CETIM on the illegal detention of Julian Assange (Wikileaks)

CETIM and the IADL denounce the arbitrary detention of Wikileaks’ founder Julian Assange by Sweden and the United Kingdom.

In February 2016, the two organisations call out the Human Rights Council (HRC). They stress the respect of the authority and integrity of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD).

Alfred de Zayas, United Nations Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order, called upon the immediate liberation of Assange. For him, the two countries concerned should follow the finding announced by the U.N. Working Group. 

In a recent statement released in February 2016 at the UN, Alfred de Zayas said :

“The international order depends on the consistent and uniform application of international law, and is undermined when States pick and choose. An à la carte approach to human rights erodes the credibility of the entire system.”

“It is important that countries that regularly engage in naming and shaming of other countries accept United Nations rulings when they themselves are implicated. It is a matter of intellectual honesty.”

As a reminder, the WGAD called in 2010 on Sweden and the United Kingdom to end Julian Assange’s illegal detention. WGAD asked to respect his physical and mental integrity and freedom of movement, and afford him the right to compensation. After losing his appeal to the UK’s Supreme Court against extradition to Sweden, Julian Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Read the statement made by CETIM and IADL at the UN in February 2016.

© Daryl Biatcho www.flickr.com/photos/biatch0/4008014713