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John Dolva

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nternet | 28.12.2010

WikiLeaks clones popping up in Europe and beyond

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Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: WikiLeaks' recent releases have inspired more activists

The perceived successes of WikiLeaks have catalyzed would-be whistle-blowers to launch their own crusades for transparency. The most recent is PirateLeaks.cz, launched by the Czech Pirate Party.

In the aftermath of the latest releases of information of secret documents by the infamous WikiLeaks, a crop of clones have popped up in Europe.

One has been seeded by ex-WikiLeaks staffers, others were simply inspired by the original, but all of them want to make a difference.

WikiLeaks clones include the forthcoming OpenLeaks in Germany, with former WikiLeaks staffer, Daniel Domscheit-Berg at the helm.

OpenLeaks aims to democratize the process of leaking information and whistle-blowing and support the introduction of new legislation defending the rights of whistle-blowers.

Other such websites include BrusselsLeaks.com, BalkanLeaks.eu, Rospil.info and IndoLeaks.org, each hoping to blow the lid on corruption and secret documents in the European Union, the Balkans, Russia and Indonesia respectively.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Other sites, such as OpenLeaks in Germany plan to tackle transparency Pirates of the Czech Republic

In a café in Prague, the public face of another secret whistle-blowing website demonstrated such a product to Deutsche Welle.

The Czech Pirate Party announced earlier this month that it had created a new secret-leaking site called PirateLeaks and it aims to do the same thing as WikiLeaks, only focusing in the Czech Republic.

The aim of the site is to encourage transparency in Czech government.

"Our sources are people who work with documents in the authorities, are journalists who are afraid to publish these documents because of political reasons, and are simply members of the public," spokesman Jakub Michalek said.

The creators of PirateLeaks will be hoping all those sources supply them with evidence of corruption.

The small amount of information released since this week's launch hasn't exactly rocked the Czech political establishment – though the site has ruffled a few feathers, Michalek added.

"The politicians are afraid to say that this is a bad thing, because we are working exactly in accordance with the law," he said. "But on the other side there were also reactions like, 'this is outrageous, this should be banned, the site should be closed immediately.'"

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: PirateLeaks.cz wants to fight corruption within Czech government Members of the media who have been reporting on corruption within the Czech Republic welcomed the new site.

"I think it's very good that we have another source of information, one that is setting as its goal finding documents that are normally not available," Prague-based journalist Erik Best told Deutsche Welle.

"And I think with the impetus, with the excitement in the West and all over the world with WikiLeaks, that connection is going to be a big benefit for the site."

Data protection in Sweden

PirateLeaks next goal is to locate its servers in Sweden, with either a fellow pirate organization or PRQ, the same hosting service that maintains WikiLeaks' servers there. PRQ prides itself on requiring hardly any personal information from its clients.

"We would like to move to Sweden or a different place that is much safer, as soon as possible," Michalek said.

"Because the services that we can get in Sweden with a pirate ISP, or the PRQ company, are much better, we can get a safer connection. Things can be with more anonymity than we can get here in the Czech Republic."

Author: Ian Willoughby (sjt)

Editor: Cyrus Farivar

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,14740932,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf&utm_term=Wikileaks&utm_source=TheCubaBlog&utm_medium=twitter

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First, sme background. Keep in mind the John Pilger topic...

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''WikiLeaks chief lashes out at media

Raphael G. Satter, AAP October 1, 2010, 9:44 am

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AP © Enlarge photo

WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange lashed out at the mainstream media during a debate at a London university on Thursday, fighting back at a string of unfavourable stories that have appeared since his organisation's publication of a cache of US intelligence documents.

Assange's group has reportedly suffered infighting and the former computer hacker-turned-online whistle blower also faces allegations of sexual misconduct in Sweden, where some of the organisation's infrastructure is based.

As WikiLeaks fell behind on its promised release of a new tranche of 15,000 US intelligence reports, one former group spokesman was quoted this week as saying that the organisation was becoming consumed by its confrontation with the Pentagon.

Daniel Domscheit-Berg, a German who said he recently quit as Wikileaks' spokesman over Assange's management style, told Der Speigel he had encountered problems with what he described as the Australian's obsession with attacking the US government.

At the debate at London's City University, Assange disputed that Domscheit-Berg had quit, claiming he was suspended - but he refused to give details. He denied there had been a dispute over his management. "It was about a different issue," Assange said.

Assange repeated claims that his organisation is sitting on a mass of classified information from countries from all over the world, but declined to confirm his publication schedule.

He accused the Wall Street Journal of participating in what he described as a "scam" to discredit WikiLeaks by publicising the details of its email exchanges with human rights groups, which reportedly expressed disquiet over the naming of informants in the Afghanistan intelligence reports it posted to the web.

Critics claim WikiLeaks may have endangered the lives of Afghan civilians and military personnel by failing to censor the files.

Assange attacked The Huffington Post website for investigating his organisation's financing, and criticised Wired magazine - which recently published a report that claimed WikiLeaks was suffering from an internal power struggle that had led to the ouster of key staffers.

He also rejected claims that his group was obsessed with attacking the American military, but said "We have to deal with that country, if we are to deal - even partially - with the problem of secrecy in the world."

The WikiLeaks chief made only an oblique reference to his legal troubles in Sweden, where prosecutors are probing complaints against Assange filed by two women in August. Assange has denied the allegations, saying they are part of a smear campaign. Asked about his future plans in the Scandinavian country, Assange dodged the question, wistfully describing Sweden as a fascinating place.

WikiLeaks' site is currently down, citing maintenance issues.

Follow thewest.com.au on Twitter ''

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Len : ''Funny that Assange is outraged that people are doing to his organization what he and it do to other organizations (especially governmental ones) at least the leaks about Wikileaks are unlikely to get anyone killed.

Speaking of which have there been any documented or even alleged cases of people outed by his group getting killed? The potential for this was the basis for most severe criticism it faced but I haven't seen any allegations that there have been actual victims''

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Why war criminals hate Wikileaks

Sunday, October 31, 2010 By Tony Iltis Whistleblower website Wikileaks released its "Iraq War Log" on October 22. This featured almost 400,000 classified US military documents that provide a detailed, if incomplete, record of the US occupation of Iraq from 2004 (a year after the invasion) until January 2010.

The log revealed high level US military documentation of serious war crimes the US and its allies have committed in Iraq, including massacres of civilians and systematic torture.

The release follows Wikileaks release on July 26 of a similar log of classified US military documents from Afghanistan, and the release on April 5 of video footage taken from a US Apache helicopter that was shooting Iraqi civilians.

In the disturbing video, the US soldiers can be heard talking as though they were playing a video game as they killed a dozen people, including two Reuters journalists.

The Pentagon, US government officials and much of the media have attacked Wikileaks. They have alleged the log's release threatens the security of the US and its allies, and puts the lives of soldiers and Iraqi collaborators at risk.

Pentagon spokesperson Geoff Morrell said on October 22: "The bottom line is, our forces are still very much in danger here as a result of this exposure, given the fact that our tactics, techniques and procedures are exposed in these documents, and our enemies are undoubtedly going to try to use them against us, and making their jobs even more difficult and dangerous."

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange disputed this. He told Democracy Now on October 26 that, despite having made similar claims after the release of the Afghanistan material, "the Pentagon stated last week that it could find no incidents of an Afghan who had been adversely affected by this release or the injury to any US troops".

"The reality is", Assange said, "that the only thing at risk here is the reputations and the jobs of those individuals who put troops in harm's way in Iraq and who put Iraqi citizens in the middle of a civil war."

Some US legislators are tabling amendments to espionage laws to target whistleblowers. Others have called for cyber-warfare against Wikileaks. Much of the media response has focussed on smearing Assange personally.

Morrell dismissed the contents of the leaks as "snapshots". Former British prime minister Tony Blair, one of the main instigators of the invasion of Iraq, told the October 27 Folha de Sao Paulo: "All this information was already known."

This is an extraordinary statement. It is true most of the revelations in the leaks have been reported before.

These include the high civilian casualties from airstrikes and ground-strikes; occupation soldiers killing civilians at checkpoints and shooting insurgents who had surrendered; crimes by unaccountable US "security contractors" (mercenaries); and the routine torture (and frequent extrajudicial killing) of detainees by Iraqi authorities with the knowledge of US forces.

What is new is that the leaks show official US military documentation of these crimes. Previously, political and military leaders of the occupying powers had vehemently denied such crimes.

British journalist Robert Fisk, who has been reporting the crimes in Iraq since the invasion, told ABC's Lateline on October 28: "What the field reports do prove is that the Pentagon was lying at the time and we were right. But what they're trying to say is, 'Oh, it's an old story! We all knew about that.'

"But the Pentagon was denying it all through those years."

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Assange told Democracy Now: "Three-quarters of those killed at checkpoint killings, according to the United States military itself, were civilians, and only one-quarter, according to the US military internal reporting, were insurgents."

He described some of what the Pentagon had dismissed as "snapshots": "A little girl on the street … who would frequently go to collect candy and so on from US troops, one day a tank goes past, and for an inexplicable reason, a shooter comes out of the US tank and blows her away.

"There are just so many of these incidents … In one incident, after a car was shot up and examined, according to these internal US military reports, the man killed was a doctor delivering a pregnant woman to the hospital."

Among the most damning of the revelations is the gruesome catalogue of Iraqis detained by US forces and handed over to Iraqi forces, who severely tortured them. It proves the US military was fully aware this was occurring.

The government and military has tried to avoid responsibility for violence perpetrated by Iraqis themselves, but such actions occurred under a US-led occupation. Even after the much vaunted US "withdrawal" from Iraq in August, 50,000 US soldiers and 100,000 US mercenaries ("contractors") remain in Iraq.

The routine brutality by the client state installed by the invaders makes a mockery of claims that the war was for democracy and "liberation".

Moreover, the failure of US military personnel to stop torture by their Iraqi clients was policy. Typically the reports are marked: "No investigation necessary."

The context is provided by a document called "Frago 242". Assange explained to Democracy Now: "Frago 242 is a classified order that … the US military not intervene in these cases of Iraqi police and Iraqi officials committing torture.

