GENEVA (31 May 2019) A UN expert who visited Julian Assange in a London prison says he fears his human rights could be
seriously violated if he is extradited to the United States and condemned the deliberate and concerted abuse inflicted
for years on the Wikileaks co-founder.
“My most urgent concern is that, in the United States, Mr. Assange would be exposed to a real risk of serious violations
of his human rights, including his freedom of expression, his right to a fair trial and the prohibition of torture and
other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” said Nils Melzer, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture.
“I am particularly alarmed at the recent announcement by the US Department of Justice of 17 new charges against Mr.
Assange under the Espionage Act, which currently carry up to 175 years in prison. This may well result in a life
sentence without parole, or possibly even the death penalty, if further charges were to be added in the future,” said
Melzer, who was also following up on earlier concerns for Assange’s health.
Although Assange is not held in solitary confinement, the Special Rapporteur said he is gravely concerned that the
limited frequency and duration of lawyers’ visits and his lack of access to case files and documents make it impossible
for him to adequately prepare his defence in any of the complex legal proceedings piling up against him.
“Since 2010, when Wikileaks started publishing evidence of war crimes and torture committed by US forces, we have seen a
sustained and concerted effort by several States towards getting Mr. Assange extradited to the United States for
prosecution, raising serious concern over the criminalisation of investigative journalism in violation of both the US
Constitution and international human rights law,” Melzer said.
“Since then, there has been a relentless and unrestrained campaign of public mobbing, intimidation and defamation
against Mr. Assange, not only in the United States, but also in the United Kingdom, Sweden and, more recently, Ecuador.”
According to the expert, this included an endless stream of humiliating, debasing and threatening statements in the
press and on social media, but also by senior political figures, and even by judicial magistrates involved in
proceedings against Assange.
“In the course of the past nine years, Mr. Assange has been exposed to persistent, progressively severe abuse ranging
from systematic judicial persecution and arbitrary confinement in the Ecuadorian embassy, to his oppressive isolation,
harassment and surveillance inside the embassy, and from deliberate collective ridicule, insults and humiliation, to
open instigation of violence and even repeated calls for his assassination.”
Melzer was accompanied during his prison visit on 9 May by two medical experts specialised in examining potential
victims of torture and other ill-treatment. The team
were able to speak with Assange in confidence and to conduct a thorough medical assessment
“It was obvious that Mr. Assange’s health has been seriously affected by the extremely hostile and arbitrary environment
he has been exposed to for many years,” the expert said. “Most importantly, in addition to physical ailments, Mr.
Assange showed all symptoms typical for prolonged exposure to psychological torture, including extreme stress, chronic
anxiety and intense psychological trauma.
“The evidence is overwhelming and clear,” the expert said. “Mr. Assange has been deliberately exposed, for a period of
several years, to progressively severe forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the cumulative
effects of which can only be described as psychological torture.
“I condemn, in the strongest terms, the deliberate, concerted and sustained nature of the abuse inflicted on Mr. Assange
and seriously deplore the consistent failure of all involved governments to take measures for the protection of his most
fundamental human rights and dignity,” the expert said. “By displaying an attitude of complacency at best, and of
complicity at worst, these governments have created an atmosphere of impunity encouraging Mr. Assange’s uninhibited
vilification and abuse.”
In official letters sent earlier this week, Melzer urged the four involved governments to refrain from further
disseminating, instigating or tolerating statements or other activities prejudicial to Assange’s human rights and
dignity and to take measures to provide him with appropriate redress and rehabilitation for past harm. He further
appealed to the British Government not to extradite Assange to the United States or to any other State failing to
provide reliable guarantees against his onward transfer to the United States. He also reminded the United Kingdom of its
obligation to ensure Assange’s unimpeded access to legal counsel, documentation and adequate preparation commensurate
with the complexity of the pending proceedings.
“In 20 years of work with victims of war, violence and political persecution I have never seen a group of democratic
States ganging up to deliberately isolate, demonise and abuse a single individual for such a long time and with so
little regard for human dignity and the rule of law,” Melzer said. “The collective persecution of Julian Assange must
end here and now!”