#whistleblowers #assange

October 22, 2012
John Kiriakou's story is the story of another of another US citizen, being targeted by the US Government, because he spoke to a reporter about abuses he saw, and answered honestly. He was the first person to speak about the practice of water-boarding techniques in US military prisons.

His life has been utterly destroyed.

He worked for the CIA. Once he spoke, his wife was also fired from her job. They lost everything. They are barely able to survive. Taking away the financial viability of a person who speaks is one of the most common but devastating tactics used. Those in power do not care if his wife and children are harmed. It is cruel, and it is ruthless treatment. It is designed to make sure others do not show such courage. But they underestimate the strength of those who have the capacity to see and speak.

John is facing 20 years in prison. Please read his story below. He is also on Twitter:
@JohnKiriakou

October 26, 2012
John Kiriakou pled guilty, in order to receive a reduced sentence of 30 months, versus tens of years. This is a sad outcome, as it paves the way for others to intimidate whistle-blowers and keep them from talking about ethical concerns of torture behind closed doors. Mr. Kiriahou was the first person to talk about the technique of water-boarding being used against prisoners by the US military.

A description of who was allowed to thrive and who was tortured:

October 22, 2012

Julian Assange: Why We need the Architecture of Wikileaks.

Julian Assange speaking at a 2009 ARS Electronica conference, before he became a household name. This short excerpt simply reveals what is good and valuable about Wikileaks. It makes it unfathomable that anyone in a position to protect others, would want to silence this effort.

June 17, 2012
Below is an update on the Julian Assange case. There is little chance that Julian Assange will avoid losing his liberty for his publishing efforts. Since his restrictive house arrest in the UK Assange has done remarkably well at trying to shift the attention to who he really is rather than who particular camps are trying to say he is. But this effort will eventually grow silent as it becomes submerged over time if he is imprisoned, first in a Swedish jail and possibly later in a US prison.

Bradley Manning who allegedly provided Wikileaks with the US military content, has been in prison, awaiting his trial, for nearly 2 years. Recent photo's show him pale and thin. If you view the photos of Assange from 2010 until 2012, you will  see the damage to his health and the rapid aging of his body because of the stress of his ordeal. These changes to the health and well being of those who dare to risk leaking truth about the actions of those in power, is the desired outcome of those who wish to silence future leaks.

Assange and Manning are and will be used as an example to anyone who considers exposing the unethical actions of a corrupt government or institution. During the Roman occupation of Israel, over two thousand years ago, Roman leaders made examples of Jews who stood up to their power by nailing entire communities to crosses and placing hundreds of these crosses on the highest ridges so passerby's and those who lived in surrounding areas would be constantly reminded of what might happen if they took similar actions to challenge the authority of the Romans. It was a form of media.

Those in power today do not need to take such bloody actions. Instead the media provides images for us to ponder our fate. We watch the diminished bodies and voices of once strong, articulate and healthy individuals who dared to speak out. Some who speak out in the US become the victims of assassins and the same powers that helped design these murders co-opt their lives by creating public holidays memorializing them. It is important for us to remember a holiday remembering a silenced voice or life, is not a fair exchange for the loss of work that they could have carried out had they been allowed to live. We need to remember this when we think about the fate of Julian Assange. He is not without his own weaknesses. But consider what the world would be like, if everyone was afraid to shed light on the wrongful actions carried out under the cover of might. We need his voice and that of those who will come after him, however imperfect they may be.

Below is a helpful article by attorney and activist Sue Basko, written today, June 17, 2012.

January 2012

The whistleblower's below all share certain experiences. They all reported horrific and wrongful acts by those who exploited their positions of authority, undertaking crimes and unethical actions harming hundreds of people. Rather than commend those reporting, their employers, (often companies related to government or law enforcement), fired them, created false stories about them to discredit them, which they published and submitted in court documents. Most of them experienced threats. Some experienced death threats.

It is time we become aware of the way whistle-blowers are treated. We need to create laws to stop those who exploit their positions of authority. These unethical people not only to carry out crimes, but then help to destroy those whose brave acts have protected the lives of many innocent people; changing the course of history for the better.

Below: Today was the first of two British Supreme court hearings considering the extradition of Wikileaks founder and international whistleblower Julian Assange to Sweden. He is wanted for "questioning", not charges, of sexual assault. These hearings are important as his extradition may open the door to the use of international law by governments to silence a whistleblower. 

The article below mentions that the US may be conflicted over whether to seek to indite him on charges such as espionage, (if they can get access to him after his extradition to Sweden). Apparently the conflict has emerged as some officials argue that the 400+ days of house arrest in Britain, and the financial blockade of Wikileaks by US banks, has sufficiently rendered him irrelevant. This opinion clearly shows that their interest in inditing him, was merely to silence him.

Below: Article with statistics on worker's willingness to blow the whistle on wrong-doing they observe. 

Below: Sex-trafficking Whistle-blowers working for US government contractor, Dyna Corp.

Story on Kathryn Bolkovac, a former police officer, who took a private sector with Dyna Corp, a us military consulting firm, in Bosnia, where she discovered sex-trafficking of under age girls. Another Dyna Corp employee, Ben Johnston, reported the same. Both were fired after their claims were substantiated and nothing was done about the sex-slave issues. Multiple and false claims were created about the whistle-blowers, and published in court documents. 

Below:
Interview with Bradley Manning's kindred whislteblower Dan Ellsberg, about the heroic choices Manning has made. He says Manning is likely being pressured in prison to go against #Assange and #Wikileaks and this is why his court martial has not proceeded yet. He believes his not caving to this extreme pressure speaks highly of his ethics. 

from Twitter: 

@DanielEllsberg My latest on #BradleyManning http://ow.ly/8nLMv