"We can also see cases where people have been deliberately handed over to some of the most abusive police groups in Iraq, in what looks to be an intentional sort of torture laundering, a sort of internal torture rendition in Iraq."

Wikileaks does not reveal its sources. In May, a US army intelligence analyst who had become disillusioned with the war, Private First Class Bradley Manning, was arrested in Baghdad. Manning was charged with the unauthorised use and disclosure of classified information.

The Apache helicopter video was specifically mentioned and after the Afghanistan files were released by Wikileaks in July, he was named as a "person of interest" in their leaking.

He has been held in solitary confinement in Kuwait since his arrest, and faces up to 52 years in jail if convicted. Manning has denied leaking the material.

Regardless of whether Manning was responsible for any leaks, it speaks volumes for the nature of US imperialism and its wars that it is those suspected of exposing war crimes, rather than those who commit them, that face prosecution.

The new round of information published by Wikileaks has provoked a new round of condemnation of Wikileaks by corporate media commentators and pro-war politicians.

The real source of their attacks is not a hypocritical concern for the "security" of soldiers occupying Iraq or Afghanistan — the easiest way to protect them would be to withdraw them from the illegal wars they have been sent to fight.

What upsets the pro-war establishment is that Wikileaks has exposed, once more, the brutal nature of these wars and the lies used to justify them.

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From GLW issue 859

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Posted 04 December 2010 - 10:51 AM

Amazon appars to have bowed to presure and censored Wikileaks.

One server that appears to be still active is at http://213.251.145.96/cablegate.html

Boycott Amazon.

edit add :

About Wikileaks

folder.jpgWikiLeaks is a not-for-profit media organisation. Our goal is to bring important news and information to the public. We provide an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to our journalists (our electronic drop box). One of our most important activities is to publish original source material alongside our news stories so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth. We are a young organisation that has grown very quickly, relying on a network of dedicated volunteers around the globe. Since 2007, when the organisation was officially launched, WikiLeaks has worked to report on and publish important information. We also develop and adapt technologies to support these activities.

WikiLeaks has sustained and triumphed against legal and political attacks designed to silence our publishing organisation, our journalists and our anonymous sources. The broader principles on which our work is based are the defence of freedom of speech and media publishing, the improvement of our common historical record and the support of the rights of all people to create new history. We derive these principles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In particular, Article 19 inspires the work of our journalists and other volunteers. It states that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. We agree, and we seek to uphold this and the other Articles of the Declaration.

1.2 How WikiLeaks works

WikiLeaks has combined high-end security technologies with journalism and ethical principles. Like other media outlets conducting investigative journalism, we accept (but do not solicit) anonymous sources of information. Unlike other outlets, we provide a high security anonymous drop box fortified by cutting-edge cryptographic information technologies. This provides maximum protection to our sources. We are fearless in our efforts to get the unvarnished truth out to the public. When information comes in, our journalists analyse the material, verify it and write a news piece about it describing its significance to society. We then publish both the news story and the original material in order to enable readers to analyse the story in the context of the original source material themselves. Our news stories are in the comfortable presentation style of Wikipedia, although the two organisations are not otherwise related. Unlike Wikipedia, random readers can not edit our source documents.

As the media organisation has grown and developed, WikiLeaks been developing and improving a harm minimisation procedure. We do not censor our news, but from time to time we may remove or significantly delay the publication of some identifying details from original documents to protect life and limb of innocent people.

We accept leaked material in person and via postal drops as alternative methods, although we recommend the anonymous electronic drop box as the preferred method of submitting any material. We do not ask for material, but we make sure that if material is going to be submitted it is done securely and that the source is well protected. Because we receive so much information, and we have limited resources, it may take time to review a source's submission.

We also have a network of talented lawyers around the globe who are personally committed to the principles that WikiLeaks is based on, and who defend our media organisation.

1.3 Why the media (and particularly Wiki leaks) is important

Publishing improves transparency, and this transparency creates a better society for all people. Better scrutiny leads to reduced corruption and stronger democracies in all society's institutions, including government, corporations and other organisations. A healthy, vibrant and inquisitive journalistic media plays a vital role in achieving these goals. We are part of that media.

Scrutiny requires information. Historically, information has been costly in terms of human life, human rights and economics. As a result of technical advances particularly the internet and cryptography - the risks of conveying important information can be lowered. In its landmark ruling on the Pentagon Papers, the US Supreme Court ruled that "only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government." We agree.

We believe that it is not only the people of one country that keep their own government honest, but also the people of other countries who are watching that government through the media.

In the years leading up to the founding of WikiLeaks, we observed the world's publishing media becoming less independent and far less willing to ask the hard questions of government, corporations and other institutions. We believed this needed to change.

WikiLeaks has provided a new model of journalism. Because we are not motivated by making a profit, we work cooperatively with other publishing and media organisations around the globe, instead of following the traditional model of competing with other media. We don't hoard our information; we make the original documents available with our news stories. Readers can verify the truth of what we have reported themselves. Like a wire service, WikiLeaks reports stories that are often picked up by other media outlets. We encourage this. We believe the world's media should work together as much as possible to bring stories to a broad international readership.

1.4 How WikiLeaks verifies its news stories

We assess all news stories and test their veracity. We send a submitted document through a very detailed examination a procedure. Is it real? What elements prove it is real? Who would have the motive to fake such a document and why? We use traditional investigative journalism techniques as well as more modern rtechnology-based methods. Typically we will do a forensic analysis of the document, determine the cost of forgery, means, motive, opportunity, the claims of the apparent authoring organisation, and answer a set of other detailed questions about the document. We may also seek external verification of the document For example, for our release of the Collateral Murder video, we sent a team of journalists to Iraq to interview the victims and observers of the helicopter attack. The team obtained copies of hospital records, death certificates, eye witness statements and other corroborating evidence supporting the truth of the story. Our verification process does not mean we will never make a mistake, but so far our method has meant that WikiLeaks has correctly identified the veracity of every document it has published.

Publishing the original source material behind each of our stories is the way in which we show the public that our story is authentic. Readers don't have to take our word for it; they can see for themselves. In this way, we also support the work of other journalism organisations, for they can view and use the original documents freely as well. Other journalists may well see an angle or detail in the document that we were not aware of in the first instance. By making the documents freely available, we hope to expand analysis and comment by all the media. Most of all, we want readers know the truth so they can make up their own minds.

1.5 The people behind WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks is a project of the Sunshine Press. It's probably pretty clear by now that WikiLeaks is not a front for any intelligence agency or government despite a rumour to that effect. This rumour was started early in WikiLeaks' existence, possibly by the intelligence agencies themselves. WikiLeaks is an independent global group of people with a long standing dedication to the idea of a free press and the improved transparency in society that comes from this. The group includes accredited journalists, software programmers, network engineers, mathematicians and others.

To determine the truth of our statements on this, simply look at the evidence. By definition, intelligence agencies want to hoard information. By contrast, WikiLeaks has shown that it wants to do just the opposite. Our track record shows we go to great lengths to bring the truth to the world without fear or favour.

The great American president Thomas Jefferson once observed that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. We believe the journalistic media plays a key role in this vigilance.

1.6 Anonymity for sources

As far as we can ascertain, WikiLeaks has never revealed any of its sources. We can not provide details about the security of our media organisation or its anonymous drop box for sources because to do so would help those who would like to compromise the security of our organisation and its sources. What we can say is that we operate a number of servers across multiple international jurisdictions and we we do not keep logs. Hence these logs can not be seized. Anonymization occurs early in the WikiLeaks network, long before information passes to our web servers. Without specialized global internet traffic analysis, multiple parts of our organisation must conspire with each other to strip submitters of their anonymity.

However, we also provide instructions on how to submit material to us, via net cafes, wireless hot spots and even the post so that even if WikiLeaks is infiltrated by an external agency, sources can still not be traced. Because sources who are of substantial political or intelligence interest may have their computers bugged or their homes fitted with hidden video cameras, we suggest that if sources are going to send WikiLeaks something very sensitive, they do so away from the home and work.

A number of governments block access to any address with WikiLeaks in the name. There are ways around this. WikiLeaks has many cover domains, such as https://destiny.mooo.com, that don't have the organisation in the name. It is possible to write to us or ask around for other cover domain addresses. Please make sure the cryptographic certificate says wikileaks.org .

2. WikiLeaks' journalism record

2.1 Prizes and background

WikiLeaks is the winner of:

  • the 2008 Economist Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression award
  • the 2009 Amnesty International human rights reporting award (New Media)

WikiLeaks has a history breaking major stories in major media outlets and robustly protecting sources and press freedoms. We have never revealed a source. We do not censor material. Since formation in 2007, WikiLeaks has been victorious over every legal (and illegal) attack, including those from the Pentagon, the Chinese Public Security Bureau, the Former president of Kenya, the Premier of Bermuda, Scientology, the Catholic & Mormon Church, the largest Swiss private bank, and Russian companies. WikiLeaks has released more classified intelligence documents than the rest of the world press combined.

