Streams of WikiLeaks

Frmr WSJ ed. and US Treasury Assistant Secretary: “Assange will be ‘suicided’ in prison” http://t.co/Di07kk via @Asher_Wolf

WikiLeaks: 30 new revelations from around the world http://t.co/iO9Ewe5 #wlfind

RT @ggreenwald: US Govt: we’re trying to kill Awlaki, but we won’t release information about him because that would invade his privacy: …

Summary. On January 8, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) decided to suspend movements inside Gaza following several security incidents involving IDF strikes on UN and ICRC staff, vehicles, and facilities. UNRWA and ICRC will continue some operations in Gaza that do not require IDF coordination. On January 9, UNRWA Deputy Commissioner General Filippo Grandi told RefCoord that UNRWA will resume movement inside Gaza only with “full guarantees” from the GOI that staff can move safely. ICRC is

via wikileaks.org

WikiLeaks: “NO CNN CAMERA CREWS!” - secret US cable on child prisoners in the Philippines. http://t.co/atXtlzj

Download entire latest Cablegate bittorrent archive http://t.co/kUjWJpE (end of page)

British media loves looting… when it is of Tripoli http://t.co/bgrYn9x

RT @JLLLOW: #QANDA tonite: “The Suelette Dreyfus vs. The Neocon Psychosis Smackdown Spectacular!” #WikiLeaks http://t.co/BeZz6do

RT @MaryKostakidis: Australian media starting to set the record straight on http://t.co/93yhrSh & http://t.co/JSuckNC

Strong bond … David Hicks with his father Terry this year. Photo: Janie Barrett

‘Know that if I make a deal it will be against my will. I just couldn’t hold out any longer. Unless the deal involves me coming straight home.’ - David Hicks predicts his future in 2004, in a never-before-published letter to his father, Terry. Natalie O’Brien reports.

• Read the letter from David Hicks

• Read the submission to the UN Human Rights Committee

DAVID HICKS was desperate, lonely and scared he would never get out of Guantanamo Bay unless he confessed to crimes he did not commit. The Americans were playing mind games with him. He was forced to make decisions about his future while chained to the floor of a cell. He was coerced into signing a ”plea guilty” form with ”al Qaida written all over it” in the belief it would be his ticket home.

Despite his predicament, Hicks believed he had a friend in Guantanamo - a guard named Albert Melise. It was to him, in April 2004, Hicks entrusted a long, handwritten letter to his father, Terry, in the hope it would get to him uncensored and reveal publicly the pressure he was under to falsely confess to war crimes.

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But Terry Hicks never received the letter. Melise, believing it was too risky to send, kept it.

Now, seven years later, that never-before-seen letter has surfaced as Hicks prepares for his first day in court. He is defending an action by the federal government to seize, as proceeds of crime, the royalties from his book Guantanamo: My Journey.

Hicks was captured in Afghanistan in 2001 by the Northern Alliance and handed over to US forces before being sent to Guantanamo Bay as an enemy combatant. He was a confessed terrorism supporter who received military training in Afghanistan and met Osama bin Laden. He says he now deeply regrets those decisions.

Three years later he was charged with conspiracy, attempted murder and aiding the enemy. He was committed to face trial before a military commission. Before any trial could proceed, the military commission system was declared unlawful. With a new commission set up, in early 2007, Hicks faced fresh charges and was committed to face trial.

But in March 2007 he struck a bargain and pleaded guilty to providing material support for terrorism in the new commission, which was later disbanded by the US President, Barack Obama, who said it did not establish a legitimate legal framework.

Under the deal, Hicks was sent back to Australia in May that year to serve nine months’ jail in Adelaide, gagged from speaking to the media for a year - effectively banning him from speaking until after the federal election in 2007.

Just what was going on behind the scenes during that time is clear from the letter that Melise - who has since left the military - gave to US journalist Jason Leopold from the publication Truthout during an interview about Guantanamo Bay this year.

Melise revealed the existence of the letter and said he never posted it because ”I was worried that if someone found out I mailed it,

I would have been arrested”.

The candid six-page letter documents the psychological torture of Hicks and how he eventually buckled under the pressure, saying he was ”weak”.

Melise has backed up Hicks’s claims of being mentally tortured. He told Leopold that Hicks’s physical torture had stopped by the time he arrived at Camp Echo but not the pyschological torture.

”He cut deals so [the torture] would stop,” Melise said. ”David is one of those people who was easily manipulated [into making false confessions]. He was an easy target for the interrogators. They knew they could break him mentally and physically, and they did.”

The letter begins with an acknowledgement of how Hicks believed Melise (whom he doesn’t name in the letter) helped him stay sane.

Hicks wrote:

”Dear Dad,

”If you receive this letter it is due to the goodness of somebody who I now feel I owe my life too. This letter is very important because it’s the first and probably only time I will be able to tell you the truth of my situation.

”Before I start I want you to know that the negative things I am going to say about people has nothing to do with the MP’s that are watching me. Some of them are marvellous people who have taken risks to help improve my day to day living. It’s because of such people that I have kept my sanity and still have some strenght left.

”In the early days before I made it to Cuba I received some harsh treatment in transportation including mild beatings (about 4). One lasted for 10 hours I went to camp x-ray, camp delta and now Im in camp echo. I have allways cooperated with interrogaters. For two years they had control of my life in the camps. If you talk and just agree with what their saying they give you real food, books and other special privileges. If not they can make your life hell. Im [sic] angry these days at myself for being so weak during these last two years. But I’ve always been so desperate to get out and to try to live the best I can while I am here.”

Hicks describes how, the year before, in 2003, the Americans asked him to sign a form, saying that if he did he would be moved to a better place and then within months he would be sent home.

