Nearly Two Years Caged in Embassy, Groups Demand Justice for Julian Assange

Nearly sixty international human rights groups, press freedom advocates and civil society organizations have submitted reports to bodies at the United Nations calling on Swedish officials to remedy the “pre-trial detention” status of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange who has remained under asylum protection at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for almost two years.

According to the groups, Assange’s legal treatment by the Swedish government—concerning charges of alleged sexual misconduct that took place in 2010—are in direct violation of his human rights and stems directly from his work as a publisher of leaked government material, most notably diplomatic cables and documents related to the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Two Swedish organizations, as well as jurist organizations from around the world—including the American Association of Jurists (AAJ), the National Lawyer’s Guild (NLG), the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), and the Indian Association of Lawyers—submitted two reports, one in English and one in Spanish, each highlighting various attacks on Assange’s right to due process and legal protections.

According to the English report, signed by 16 organizations and sent to the UN’s Universal Periodic Review, “The methods employed by the prosecutor in Mr. Assange’s case are a clear violation of his fundamental human rights, yet they remain beyond the reach of judicial review.”

A third report, signed by 33 human rights groups, media and civil society organisations, and unions from around the world petitioned the Human Rights Commission in Geneva to intervene on Assange’s behalf and called him a ’political prisoner’ under threat.