2.2 Some of the stories we have broken

  • War, killings, torture and detention
  • Government, trade and corporate transparency
  • Suppression of free speech and a free press
  • Diplomacy, spying and (counter-)intelligence
  • Ecology, climate, nature and sciences
  • Corruption, finance, taxes, trading
  • Censorship technology and internet filtering
  • Cults and other religious organizations
  • Abuse, violence, violation

War, killings, torture and detention

  • Changes in Guantanamo Bay SOP manual (2003-2004) - Guantanamo Bay's main operations manuals
  • Of Orwell, Wikipedia and Guantanamo Bay - In where we track down and expose Guantanamo Bay's propaganda team
  • Fallujah jail challenges US - Classified U.S. report into appalling prison conditions in Fallujah
  • U.S lost Fallujah's info war - Classified U.S. intelligence report on the battle of Fallujah, Iraq
  • US Military Equipment in Iraq (2007) - Entire unit by unit equipment list of the U.S army in Iraq
  • Dili investigator called to Canberra as evidence of execution mounts - the Feb 2008 killing of East Timor rebel leader Reinado
  • Como entrenar a escuadrones de la muerte y aplastar revoluciones de El Salvador a Iraq - The U.S. Special Forces manual on how to prop up unpopular government with paramilitaries

Government, trade and corporate transparency

  • Change you can download: a billion in secret Congressional reports - Publication of more than 6500 Congressional Research Reports, worth more than a billion dollars of US tax-funded research, long sought after by NGOs, academics and researchers
  • ACTA trade agreement negotiation lacks transparency - The secret ACTA trade agreement draft, followed by dozens of other publications, presenting the initial leak for the whole ACTA debate happening today
  • Toll Collect Vertraege, 2002 - Publication of around 10.000 pages of a secret contract between the German federal government and the Toll Collect consortium, a private operator group for heavy vehicle tolling system
  • Leaked documents suggest European CAP reform just a whitewash - European farm reform exposed
  • Stasi still in charge of Stasi files - Suppressed 2007 investigation into infiltration of former Stasi into the Stasi files commission
  • IGES Schlussbericht Private Krankenversicherung, 25 Jan 2010 - Hidden report on the economics of the German private health insurance system and its rentability

Suppression of free speech and a free press

  • The Independent: Toxic Shame: Thousands injured in African city, 17 Sep 2009 - Publication of an article originally published in UK newspaper The Independent, but censored from the Independent's website. WikiLeaks has saved dozens of articles, radio and tv recordings from disappearing after having been censored from BBC, Guardian, and other major news organisations archives.
  • Secret gag on UK Times preventing publication of Minton report into toxic waste dumping, 16 Sep 2009 - Publication of variations of a so-called super-injunction, one of many gag-orders published by WikiLeaks to expose successful attempts to suppress the free press via repressive legal attacks
  • Media suppression order over Turks and Caicos Islands Commission of Inquiry corruption report, 20 Jul 2009 - Exposure of a press gagging order from the Turks and Caicos Islands, related to WikiLeaks exposure of the Commission of Inquiry corruption report
  • Bermuda's Premier Brown and the BCC bankdraft - Brown went to the Privy council London to censor the press in Bermuda
  • How German intelligence infiltrated Focus magazine - Illegal spying on German journalists

Diplomacy, spying and (counter-)intelligence

  • U.S. Intelligence planned to destroy WikiLeaks, 18 Mar 2008 - Classified (SECRET/NOFORN) 32 page U.S. counterintelligence investigation into WikiLeaks. Has been in the worldwide news.
  • CIA report into shoring up Afghan war support in Western Europe, 11 Mar 2010 - This classified CIA analysis from March, outlines possible PR-strategies to shore up public support in Germany and France for a continued war in Afghanistan. Received international news coverage in print, radio and TV.
  • U.S. Embassy profiles on Icelandic PM, Foreign Minister, Ambassador - Publication of personal profiles for briefing documents for U.S. officials visiting Iceland. While lowly classified are interesting for subtle tone and internal facts.
  • Cross-border clashes from Iraq O.K. - Classified documents reveal destabalizing U.S. military rules
  • Tehran Warns US Forces against Chasing Suspects into Iran - Iran warns the United States over classified document on WikiLeaks
  • Inside Somalia and the Union of Islamic Courts - Vital strategy documents in the Somali war and a play for Chinese support

Ecology, climate, nature and sciences

  • Draft Copenhagen climate change agreement, 8 Dec 2009 - Confidential draft "circle of commitment" (rich-country) Copenhagen climate change agreement
  • Draft Copenhagen Accord Dec 18, 2009 - Three page draft Copehagen "accord", from around Friday 7pm, Dec 18, 2009; includes pen-markings
  • Climatic Research Unit emails, data, models, 1996-2009 - Over 60MB of emails, documents, code and models from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, written between 1996 and 2009 that lead to a worldwide debate
  • The Monju nuclear reactor leak - Three suppressed videos from Japan's fast breeder reactor Monju revealing the true extent of the 1995 sodium coolant disaster

Corruption, finance, taxes, trading

  • The looting of Kenya under President Moi - $3,000,000,000 presidential corruption exposed; swung the Dec 2007 Kenyan election, long document, be patient
  • Gusmao's $15m rice deal alarms UN - Rice deal corruption in East Timor
  • How election violence was financed - the embargoed Kenyan Human Rights Commission report into the Jan 2008 killings of over 1,300 Kenyans
  • Financial collapse: Confidential exposure analysis of 205 companies each owing above EUR45M to Icelandic bank Kaupthing, 26 Sep 2008 - Publication of a confidential report that has lead to hundreds of newspaper articles worldwide
  • Barclays Bank gags Guardian over leaked memos detailing offshore tax scam, 16 Mar 2009 - Publication of censored documents revealing a number of elaborate international tax avoidance schemes by the SCM (Structured Capital Markets) division of Barclays
  • Bank Julius Baer: Grand Larceny via Grand Cayman - How the largest private Swiss bank avoids paying tax to the Swiss government
  • Der Fall Moonstone Trust - Cayman Islands Swiss bank trust exposed
  • Over 40 billion euro in 28167 claims made against the Kaupthing Bank, 23 Jan 2010 - List of Kaupthing claimants after Icelandic banking crash
  • Northern Rock vs. WikiLeaks - Northern Rock Bank UK failed legal injunctions over the ¡Ì24,000,000,000 collapse
  • Whistleblower exposes insider trading program at JP Morgan - Legal insider trading in three easy steps, brought to you by JP Morgan and the SEC

Censorship technology and internet filtering

  • Eutelsat suppresses independent Chinese-language TV station NTDTV to satisfy Beijing - French sat provider Eutelsat covertly removed an anti-communist TV channel to satisfy Beijing
  • Internet Censorship in Thailand - The secret internet censorship lists of Thailand's military junta

Cults and other religious organizations

  • Church of Scientology's 'Operating Thetan' documents leaked online - Scientology's secret, and highly litigated bibles
  • Censored Legion de Cristo and Regnum Cristi document collection - Censored internal documents from the Catholic sect Legion de Cristo (Legion of Christ)
  • US Department of Labor investigation into Landmark Education, 2006 - 2006 investigative report by the U.S. Department of Labor on Landmark Education

Abuse, violence, violation

  • Report on Shriners raises question of wrongdoing - corruption exposed at 22 U.S. and Canadian children's hospitals.
  • Claims of molestation resurface for US judo official
  • Texas Catholic hospitals did not follow Catholic ethics, report claims - Catholic hospitals violated catholic ethics

3. Short essays on how a more inquiring media can make a difference in the world

3.1 The Malaria Case Study: the antidote is good governance born from a strong media

Malaria is a case study in why good governance not just good science is the solution to so much human suffering. This year, the mosquito borne disease will kill over one million people. More than 80% of these will be children. Great Britain used to have malaria. In North America, malaria was epidemic and there are still a handful of infections each year. In Africa malaria kills over 100 people per hour. In Russia, amidst the corruption of the 1990s, malaria re-established itself. What is the difference between these cases?

Why does Malaria kill so many people in one place but barely take hold in another? Why has malaria been allowed to gain a foothold in places like Russia where it was previously eradicated? We know how to prevent malaria epidemics. The science is universal. The difference is good governance.

Put another way, unresponsive or corrupt government, through malaria alone, causes a children's "9/11" every day. [1]

It is only when the people know the true plans and behaviour of their governments that they can meaningfully choose to support or reject them. Historically, the most resilient forms of open government are those where publication and revelation are protected. Where that protection does not exist, it is our mission to provide it through an energetic and watchful media.

In Kenya, malaria was estimated to cause 20% of all deaths in children under five. Before the Dec 2007 national elections, WikiLeaks exposed $3 billion of Kenyan corruption, which swung the vote by 10%. This led to changes in the constitution and the establishment of a more open government. It is too soon to know if it will contribute to a change in the human cost of malaria in Kenya but in the long term we believe it may. It is one of many reforms catalyzed by WikiLeaks unvarnished reporting.

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3.2 The importance of principled leaking to journalism, good government and a healthy society

Principled leaking has changed the course of history for the better. It can alter the course of history in the present, and it can lead us to a better future.

Consider Daniel Ellsberg, working within the US government during the Vietnam War. He comes into contact with the Pentagon Papers, a meticulously kept record of military and strategic planning throughout the war. Those papers reveal the depths to which the US government has sunk in deceiving the American people about the war. Yet the public and the media know nothing of this urgent and shocking information. Indeed, secrecy laws are being used to keep the public ignorant of gross dishonesty practised by their own government. In spite of those secrecy laws and at great personal risk, Ellsberg manages to disseminate the Pentagon papers to journalists and to the world. Despite criminal charges against Ellsberg, eventually dropped, the release of the Pentagon Papers shocks the world, exposes the government lying and helps to shorten the war and save thousands of both American and Vietnamese lives.

The power of principled leaking to call governments, corporations and institutions to account is amply demonstrated through recent history. The public scrutiny of otherwise unaccountable and secretive institutions forces them to consider the ethical implications of their actions. Which official will chance a secret, corrupt transaction when the public is likely to find out? What repressive plan will be carried out when it is revealed to the citizenry, not just of its own country, but the world? When the risks of embarrassment and discovery increase, the tables are turned against conspiracy, corruption, exploitation and oppression. Open government answers injustice rather than causing it. Open government exposes and undoes corruption. Open governance is the most effective method of promoting good governance.

Today, with authoritarian governments in power in much of the world, increasing authoritarian tendencies in democratic governments, and increasing amounts of power vested in unaccountable corporations, the need for openness and transparency is greater than ever. WikiLeaks interest is the revelation of the truth. Unlike the covert activities of state intelligence agencies, as a media publisher WikiLeaks relies upon the power of overt fact to enable and empower citizens to bring feared and corrupt governments and corporations to justice.

With its anonymous drop box, WikiLeaks provides an avenue for every government official, every bureaucrat, and every corporate worker, who becomes privy to damning information that their institution wants to hide but the public needs to know. What conscience cannot contain, and institutional secrecy unjustly conceals, WikiLeaks can broadcast to the world. It is telling that a number of government agencies in different countries (and indeed some entire countries) have tried to ban access to WikiLeaks. This is of course a silly response, akin to the ostrich burying its head in the sand. A far better response would be to behave in more ethical ways.

