The UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer, today appealed to British authorities to immediately release Julian
Assange from prison or to place him under guarded house arrest during US extradition proceedings.
He made the urgent call 10 years after Mr. Assange’s first arrest on 7 December 2010, amid an outbreak of COVID-19 at
Belmarsh prison. Reports say 65 of approximately 160 inmates, including a number in the wing where Mr. Assange is being
held, have tested positive.
In an opinion rendered in December 2015, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that since his arrest on 7 December 2010, Mr. Assange had been
subjected to various forms of arbitrary deprivation of liberty, including 10 days of detention in London’s Wandsworth
prison; 550 days of house arrest, and the continuation of the deprivation of liberty in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London
which lasted almost seven years. Since 11 April 2019, Mr. Assange has been held in near total isolation at Belmarsh.
“The British authorities initially detained Mr. Assange on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by Sweden in connection
with allegations of sexual misconduct that have since been formally dropped due to lack of evidence. Today, he is
detained for exclusively preventative purposes, to ensure his presence during the ongoing US extradition trial, a
proceeding which may well last several years,” said Melzer.
“Mr. Assange is not a criminal convict and poses no threat to anyone, so his prolonged solitary confinement in a high
security prison is neither necessary nor proportionate and clearly lacks any legal basis.”
The progressively severe suffering inflicted on Mr. Assange, as a result of his prolonged solitary confinement, amounts
not only to arbitrary detention, but also to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,
Melzer said.
He expressed particular concern about Mr. Assange’s exposure to COVID-19 given his pre-existing medical condition.
“Prison decongestion measures seen around the world in response to COVID-19 should be extended to all inmates whose
imprisonment is not absolutely necessary,” the expert said. “First and foremost, alternative non-custodial measures
should be extended to those with specific vulnerabilities such as Mr. Assange who suffers from a pre-existing
respiratory health condition.”
Due to the significant risks associated with Mr. Assange’s continued imprisonment, in conjunction with the broader
concerns that have been repeatedly expressed concerning his treatment and conditions of detention, the expert reiterated
previous appeals for Mr. Assange to be immediately released or placed under guarded house arrest.
“Mr. Assange’s rights have been severely violated for more than a decade. He must now be allowed to live a normal
family, social and professional life, to recover his health and to adequately prepare his defence against the US
extradition request pending against him,” he said.
In light of the expected first instance decision on his extradition on 4 January 2021, the expert also reiterated his
call to the British authorities not to extradite Mr. Assange to the US due to serious human rights concerns.