Kia ora to the Editor and journalists at ------------
As a journalist, the case of Julian Assange should be of concern to you as it has grave implications for the freedom of journalists to hold power to account, their expectation to be able to seek, receive and hold information and to expect adherence to the rule of law and to international treaties and conventions from not only our own government and from the governments of our trading partners but from the international community in general.
The government of the United States of America is going to have another go at snatching award-winning Australian Julian Assange from the leg irons of the British government in an appeal for his extradition to the U.S. to be heard in London on the 27th and 28th of October 2021.
Ostensibly we New Zealanders live in a democracy but our media professionals have mysteriously been showing very little interest in what the European Federation of Journalists is calling 'an extremely dangerous precedent' which is already having a chilling effect on journalists' willingness to investigate stories that truly hold power to account.
Consequently there is very little awareness about this case among the New Zealand public and a commensurate lack of concern that might otherwise translate (given that we are a functioning, responsive democracy ) into diplomatic pressure from our Ministry of Foreign Affairs to have Julian Assange released, in the first instance , and ultimately, to start investigations into the evidence of violations of the Geneva Convention by U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Head over to www.newzealandersforjulianassange.org.nz to send a message to our elected representatives to ask that they request action on Julian Assange by our Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hon. Nanaia Mahuta.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please spend a few minutes to copy- paste>send the following ( feel free to edit or add your own words ) message to our elected representatives
to request action on the case of Julian Assange by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Nanaia Mahuta. ( and send this message on to others who may be concerned ) .
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject : Please request action re Julian Assange by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Hon. Nanaia Mahuta.
Dear ( elected representative's addresses are here ).
Kia ora.
Award-winning Australian journalist Julian Assange is in his 3rd year of arbitrary detention in solitary confinement in London's Belmarsh Maximum Security Prison awaiting an appeal by the U.S. Government on the 27th and 28th of October 2021 to extradite him on 17 espionage-related charges for having published evidence of U.S. military forces having committed breaches of the Geneva Convention during their invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.
The United Nations Human Rights Council have deemed that Julian Assange must be guaranteed freedom of movement ,that he has a right to compensation and their Special Rapporteur on Torture , Prof. Nils Melzer has determined that this ongoing abitrary detention in solitary confinement by the British authorities amounts to torture.
29th of September 2021 The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe General Rapporteur has just expressed serious concern at reports that US officials discussed assassinating Julian Assange as reported by Yahoo! News - who former CIA Chief Mike Pompeo is now calling for the prosecution of.
In February 2021 , our Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hon. Nanaia Mahuta responded to our request that action on Assange be taken stating that :
"Aotearoa New Zealand is a strong proponent of the international rules based system.
Aotearoa New Zealand and the international community both have an interest in seeing the human rights of detainees protected,
and their cases handled in accordance with the rule of law and relevant international conventions.
The New Zealand Government has not taken a position on Mr Assange’s current judicial proceedings or his detention.
These are matters for Mr Assange and his legal representatives to resolve with the relevant authorities. "
"
Clearly we can see ( and the non-binding declarations by the United Nations experts confirm) that this case is NOT being handled in accordance with the rule of law or with the relevant international conventions and therefore it is incumbant on the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade to deliver diplomatic protests to the governments of the United States of America and the United Kingdom stating that the ongoing arbitrary detention and torture of Julian Assange must end immediately as it raises serious issues of international law, for the future of press freedom and to call for a full investigation into the dysfunction in their system that has allowed this 'intimidation and reprisal' to occur - and to commence with investigations into the evidence of breaches of the Geneva Conventions by U.S. and British military in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Naku noa na ( your name )
for ( your organisation )
( contact : )
( date )