Authoritarian governments, oppressive institutions and corrupt corporations should be subject to the pressure, not merely of international diplomacy, freedom of information laws or even periodic elections, but of something far stronger - the consciences of the people within them.

3.3 Should the press really be free?

In its landmark ruling on the Pentagon Papers, the US Supreme Court ruled that "only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government." We agree.

The ruling stated that "paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell."

It is easy to perceive the connection between publication and the complaints people make about publication. But this generates a perception bias, because it overlooks the vastness of the invisible. It overlooks the unintended consequences of failing to publish and it overlooks all those who are emancipated by a climate of free speech. Such a climate is a motivating force for governments and corporations to act justly. If acting in a just manner is easier than acting in an unjust manner, most actions will be just.

Sufficient principled leaking in tandem with fearless reporting will bring down administrations that rely on concealing reality from their own citizens.

It is increasingly obvious that corporate fraud must be effectively addressed. In the US, employees account for most revelations of fraud, followed by industry regulators, media, auditors and, finally, the SEC. Whistleblowers account for around half of all exposures of fraud.

Corporate corruption comes in many forms. The number of employees and turnover of some corporations exceeds the population and GDP of some nation states. When comparing countries, after observations of population size and GDP, it is usual to compare the system of government, the major power groupings and the civic freedoms available to their populations. Such comparisons can also be illuminating in the case of corporations.

Considering the largest corporations as analogous to a nation state reveals the following properties:

  • The right to vote does not exist except for share holders (analogous to land owners) and even there voting power is in proportion to ownership.
  • All power issues from a central committee.
  • There is no balancing division of power. There is no fourth estate. There are no juries and innocence is not presumed.
  • Failure to submit to any order may result in instant exile.
  • There is no freedom of speech.
  • There is no right of association. Even romance between men and women is often forbidden without approval.
  • The economy is centrally planned.
  • There is pervasive surveillance of movement and electronic communication.
  • The society is heavily regulated, to the degree many employees are told when, where and how many times a day they can go to the toilet.
  • There is little transparency and something like the Freedom of Information Act is unimaginable.
  • Internal opposition groups, such as unions, are blackbanned, surveilled and/or marginalized whenever and wherever possible.

While having a GDP and population comparable to Belgium, Denmark or New Zealand, many of these multi-national corporations have nothing like their quality of civic freedoms and protections. This is even more striking when the regional civic laws the company operates under are weak (such as in West Papua, many African states or even South Korea); there, the character of these corporate tyrannies is unregulated by their civilizing surroundings.

Through governmental corruption, political influence, or manipulation of the judicial system, abusive corporations are able to gain control over the defining element of government the sole right to deploy coercive force.

Just like a country, a corrupt or unethical corporation is a menace to all inside and outside it. Corporations will behave more ethically if the world is watching closely. WikiLeaks has exposed unethical plans and behaviour in corporations and this as resulted in recompense or other forms of justice forms of justice for victims.

3.4 Could oppressive regimes potentially come to face legal consequences as a result of evidence posted on WikiLeaks?

The laws and immunities that are applied in national and international courts, committees and other legal institutions vary, and we can't comment on them in particular. The probative value of documents posted on WikiLeaks in a court of law is a question for courts to decide.

While a secure chain of custody cannot be established for anonymous leaks, these leaks can lead to successful court cases. In many cases, it is easier for journalists or investigators to confirm the existence of a known document through official channels (such as an FOI law or legal discovery) than it is to find this information when starting from nothing. Having the title, author or relevant page numbers of an important document can accelerate an investigation, even if the content itself has not been confirmed. In this way, even unverified information is an enabling jump-off point for media, civil society or official investigations. Principled leaking has been shown to contribute to bringing justice to victims via the court system.

______________________

The full set of 3meg+ was available. No doubt many downloaded it.

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Evan : 'You can still access the Wikileaks site using the IP address:

http://213.251.145.96/

Download what you can'

___________________

Me : 'Thanks Evan.

Unfortunately it seems the links to the torrent download still leads to the closed down site. Hopefully mirrors will appear. As soon as they do, grab as much as you can'

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Me : from wl

http://wikileaks.info/

"Wikileaks Mirrors

Find all the current Wikileaks Mirrors here. Helpful, if the main site - wikileaks.org - is down.

Home About

* wikileaks.ch - Temporary Wikileaks Page [46.51.171.90, 184.72.37.90]

* wikileaks.org - Official Wikileaks Page [46.51.171.90, 184.72.37.90]

* cablegate.wikileaks.org - Secret US Embassy Cables [91.194.60.90, 91.194.60.112, 204.236.131.131]

* chat.wikileaks.org - Secure SSL Chat Page [88.80.13.160]

* sunshinepress.org - Secure Document Submission Page [88.80.2.32]

* wikileaks.com - Points to Official Site [88.80.13.160]

* wikileaks.net - Points to Official Site [88.80.13.160]

* wikileaks.biz - Points to Official Site [88.80.13.160]

* wikileaks.de - Points to Official Site [88.80.13.160]

* wikileaks.eu - Points to Official Site [88.80.13.160]

* wikileaks.fi - Points to Official Site [88.80.13.160]

* wikileaks.mobi - Points to Official Site [88.80.13.160]

* wikileaks.nl - Points to Official Site [88.80.13.160]

* wikileaks.pl - Points to Official Site [88.80.13.160]

* wikileaks.us - Points to Official Site [88.80.13.160]

* ljsf.org - Points to Official Site [88.80.13.160]

Real mirrors on different IP Addresses

* wikileaks.info - Mirror hosted in Switzerland [62.2.16.94]

* wikileaks.se - Mirror hosted in Sweden [88.80.6.179]

* nyud.net - Mirror hosted in the United States [129.170.214.192]

Important Wikileaks Links

* twitter.com/wikileaks - Official Wikileaks Twitter Page

* facebook.com/wikileaks - Official Wikileaks Facebook Page

Questions? - Write to wikileaks@wikileaks.info "

_______________________

Me : A lot of the above are down. More to come no doubt.

http://wlcentral.org/ :

2010-12-04: Censorship watch: PayPal terminates WikiLeaks services

Submitted by admin on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 05:01 PayPal joined Moneybookers, Amazon, Tableau and EveryDNS in cancelling services for WikiLeaks.

In a statement posted on its website, the company wrote: "PayPal has permanently restricted the account used by WikiLeaks due to a violation of the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy, which states that our payment service cannot be used for any activities that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity. We’ve notified the account holder of this action."

Daniel Ellsberg and many WikiLeaks supporters have called for a boycott of Amazon. PayPal may be next.

There are many other ways for supporters of truth and free speech to contribute to WikiLeaks, and we would like to encourage you to do so: http://213.251.145.96/support.html

_____________________

me : http://thepiratebay....ikileaks/0/99/0

_____________________

Greg : Thanks for the extra IP addresses John. Let's hope it doesn't result in EF getting more DOS attacks.

I appreciate concerns that some leaks may put some people at risk, but I think there's a bigger picture here. If we'd been privy to some of this kind of information prior to the phoney war against Iraq, maybe it could have been avoided - and 100,000+ lives saved.

_____________________

Evan : I agree Dave. There are some things which have the potential to cause harm, but the overall good of Wikileaks is more important. I am placing trust in the people running it to know the difference.

____________________

While good points are made at times. I don't particularly like the tone, so to read them, refer to WL topic in the PC section.

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Me : Wikileaks cables expose secrets and lies

Saturday, December 4, 2010 By Jay Fletcher More than 250,000 confidential files from United States embassies and consulates around the world sit in the database of whistleblower website Wikileaks.

The first 300 secret cables were made public over November 28-30 in what will become the “largest set of confidential documents ever to be released”, the website said.

“The documents [dating from 1966 to February this year] will give people around the world an unprecedented insight into US government foreign activities.”

The “activities” are wide ranging and cover almost every continent and global issue. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange described the cables from 274 embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions as a “diplomatic history of the United States”.

Wikileaks has released only a fraction of the documents it holds, but already evidence of backroom deals, spies and espionage, protection of war criminals and unbridled assault on countries that oppose US domination has been exposed for the world to see.

As journalists steadily tear through the notes, reports, communications and directives from his departments and officials, US president Barack Obama has tried to keep his distance from the exposé.

But US secretary of state Hillary Clinton — who wrote or authorised more than 8000 cables — pledged to take “aggressive steps to hold responsible” the people who had revealed US secrets.

Most governments and media organisations have attacked Wikileaks’ action as criminal and dangerous, while downplaying the evidence it has revealed.

But the British Guardian has defended Wikileaks. “By making available Washington's own account of its international dealings, Wikileaks has opened some of the institutions of global power to scrutiny and performed a democratic service in the process”, it said on December 1.

From an undisclosed location after the first cables were published, Assange told journalists on November 28: “The general trend for US accountability of the US military is worrying”. But he said Wikileaks relied on people inside the military who wanted to see things change.

Putting lives at risk?

After Wikileaks’ release of the Afghan war diary and the Iraq war logs, US officials furiously condemned it for putting “American lives at risk”. No evidence has surfaced to show any content of the war logs has resulted in harm to any individuals.

The real damage was to reveal the US government’s lies about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Wikileaks exposed the blood on the US government’s hands.

Yet the same allegations were flung against Wikileaks for its newest release. Australia’s attorney-general Robert McClelland was among those who said the documents could “prejudice the safety of people referred to in the documentation”.

In the US, Republican and incoming chair of the House Homeland Security Committee Peter King called for Wikileaks to be designated a “foreign terrorist organisation”.

Think Progress’s Matthew Yglesias said on November 29: “King’s suggestion that we designate Wikileaks as a foreign terrorist organisation is in part grandstanding and in part an effort to devise a way to begin restricting freedom of the press.”

Meanwhile, right-wing former US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin said she wanted Wikileaks to be “hunted down” and “neutralised”. She said Assange was “an anti-American operative with blood on his hands”. Right-wing US websites have echoed Palin’s call.

The December 3 Sydney Morning Herald reported that Assange now feared for his life.

“When you have people calling, for example, for his assassination, it is best to keep a low profile”, said Wikileaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson.

