recently broken out in the prison where he is being held.
I ask you to pardon Mr. Assange, because he is not, and has never been, an
enemy of the American people. His organization, WikiLeaks, fights secrecy
and corruption throughout the world and, therefore, acts in the public
interest both of the American people and of humanity as a whole.
I ask because Mr. Assange has never published false information. The cause
for any reputational harm that may have resulted from his publications is
not to be found in any misconduct on his part, but in the very misconduct
which he exposed.
I ask because Mr. Assange has not hacked or stolen any of the information he
published. He has obtained it from authentic documents and sources in the
same way as any other serious and independent investigative journalists
conduct their work. While we may personally agree or disagree with their
publications, they clearly cannot be regarded as crimes.
I ask because prosecuting Mr. Assange for publishing true information about
serious official misconduct, whether in America or elsewhere, would amount
to "shooting the messenger" rather than correcting the problem he exposed.
This would be incompatible with the core values of justice, rule of law and
press freedom, as reflected in the American Constitution and international
human rights instruments ratified by the United States.
I ask because you have vowed, Mr. President, to pursue an agenda of fighting
government corruption and misconduct; and because allowing the prosecution
of Mr. Assange to continue would mean that, under your legacy, telling the
truth about such corruption and misconduct has become a crime.
In pardoning Mr Assange, Mr. President, you would send a clear message of
justice, truth and humanity to the American people and to the world.
You would rehabilitate a courageous man who has suffered injustice,
persecution and humiliation for more than a decade, simply for telling the
truth.
Last but not least, you would give back to Mr. Assange's two young sons the
loving father they need and look up to. You would also reassure these
children, and through them all children of the world, that there is nothing
wrong with telling the truth, but that it is the right thing to do; that it
is honourable to fight for justice and, indeed, that these are the values
America and the world stand for."
For these reasons, I respectfully appeal to you to pardon Julian Assange.
Whatever our personal views and sympathies may be, I believe that, after a
decade of persecution, this man's unjust suffering must end now.
Please, use your power of pardon to right the wrongs inflicted on Julian
Assange, to end his unjust ordeal and reunite him with his family!
I respectfully thank you for considering this appeal with foresight,
generosity and compassion.
Please accept, Mr. President, the assurances of my highest consideration."
*Mr. Nils Melzer, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment.
The Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups are part of
what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special
Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights
system, is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and
monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or
thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures' experts work
on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for
their work. They are independent from any government or organization and
serve in their individual capacity.