Government officials said the US would move to take “criminal action” against those who staged the leak.

“This is a serious violation of the law”, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said on November 29. “This is a serious threat to individuals that both carry out and assist our foreign policy.”

But journalist Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked US secrets on the Vietnam War in 1971, told the BBC World Service: “The best justification they can find for secrecy is that lives are at stake.

“Actually, lives are at stake as a result of silence and lies, which a lot of these leaks reveal.”

“Certainly the same charges were made about the Pentagon Papers and turned out to be quite invalid over the years, the same things that Hillary Clinton is saying now about Wikileaks, as a matter of fact.”

Before the release, all quarter of a million cables were made available to US analysis. Wikileaks itself crosschecked all the content and many names in the cables are blanked out.

Assange has released emails showing that repeated requests to review the cables were rejected by US officials.

He sent correspondence to the US ambassador in London on November 26, which said Wikileaks “would be grateful for the United States Government to privately nominate any specific instances … where it considers the publication of information would put individual persons at significant risk of harm”.

Assange said Wikileaks would “respect the confidentiality of advice provided by the United States government”.

A legal advisor to the US department of state responded that US departments would “not engage in a negotiation” with Wikileaks about the classified documents.

It said Wikileaks should instead shut down its site, return the information to the US government and destroy all its sources and correspondence.

Assange responded: “I understand that the United States government would prefer not to have the information that will be published in the public domain and is not in favour of openness.

“That said, either there is a risk or there is not. You have chosen to respond in a manner which leads me to conclude that the supposed risks are entirely fanciful and you are instead concerned to suppress evidence of human rights abuse and other criminal behaviour.”

War crimes in the Middle East

The leaked cables reveal how much US “diplomacy” in the Middle East has involved attempts to extend its “war on terror” to Iran.

Several Middle East countries including Israel, Saudi Arabia and Jordan were revealed to have urged the US to attack Iran to eliminate its nuclear program. Saudi ruler King Adbullah said the US should “cut off the head of the snake” and take military action against Iran.

The cables also revealed Saudi nationals remain among the biggest donors to Al-Qaeda and that the US considers Qatar an unreliable ally in the “war on terror”.

Afghanistan’s then vice-president Ahmed Zia Massoud was discovered carrying US$52 million in cash through Dubai airport in October 2009. A key US ally in Afghanistan, he was able to keep the money.

Most of the cables between Israel and US officials detailed “defence” cooperation and plots against Iran.

In April 2009, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US diplomats: “If Iran goes nuclear, peace will fail.” In another cable, the United Arab Emirates military said it believed Israel would attack Iran “with little or no notice”.

A report from the US embassy in Tel Aviv said: “Netanyahu praised President Obama’s commitment to missile defense, and commented that US-Israeli cooperation on missile defense sends a strong signal to Israel’s enemies.”

Yet another cable said Netanyahu described Israel’s main threats as “Iran’s nuclear program, the build-up of rockets and missiles in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza and the Goldstone report”, which details Israeli war crimes — including the use of toxic white phosphorous on civilians — during its 2008-09 war on Gaza.

Diplomats or spooks?

A leaked secret directive from the US state department sent to more than 30 embassies ordered diplomats to collect detailed intelligence about United Nations officials.

In July 2009, a “national human intelligence collection directive” (NHCD) was issued under Hillary Clinton to US diplomats to gather “personalities, biographic and biometric information” about key UN officials, council representatives and heads of state.

It showed US state department officials were ordered to spy on ranking North Korean diplomats, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon, and the four other permanent representatives of the security council — China, Russia, France and Britain.

The secretary of state also wanted personal details about heads of peacekeeping operations, arms control bodies and other UN agencies, as well as the World Health Organization and the UNAIDS council.

The NHCD, which appeared to involve the CIA, the FBI and the US department of homeland security, said the directive was issued to know the “plans and intentions” of key UN officials on a range of global issues, including the situations in Darfur/Sudan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Somalia, Iran and North Korea.

It also included detailed requests for personal financial details, credit card information, computer passwords, communications, frequent-flier membership and work schedules.

The UN has said diplomats spying on its representatives “breached international law”, the Guardian said on November 30.

Assange told Time magazine on December 1 that Clinton “should resign”.

“If it can be shown that she was responsible for ordering US diplomatic figures to engage in espionage in the United Nations, in violation of the international covenants to which the US has signed up. Yes, she should resign over that.”

The leaked cables show similar US directives for “reporting and collection needs” were made for several African, Latin American and Middle Eastern countries, including Palestine.

Nukes in the Netherlands

Many cables stressed the US’s global influence over “indentified” nuclear development.

A large part of international media coverage has focused on Iran’s nuclear program, the information that Iran and North Korea were trading in missile technology, and that Iran had allegedly acquired nuclear missiles that could “hit Western Europe”.

But a top-secret cable from US embassy in Islamabad, sent to Washington and several US embassies, discussed a long-term bid to get “highly-enriched uranium spent fuel” out of Pakistan. It also showed effort to cover up the plans.

In July 2009, an official (whose name was blanked out) told the ambassador’s office that a “recent [Pakistani government] interagency review of the program concluded that the ‘sensational’ international and local media coverage of the security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons made it impossible to proceed at this time.

“If the local media got word of the fuel removal, ‘they certainly would portray it as the United States taking Pakistan’s nuclear weapons,’ he argued.

“The visit will have to be delayed for 3-4 months or until the political climate makes it more conducive to hosting a US visit, he stated.”

Other memos from European countries detail the proliferation of US-owned nuclear weapons hosted in several locations, including Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Turkey.

A confidential memo from the embassy in Berlin inadvertently referred to a proposal to “seek the removal of all remaining nuclear weapons from Germany”.

It read: “[German diplomat Cristoph] Heusgen said that from his perspective, it made no sense to unilaterally withdraw ‘the 20’ tactical nuclear weapons still in Germany which Russia maintains ‘thousands’ of them. It would only be worth it if both sides drew down.

“A withdrawal from Germany and perhaps from Belgium and the Netherlands could make it very difficult politically for Turkey to maintain its own stockpile, even though it is still convinced of the need to do so.

Sri Lanka’s war crimes

A report from the US ambassador in Colombo, Sri Lanka, showed that the Sri Lankan government and its army were resisting accountability for war crimes committed against the Tamil population.

The report “updated the Secretary of State on war crimes accountability following the end of the country’s long and bloody conflict”, Wikileaks said on December 1.

It read: “There are no examples we know of a regime undertaking wholesale investigations of its own troops or senior officials for war crimes while that regime or government remained in power.

“In Sri Lanka this is further complicated by the fact that responsibility for many of the alleged crimes rests with the country’s senior civilian and military leadership, including President [Mahinda] Rajapaksa and his brothers and opposition candidate General [sarath] Fonseka.”

It continued: “Most of the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] leadership was killed at the end of the war, leaving few to be held responsible for those crimes.”

The Sri Lankan government is “holding thousands of mid- and lower-level ex-LTTE combatants for future rehabilitation and/or criminal prosecution.

“It is unclear whether any such prosecutions will meet international standards.”

Rajapaksa believed there was an “international conspiracy against Sri Lanka and its ‘war heroes’”, the embassy report from January said.

Latin America

The Guardian showed 16,495 cables came from embassies in Central and Latin America, including 2340 from Venezuela; 1958 from Honduras, where the US government supported an unelected coup-installed government; and 2461 from the embassy in Colombia.

Among the documents released over November 28-30 was extensive evidence of US moves to destroy popular governments across the continent, particularly plots to isolate Venezuela and marginalise its president Hugo Chavez.

Venezuela and Cuba were singled out; Paraguay’s left-wing president Fernando Lugo and Argentine president Christina Fernandez were targeted for information collection; and stability concerns were used as a pretext to establish aerial surveillance over Colombia’s borders.

Chavez praised the efforts of Wikileaks on national television and said Assange was “brave and courageous” for pursuing the openness of world governments.

“The empire stood naked”, he said on November 29. “I do not know what the United States is going to do … how many things have been disclosed.”

He said Clinton “should resign, it is the least she can do”.

“They should give an answer to the world rather than attacking and saying that it was a theft.”

From Brazil, cables detailed meetings between US officials and Brazilian minister of defence Nelson Jobim, which showed US efforts to alienate the progressive government of Venezuela.

In a cable dated February 12, 2008, Jobim and the US ambassador discussed the “possibility of Venezuela exporting instability” and advanced strategies to “bring Chavez into the mainstream of the continent”.

Wikileaks released several cables that revealed US efforts to use Brazil’s influence in Latin America, viewed by the US as the “anchor of South America”.

A confidential document from March 2008, after defence minister Jobim’s visit to Washington, outlined joint US-Brazil research and production projects, the exchange of military personnel and training, and the establishment of a “South American Defense Council”, which the US would oversee.

A particularly damaging document outlines a request from Clinton for information on Argentine president Christina Fernandez’s “mental state and health”.

Addressed to the embassy of Buenos Aires, the December 2009 secret cable said: “Washington analysts are interested in Argentine leadership dynamics, particularly with regards to Christina Fernandez de Kirchner and Nestor Kirchner [former president and Fernandez’s husband] … We are currently preparing a written product examining the interpersonal dynamics between [them].

“We would like to develop a more well-rounded view of Christina Fernandez de Kirchner’s personality.”

The note continued: “How is Christina Fernandez de Kirchner managing her nerves and anxiety? How does stress affect her behaviour toward advisors and/or her decisionmaking?”

Clinton also wanted to know about Fernandez’s political views and “on the job” details, and also asked if she was on medication. Some 2233 of the obtained cables were from the US consulate in Buenos Aires, the Guardian said.

Another document, from March 2008, classified as secret and “noforn” (for no foreign national), outlined the US’s “reporting and collection needs in Paraguay”.

In the lead-up to the April 2008 election, the US officials sought to acquire from leading candidates their views on foreign governments, especially the US, Venezuela and Cuba.

It specified the need for: “Biographic and financial information on all leading contenders, and especially … Fernando Lugo; and biometric data, to include fingerprints, facial images, iris scans, and DNA, on these individuals.”

It focused particularly on what financial or material support for Paraguay was coming from Venezuela and Cuba, even for student exchange programs or donations.

Bid to silence Assange

The US announced it would investigate the Australian-born Assange for violating espionage laws, and Australian officials said it was likely he would be arrested if he returned to Australia.

Wikileaks said 1008 of the leaked cables yet to be released came from the US embassy in Australia. Of these, 79 are labelled “secret”. A further 75 cables are from the Melbourne US consulate.

Australia’s attorney-general Robert McClelland said a “whole-of-government” taskforce would investigate the cables and the Australian Federal Police had been instructed to investigate Assange.

“From Australia's point of view, we think there are potentially a number of criminal laws that could have been breached”, McClelland said. “The Australian Federal Police are looking at that.”

The taskforce would include officials from the PM’s cabinet, spies from ASIS and ASIO and officials from the defence department.

On December 1, Interpol issued an international arrest warrant for Assange, alleging he was wanted for “sex crimes”. Similar accusations were raised against Assange after the Iraq war logs were released.

Assange told Forbes on November 29 that once Wikileaks has leaked the entire trove of diplomatic cables, the next target would be big business. Specifically, he said, a major US bank would find its books involuntarily opened to the world.

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From GLW issue 864

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http://www.democracy...1/1/4/headlines

Psychologists Protest Army's Treatment of Bradley Manning

The group Psychologists for Social Responsibility has written a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates protesting the military's treatment of Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army private accused of leaking classified documents to the online whisteblowing website WikiLeaks. Manning has been held in solitary confinement at the U.S. Marine Corps brig at Quantico, Virginia, since July. The group accused the military of holding Manning in needlessly brutal conditions. [see related coverage from DN]

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Edited by John Dolva
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Truth is a crime in an empire of lies: defend Wikileaks

Sunday, December 5, 2010

wikileaks.png

Open letter to Prime Minister Julia Gillard,

cc Julian Assange, Wikileaks

Anti-war activists salute Wikileaks’ courage and determination in exposing the lies about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the ruthlessness with which the biggest imperial power — the US — seeks to maintain its global dominance.

We believe that Julian Assange and his colleagues’ unremitting efforts in shedding light on the truth about these wars provides vital and valid documents for anti-war and human rights activists in Australia and across the globe in the struggle against unjust wars and occupations.

We strongly condemn your threats against Wikileaks.

The fact that you and your US counterparts are so infuriated by Wikileaks that you want it shut down and are trying to criminalise Julian Assange shows just how powerful the truth is.

Julian Assange has reminded the world about the power of the corporate media, the lack of government accountability and the injustice of the wars you and others are waging.

Wikileaks should be congratulated for its service to humanity and for reminding us who the real criminals are.

Troops out of Afghanistan! Justice for Palestine! Hands off Yemen and Iran!

[Please circulate this sign-on letter initiated by Sydney Stop the War Coalition.

To sign on, email Stop_the_War@yahoogroups.com ]

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From GLW issue 864

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http://www.gazetteti...1cc4c03286.html

Events benefit soldier accused over WikiLeaks

Events benefit soldier accused over WikiLeaks Gazette-Times gazettetimes.com | Posted: Thursday, January 6, 2011 12:30 am | (4) Comments

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Local groups are sponsoring a pair of events this weekend to help the cause of Army Spec. Bradley Manning, who is awaiting court martial on charges of disclosing classified information to WikiLeaks. One of the items he is accused of releasing is the so-called "Collateral Murder" video, which shows the killing of 12 Iraqi civilians in a 2007 Army helicopter airstrike.

The Nettles will perform from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday as part of the Second Saturdays Concert Series at Sunnyside-Up Cafe, 116 N.W. Third St.

At 2 p.m. Sunday, the public is invited to view and discuss the "Collateral Murder" video and hear an update on Manning's case at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis, 2945 N.W. Circle Blvd. The event is co-sponsored by Veterans for Peace Chapter 132 and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis Peace Action Council.

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http://www.msnbc.msn...ks_in_security/

Protests mount over treatment of alleged WikiLeaks soldier

Psychologists group deplores 'brutality' of Bradley Manning's prison conditions

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EPA file Pfc. Bradley Manning, a 23-year-old Army intelligence analyst, is suspected by the military of leaking thousands of secret U.S. documents to WikiLeaks.

msnbc.com msnbc.com

updated 1/6/2011 5:37:02 PM ET 2011-01-06T22:37:02 Rights advocates, government watchdogs and supporters of alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning say they're becoming increasingly alarmed that the conditions under which the 22-year-old Army private is being held could amount to torture.

In the latest public pronouncements calling attention to Manning's plight, the Psychologists for Social Responsibility this week sent an open letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates saying it is "deeply concerned" about Manning's confinement conditions at a military prison at Quantico, Va.

"As an organization of psychologists and other mental health professionals, PsySR is aware that solitary confinement can have severely deleterious effects on the psychological well-being of those subjected to it," the group said. "We therefore call for a revision in the conditions of PFC Manning's incarceration while he awaits trial, based on the exhaustive documentation and research that have determined that solitary confinement is, at the very least, a form of cruel, unusual and inhumane treatment in violation of U.S. law."

The letter deplores the "needless brutality" of Manning's conditions and says they undermine his right to a fair trial.

"Coercive conditions of detention also increase the likelihood of the prisoner 'cooperating' in order to improve those circumstances, even to the extent of giving false testimony," the letter said. "Thus, such harsh conditions are counter to the interests of justice."

A Quantico prison spokesman denied that Manning is being treated unduly harshly. "Pfc. Manning is not being treated any differently than any other maximum-custody detainee in the brig," Lt. Brian Villiard told msnbc.com on Thursday.

According to his lawyer, David E. Coombs, Manning has been held in maximum custody under a "prevention of injury" watch at the Marine Corps brig at Quantico since July, when he was charged with disclosing classified U.S. information. The military suspects Manning downloaded and leaked a video purportedly showing U.S. helicopters firing on civilians in Iraq on July 12, 2007.

The U.S. military also suspects him of being the source of the leak of hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and other government documents to WikiLeaks, though no charges have been filed in that case.

Coombs says Manning is confined in a 6-by-12-foot cell with a bed, a drinking fountain and a toilet for about 23 hours a day. On a " typical day," he is awakened at 5 a.m. and is not allowed to sleep between 5 a.m. and 8 p.m.; if he tries to sleep during those hours, guards will make him sit up or stand. He eats all his meals in his cell. He is allowed one hour of "exercise" daily outside his cell, consisting of walking in figure eights in an empty room, according to Coombs. When he goes to sleep, he is required to strip down to his boxer shorts and give his clothing to the guards. He is not allowed to have any personal items in his cell.

Story: U.S. tells agencies: Watch 'insiders' to prevent new WikiLeaks Coombs has said that Manning's confinement conditions amount to punishment, even though he has yet to go to trial.

David House, a 23-year-old MIT researcher who has visited Manning several times at Quantico, contends that because Manning is under a "prevention of injury" watch, he is subjected to conditions "far beyond" other maximum-custody prisoners at the brig.

"Over the course of my visits to see Bradley in Quantico, it's become increasingly clear that the severe, inhumane conditions of his detention are wearing on Manning. The extraordinary restrictions of Manning's basic rights to sleep, exercise, and communicate under the Prevention of Injury order are unnecessary and should be lifted immediately," House wrote in a recent blog post.

The United Nations' top anti-torture envoy, Manfred Nowak, is looking into a complaint that the Army private is being mistreated in custody, his office confirmed late last month.

'Treated equally'

Villiard, the Quantico spokesman, denied that Manning is in "solitary confinement" and said his conditions are no different than the brig's other maximum custody detainees. All detainees at Quantico, like Manning, are either awaiting or undergoing trial.

"He lives in his own cell. He's allowed to converse with other detainees if he chooses to do so," Villiard said, noting that the layout of the brig is such that detainees can hear but can't see each other.

"He is treated equally across the board as it relates to other detainees," Villiard said. "It's a brig. I'm not a qualified person to talk about what is torture and what is not. It's a military brig and it's not being run any differently than any other military brig."

He said Manning receives "regular visits from both medical and psychological providers" to ensure his well-being.

The Washington Times reported Tuesday that the Army is assembling a special board to evaluate Manning's mental state.

Army spokesman Lt. Col. Robert Manning, no relation to Bradley Manning, told the newspaper that no further legal proceedings will happen until a recommendation is made on his fitness to stand trial.

Bradley Manning's supporters and rights advocates have urged citizens to contact Quantico and ask that the restrictions of the "prevention of injury" order be lifted.

Villiard said Quantico has received "a good number" of phone calls from concerned citizens about Manning. He said most of them are relieved when base officials explain that Manning is not being treated any differently than other detainees.

"There's nothing going on here that the Marine Corps has any reason to be concerned about and there's no reason for the civilian community to be concerned about, either," Villiard said.

© 2010 msnbc.com Reprints

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Edited by John Dolva
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Editorial: We have a right to know

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Julian Assange.

Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange have made some powerful enemies. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accused Wikileaks of putting the world in danger and Australian PM Julia Gillard has said its activities are illegal.

In the US, Wikileaks has been denounced as a terrorist organisation and there have been calls for Assange to be either prosecuted, kidnapped or simply assassinated.

This has not just been in the ravings of far-right Fox News shock jocks, but from media and prominent politicians across the mainstream political spectrum. A former adviser to Canadian PM Stephen Harper suggested killing him (and presumably anyone close by) with a drone strike.

US officials are preparing a prosecution under the Espionage Act and the US Congress is preparing legislation designed specifically to stop Wikileaks.

The liberal media have held forth that Wikileaks’ “irresponsible” revelations have harmed diplomacy and endangered lives. They accuse Wikileaks of going beyond the acceptable limits of investigative journalism.

Yet Wikileaks is doing precisely what investigative journalists are supposed to do, but generally don’t. It has exposed abuses of power that hide behind the veil of government secrecy.

It is the US government’s spying on UN officials and diplomats that is illegal, not Wikileaks’ exposure of it.

Likewise, the catalogue of illegal abductions and torture, war crimes, corruption and subversions of democracy revealed by Wikileaks shows criminality on the part of the US and other governments.

This is why they are now baying for Assange’s blood.

The notion — promoted by “responsible” journalists — that secrecy is a necessary part of diplomacy is profoundly undemocratic.

Far from endangering lives, Wikileaks’ revelations put a spotlight on the appalling loss and destruction of life that is routinely hidden by western governments.

One revelation — that the US knew, while pretending not to know, the extent of the Sri Lankan state’s violence against Tamils during and after the 2009 military offensive — is enough to show that official secrecy, not its exposure, really endangers lives.

Wikileaks has undoubtedly damaged US political interests, as well as those of several other regimes.

Wikileaks has said its next project will involve exposing the secrets of banks and other corporations.

Making enemies of the world’s most powerful entities comes at a price. Assange is still free at the time of writing, but he may soon face arrest.

Meanwhile, Bradley Manning, a US army private disillusioned by human rights abuses in Iraq and accused of leaking military secrets to Wikileaks, has been held in solitary confinement since May.

Regardless of whether he did what he is accused of, Manning is an innocent person held by criminals.

Supporters of democracy and opponents of violence and corruption must call for Manning to be released, for the threats against Assange to stop. But most importantly, we need an end to the military, government and corporate secrecy behind which the rulers of the world hide their crimes.

* ShareThis

From GLW issue 864

Washington, Dec 6: Amid heavy hacking attacks, the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks has released more than 355 mirror websites of the original site.

WikiLeaks released the mirror websites, which are the exact copy of original site, to continue the release of the United States diplomatic cables. In case of hacking of the original website, these mirror websites will allow the users to access the site.

"Wikileaks is currently under heavy attack. In order to make it impossible to ever fully remove Wikileaks from the Internet, you will find below a list of mirrors of Wikileaks website and CableGate pages," said WikiLeaks in its website.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has tweeted in his Twitter account that, "now WikiLeaks has more than 355 websites".

WikiLeaks also asked users to create mirror sites using their hosting resources.

"In order to make it impossible to ever fully remove Wikileaks from the Internet, we need your help. If you have a unix-based server which is hosting a website on the Internet and you want to give wikileaks some of your hosting resources, you can help," said WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks has given the form for creating the mirror site, where users have to submit their IP Address, Login Password, HTML path and Login Name.

OneIndia News

http://news.oneindia...ck-hacking.html

Washington, Dec 5: The whistle-blower WikiLeaks' website has gone offline again after facing some unknown technical errors.

The Swedish company, which provides domain for WikiLeaks, has said on Sunday, Dec 5 that it is trying to fix the technical error to make the site online. The company said that it is redirecting the domain wikileaks.ch to another server

based in Sweden.

Australia works with US to kill me: Julian Assange

The WikiLeaks main server in France has stopped working. But the site can be accessed through the numerical address http://213.251.145.96/.

Earlier on the Thursday, Dec 2, United States domain host provider EveryDNS.net had terminated WikiLeaks account citing malicious attack on it. Later WikiLeaks shifted to Swiss domain and continued the release of US diplomatic cables.

OneIndia News

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Fifa and Wikileaks reveal the limits of press freedom

Sun Dec 05 12:58PM

From Switzerland to Washington, the leaders of the world are lashing out as technology threatens their rule

.Ian Dunt

If you're of my generation, you were told a happy story about history. The fall of the Berlin wall promoted a narrative about the perpetual improvement of Western societies. We would be more secure, but also richer and freer.

That all turned out to be false. Instead of one international threat, there were now thousands. Our economies exhibited the same boom and bust tendency they always did. Since September 11th - but even before then - Britain, America and Australia imposed draconian curtailments of civil liberties under the guise of national security and counter-terrorism.

But the internet represented something different, something profoundly anarchic and impossible to regulate, something too complex and versatile to be smothered. It seemed like a categorical proof of the assumptions of the era. This week, we saw a massive spasm against its power, with the reaction against Wikileaks' publication of confidential US documents and Fifa's attempt to humiliate England after the press exposed its corruption.

The attack on Wikileaks was extraordinary, perhaps even unprecedented. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton said its decision to publish was "an attack on the world". Sarah Palin, famously a bastion of wisdom, branded Wikileaks founder Julian Assange an "anti-American operative with blood on his hands". The condemnation was international, and not just from politicians. Media commentators got in on the act too.

Then the rape charges, often talked about, suddenly appeared in newspapers again. Sweden's Supreme Court refused to consider his appeal against the arrest warrant. Interpol put him on its 'red notice' wanted list. The UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency flagged it and police moved to arrest him. I have no idea what the veracity of the claims is. I know just the bare minimum about the details. But the timing, it hardly needs saying, is extraordinary.

All the while, in the background, came the cyber threats- a significant new front in the US's battle with the Australian maverick. On Friday morning, it finally appeared to pay off, after Wikileaks went offline and then moved to a Swedish domain name, after its domain name provider finally pulled the plug. It would have been able to rely on Amazon's servers, but it was pulled from there on Wednesday, days after Senate chairman Joe Lieberman called for any organisation helping Wikileaks to "immediately terminate" the relationship.

That demand prompted data visualisation company Tableau Software to pull an image featuring a Wikileaks diplomatic cable. "Our decision to remove the data from our servers came in response to a public request by senator Joe Lieberman," the company said on its blog. Amazon insisted its decision had nothing to do with Lieberman, and was instead because of breaches to its terms of service concerning content ownership. Again, it's funny timing. Amazon made no complaints when previous leaks were published.

Meanwhile, some other powerful men were taking their own stand against press freedom in Zürich, Switzerland, where the headquarters of the world football authority Fifa is based. The world watched to see where the 2018 and 2022 World Cups would be held. England's bid, considered the most technically and economically sound, and which would use pre-existing stadiums, had one fatal flaw: the country also has a free press.

A Sunday Times and BBC expose on Fifa corruption had scuppered the England bid. Media reports suggested Fifa president Sepp Blatter raised the issue of the media allegations at an executive committee meeting on Wednesday, just as Amazon was shutting out Wikileaks. He allegedly handed out cuttings of the negative coverage. Jack Warner, the subject of many of the reports, went against his professed desire to vote for England and backed another bid, taking his voting block with him. The two winning bids - from Russia and Qatar - suffered the greatest allegations of corruption, won the lowest scores in Fifa's technical assessment and enjoyed the largest budgets.

"These countries blame people of corruption, they blame people without any grounds or evidence, it can be seen as putting pressure on Fifa members, and then they put it in their mass media all over the world," Russian president Vladimir Putin said. He should know. This week Russian journalist Oleg Kashin, who was beaten senseless last month by unknown assailants, finally spoke out about his ordeal. It is widely believed that the attack was a result of his investigative work on pro-Kremlin youth groups and plans to run a highway through the Khimki oak forest. The International Press Institute, Reporters without Borders, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have all criticised Russian press regulations, which push news outlets into self-censorship. According to the Wikileaks cables, Russia is a Mafia state - a fairly colourful way of putting what anyone who knows Russia will corroborate: its corruption runs all the way through it - and all the way up to the top.

Qatar, despite being home to the occasionally excellent Al-Jazeera, is not a hotbed of press freedom either. According to the annual World Press Freedom Review, compiled by the International Press Institute, there are few outright threats to journalists. "This is, however, less of a reflection of an open press freedom environment and more the result of widespread self-censorship practiced by journalists who rarely dare to publish criticism of the ruling family or domestic affairs in the mainstream media," it reads. The five leading newspapers are privately owned, but their boards include royal family members and "other notables" who exert considerable influence over content.

These are the kinds of threats, the kind of rooted interests, that strive to disprove that story I grew up with, the one about improvement and the power of technology to liberate. The White House, Fifa and Moscow all feel the icy fear of loss of control - and they're lashing out. This week has seen that battle at its most dramatic.

The way you respond to it defines you as a political animal. The majority of the coverage about Wikileaks and the Fifa result has been profoundly depressing. I've documented the media's response to Wikileaks already, and the response to the World Cup decision is just as abject and pitiful. "My only issue, as you know, with the Sunday Times and the BBC, and more the BBC, was the timing of it," England bid chief executive Andy Anson said, pitifully. "In the last week... Fifa executive committee members were saying to us that our media is killing us." During the bid he had branded the coverage "unpatriotic" - the traditional attack used by those trying to stifle free speech. Former England captain Gary Lineker, who actually works for the BBC, said he was "unsettled" by the timing of the programme as well. Depressingly, this view isn't just one held by professionals. The public seem to have some sympathy as well. The BBC received 5,000 emails in the first hour after the news of the failed bid.

That's one way of reacting. To say, 'if you can't beat them, join them'. To lambast the people who try and bring truth, and accept the rules of the game. But there is another response to the stifling efforts of those who hate a free press, and that is to redouble your efforts.

If this week showed us the variety of enemies fighting press freedom, it also showed us that there is variety among those fighting for press freedom. Whatever happens to Assange now, he has demonstrated the methods required to hold power to account. Similar sites already exist in Asia and Africa. The use of secret back-up servers will be copied to defend against distributed denial of service attacks. The domain problem will have a solution, even if it's just a company which will not back down in the face of scary threats from powerful men. International hosting, combined with mirror sites, will deal with most other legal troubles.

That technical ability, combined with a professional journalistic integrity, will win the day. Back in the UK, it was that old, unfussy desire to cause trouble that prompted the Times and the BBC to again look into Fifa. The British press, despite its many flaws and its despairingly conservative mindset, still has the dignity to expose corruption even when it knows it will be castigated, not least by its own weak-willed political leaders.

There is a disconnect in the West between what we've been told about our society and the reality. When a company pulls an image because a senate chairman told them to, when a media commentator attacks a whistle-blowing website because he has become part of the establishment, when an official condemns a media report because it irritated his hosts - that's when we see the gap between the childhood story and the reality. But the spasm of control leaders tried to exert this week is not proof of their strength, it's proof of their fear.

The World Cup and Wikileaks rows are two sides of the same coin. As authorities note how the internet saps their power, the backlash will become more severe. We're entering a pivotal moment in the history of information freedom and transparency. Its resolution will affect the stories we tell the next generation about their society.

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http://www.thehindu....icle1073276.ece

Twitter subpoenaed for accounts of Wikileaks-linked individuals

Narayan Lakshman Share · Comment · print · T+ T+ · T- A federal court in the United States has issued a subpoena to social networking website Twitter to obtain information on several individuals linked to Wikileaks, the whistleblower website, including its spokesperson Julian Assange, an Icelandic Member of Parliament also named in the case said.

MP Birgitta Jonsdottir, who is reportedly a former volunteer with Wikileaks, transmitted documents to severalU.S. media outlets this week that showed an order from a court in Virginia to Twitter demanding subscriber names, user names, screen names, mailing addresses, residential addresses, connection records and other data of several persons.

According to Ms. Jonsdottir those whose information was subpoenaed included her, Mr. Assange, army intelligence officer Bradley Manning, who is currently in prison charged with leaking the documents to Wikileaks and Rop Gonggrijp, said to be a computer hacker from the Netherlands.

The subpoena follows several statements made by the U.S. government over the last few months suggesting that it would sue Wikileaks for publicly publishing secret State Department cables and war documents relating to the U.S.' conflict engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq.

According to the court order of December 14, which was posted on the website of online magazine Salon, the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found that the U.S. government had "offered specific and articulable facts showing that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the records or other information sought are relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation."

While the initial order by the court was sealed and Twitter was directed not to disclose the existence of the U.S. government's subpoena application to the Twitter clients involved, that order was subsequently reversed, reportedly after Twitter mounted a legal challenge to the initial order.

On Friday Ms. Jonsdottir said that she had received a message from Twitter which said, "We are writing to inform you that Twitter has received legal process requesting information regarding your Twitter account @birgittaj. The legal process requires Twitter to produce documents related to your account."

Soon after, Wikileaks said in a statement, "Today, the existence of a secret U.S. government grand jury espionage investigation into WikiLeaks was confirmed for the first time as a subpoena was brought into the public domain."

The Guardian newspaper reported that the subpoena also targeted an account held by Jacob Applebaum, an American computer programmer "whose computer and phones were examined by U.S. officials in July after he was stopped returning from Holland to the U.S."

Mr. Assange was quoted as saying, "If the Iranian government was to attempt to coercively obtain this information from journalists and activists of foreign nations, human rights groups around the world would speak out."

Neither Twitter nor the U.S. government have commented on the subpoena yet, with Twitter only saying only that its policy was "to notify its users, where possible, of government requests for information."

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Edited by John Dolva
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Hopefully this will lead to the close of any US military or other involvement in Iceland.

''

Iceland blasts US demand for lawmaker's details in WikiLeaks probe

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: US investigators want details of key WikiLeaks contributors

Icelandic politicians have blasted US demands for Twitter to hand over a member of parliament's account details. Birgitta Jonsdottir faces investigation as one of several people connected to the website WikiLeaks.

Politicians in Iceland have hit out at a US request for Twitter to hand over details of a member of the country's parliament because of her connections with WikiLeaks.

A subpoena for parliamentary representative Birgitta Jonsdottir's details was issued as part of an investigation involving several individuals associated with the whistle-blowing website.

0,,4518411_1,00.jpgBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Skarphedinsson denounced the US demand as 'intolerable'Icelandic Foreign Minister Oessur Skarphedinsson said it was not acceptable that US authorities had demanded the information.

"According to the documents that I have seen, an Icelandic parliamentarian is being investigated in a criminal case in the United States for no reason at all," Skarphedinsson told Icelandic public radio RUV.

"It is intolerable that an elected representative is being treated like that," he said.

'Serious and peculiar'

The country's Interior Minister Oegmundur Jonasson told the Icelandic daily newspaper Morgunbladir that the investigation into Jonsdottir was "serious and peculiar" and voiced support for WikiLeaks' actions in releasing classified information online.

Jonsdottir formerly acted as a spokeswoman for Wikileaks and was involved with the website's release of classified video footage last year showing a US Apache helicopter shooting dead Iraqi civilians, including two journalists from the news agency Reuters.

On Twitter, Jonsdottir said that she would call Iceland's justice minister to discuss the request, and hinted that she felt menaced by the US request.

"(The) USA government wants to know about all my tweets and more since 1 November 2009. Do they realize I am a member of parliament in Iceland?"

0,,5861334_1,00.jpg

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Jonsdottir helped release a video that showed the killing of innocent Iraqi civilians"I think I am being given a message, almost like someone breathing in a phone," she said.

Demand for online and personal data

The subpoena obtained by the US Department of Justice in mid-December was made public on Friday after San Franciso-based Twitter won a legal battle requesting a right to inform the individuals involved. Among the information sought are online connection records, session times, IP addresses used to access Twitter, emails and residential addresses as well as bank and credit card account details.

Individuals whose details were requested also include WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Dutch hacker Rop Gonggrijp, US programmer Jacob Appelbaum and US Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning - who is alleged to have sent Wikileaks the secret diplomatic service cables.

The US is examining possible charges against Assange over the publication of the cables, which it claimed were irresponsible. The US State Department said on Friday that it had issued warnings to several hundred people worldwide who it believed had been put at risk by the release.

Author: Richard Connor (AFP, Reuters)

Editor: Mark Rossman

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Iceland summons US envoy over WikiLeaks probe

The American ambassador to Reykjavik has been summoned to explain why U.S. investigators are trying to access the private details of an Icelandic lawmaker's online activity as they try to build a criminal case against WikiLeaks.

784-120Wikileaks.sff.highlight.prod_affiliate.5.jpg

HO AP Photo

Icelandic lawmaker Birgitta Jonsdottir poses for this photo Feb. 24, 2010 at an unknown location. In a statement, Saturday Jan. 8, 2011, WikiLeaks said U.S. investigators had gone to the San Francisco-based Twitter Inc. to demand the private messages, contact information and other personal details of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and other supporters Assange has promised to fight the order, as has Jonsdottir, who said in a Twitter message that she had "no intention to hand my information over willingly."

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  • Like it or not, WikiLeaks is safe under U.S. law

    Like it or not, WikiLeaks is safe under U.S. law

    With his prematurely white hair and his Australia-tinged English, 39-year-old Julian Assange has become the face and voice of what is surely the most massive leak of U.S. classified documents in history.
    His online organization, WikiLeaks, devotes itself to government and corporate whistle-blowers and the documents they offer. It stands as a buffer between them and whomever had the secrets being bared, whether documents on Cayman Islands bank accounts, video showing Americans firing on civilians in Baghdad or Sarah Palin's e-mail.
    But none of that came close to the disgorgement of classified military documents. WikiLeaks served as conduit for 92,000 pages of material from a military insider to The New York Times, the Guardian of London and der Spiegel magazine in Germany. Those three published front-page analyses and excerpts, which give on-the-ground accounts of the war in Afghanistan, its failings, its brutality and its corruption.
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    The young Army private first class suspected of stealing the diplomatic memos, many of them classified, and feeding them to WikiLeaks may have defeated Pentagon security systems using little more than a Lady Gaga CD and a portable computer memory stick.

By RAPHAEL G. SATTER; Associated Press Published: 01/09/11 6:02 am | Updated: 01/09/11 6:42 am

LONDON – The American ambassador to Reykjavik has been summoned to explain why U.S. investigators are trying to access the private details of an Icelandic lawmaker's online activity as they try to build a criminal case against WikiLeaks.

Revelations that the U.S. Justice Department obtained a court order to examine data held by Twitter Inc. on Birgitta Jonsdottir, an Icelandic parliamentarian who sits on the country's Foreign Affairs Committee, immediately caused consternation in the tiny North Atlantic nation.

"(It is) very serious that a foreign state, the United States, demands such personal information of an Icelandic person, an elected official," Interior Minister Ogmundur Jonasson told Icelandic broadcaster RUV.

"This is even more serious when put (in) perspective and concerns freedom of speech and people's freedom in general," he added.

Jonsdottir is a one-time WikiLeaks collaborator also known for her work on Iceland's media initiative, which aims to turn the island nation into a free speech haven. Jonsdottir told The Associated Press she was too overwhelmed to comment Sunday, but in a recent post to Twitter, she said she was talking with American lawyers about how to beat the order - and was drumming up support in Iceland as well.

U.S. Ambassador Luis E. Arreaga has been summoned for a meeting at Iceland's Foreign Ministry to discuss the issue, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Urdur Gunnarsdottir said Sunday. It was not clear when the meeting was taking place.

U.S. Embassy in Reykjavik said no one there would be available for comment until Monday.

The evolving diplomatic spat illustrates the challenge American prosecutors face as they weigh whether to bring charges against WikiLeaks, an international, tech-savvy operation that has angered and embarrassed Washington with a series of huge leaks of classified information.

The most recent disclosure of thousands of secret State Department cables saw U.S. diplomats being ordered to gather the DNA and fingerprints of their international counterparts, captured backroom dealing over issues such as Guantanamo and rendition, and publicized unflattering assessments of friends and foes alike.

The U.S. says the disclosures have damaged international diplomacy and put the safety of informants and foreign human rights activists at risk. WikiLeaks has dismissed the claims, but Washington has been trying to find a way to prosecute the group and its leader, 39-year-old Julian Assange, who is currently in England.

A court order unsealed earlier this week revealed that American authorities had gone to court to seek data from Twitter about Assange, Jonsdottir, and others either known or suspected to have interacted with WikiLeaks.

Some of those named in the court order have said they suspect other companies - such as Facebook Inc., Google Inc., and the eBay Inc.-owned Internet communications company Skype - have also been secretly asked to hand over their personal data.

Assange and Jonsdottir have vowed to fight the court order.

Read more: http://www.thenewstr...l#ixzz1AYCmE0UN

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I think this proves my point that Facebook and such like are nassive corporate fascist data miner malware, no surprise that Time choose Facebook founder as Person of the Year over the undoubted peoples choice, thw WikiLeaks founder.

The US has bogged themselves into an untenable position. They are hitting out vary thoughtlessly and we are having an opportunity to see the US power structure in action and it aint pretty.

Edited by John Dolva
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