”The form was a plea guilty form. It had al Qaida written all over it. It was a very bad form. Being so desperate (and weak) I didn’t care.

I just signed it,” Hicks wrote.

But he wrote that, after he signed, he realised it was a test to see how desperate he was. Hicks wrote that they did the same thing to a lot of the detainees at Gitmo but the British detainees who had refused to sign the forms had been sent home.

”They had done the same as me or more and yet I remain. They continue to keep me living in desperate conditions so I’ll make desperate decisions. Because I’ve signed once before they’re confident that I’ll sign again, if I suffer long enough.”

At first Hicks describes how they wanted him to plead guilty to being part of al-Qaeda and to do 10 years’ prison. Then, he writes, they changed their tune, dropping the charges of terrorism and conspiracy, instead trying to convince him to plead guilty to ”aiding the enemy and attempted murder meaning I went to the front lines bearing arms but didn’t have the opportunity to use them. Al Qaida name is still in the charge.”

Hicks writes that they are trying to bribe him with ”small bullshit things” to sign the new forms.

”On the other hand their saying don’t try to fight us in court. Just sign the form. If I sign the form

I can go first (quickly) but if I decided to fight them I’ll be pushed down the list, maybe about 2 years. I am writing this in April. They say by signing it I will probably start hearings in May. If I don’t sign it they are going to further threaten me.

I think their next step will be to put me in camp 5. A very bad place with complete isolation. They know this is my worst nightmare. If I end up there

I will probably lose my sanity or crack and sign their bullshit forms. Thats what they want. Thier [sic] next threats after this will be to accuse me of outrageous crimes. Being a member of al Qaida, conspiracy with them such as preparing to kill hundreds of civilians etc. They may even go public with it. I believe they are playing a game of bluff with me. They don’t want to take me to court because surely they know they won’t get away with such nonsense. But they have brain washed me into thinking that they can get away with whatever they want. Maybe they can?”

Hicks tells his father he wants to research and choose his own lawyers and he ”should not be made to make major decisions while being chained to the floor which is how I always am when speaking to lawyers”.

In the letter, Hicks talks about how he was being pressured to drop his Australian lawyer, Stephen Kenny.

”The American lawyers are telling me that Steve is not capable of this job and I should get rid of him and take a new Australian lawyer that they choose for me.”

Stephen Kenny confirmed to The Sun-Herald last week that the US lawyers told him the Australian government would not negotiate while he was on the team. ”I was told it was political,” Kenny said.

Hicks writes that if he makes a deal it will be against his will and says that he if tries to fight them it will be hard for him.

”And no matter what they accuse me of you know that I haven’t committed crimes. But I was a soldier. No different to the guards around me …

”As you can see dad, I feel really alone and I’m scared of being f—-ed over by the government. It makes me angry how they lie and get away with it. I feel that my only chance of justice will come from outside sources such as public awareness of whats happening here behind closed doors. Why is the government being so secretive. What are they ashamed of.”

Hicks finishes the letter by saying he is disappointed in the Australian government and the lack of help it gave to him.

”If I commited a crime I can be man enough to accept the consequences but I shouldn’t have to admit to things I haven’t done or listen to these people falsely accuse me. We can’t let them get away with it. Especially if a shonky court is allowed to prosecute me with false crime. But it seems to be thier intentions. How do we stop it?

I could go on about all the small things that happen.”

via smh.com.au

Statement by Julian Assange on the reported destruction of WikiLeaks source material by Daniel Domscheit-Berg

Sat Aug 20 23:25:00 2011 GMT

WikiLeaks does not record or retain source identifying information, however the claimed destruction of documents entrusted to WikiLeaks between January 2010 and August 2010 demands the revelation of inside information so sources can make their own risk assessments.

Early in 2010, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, (then “Daniel Berg”, “Daniel Schmitt”) (born 1978), who was responsible for keeping selected WikiLeaks backups, met and entered into a relationship with Anke Domscheit-Berg (then, “Anke Domscheit”) (born 1968) who described her job title as “Director Government Relations” for Microsoft, Germany.

DDB told me that ADB’s role was to interface with the German government on behalf of Microsoft. He was proud that he had been to a party at the German ministry of the interior, as ADB’s consort, and that ADB was on intimate terms with senior figures in the German government and bureaucracy.

DDB told me that he had moved into ADBs house in Berlin, without any counter-intelligence cover, going so far as to place his legal name on a street visible mail box and the interior door and that he would work from this location.

At this point WikiLeaks issued a policy directive that DDB not be permitted contact with source material.

ADB and DDB officially married within a few weeks and changed their surnames to “Domscheit-Berg”.

DDB secretly, and in clear violation of WikiLeaks internal security directives, recorded internal WikiLeaks encrypted “chat” conversations. He initially publicly denied having done so, but attempted to place many of these recordings into his ghostwritten book, most of which were rejected by his publishers’ lawyers as violations of german privacy law. Others he secretly conveyed to hostile media, such as Wired magazine, which had been involved in the arrest and persecution of US intelligence analyst Bradley Manning.

His book, “Inside WikiLeaks”, contains many proven malicious libels and breaches of WikiLeaks security policies. The book is promoted throughout U.S. military book stores, by the U.S. military.

After DDB’s suspension in August 2010, he managed, through guile, to convince a German WikiLeaks system administrator, who was an old associate of DDB’s, to obtain the keys and data for a large quantity of then pending WikiLeaks whistleblower disclosures.

In the last year there has been publicly declared task forces or investigations into WikiLeaks by the CIA, the Pentagon, the FBI, the Department of State, the DoJ, ASIO, ASIS, and the AFP (the last has now been publicly cancelled, finding that no Australian laws have been broken). Many other agencies, such as the NSA have also been involved, but not publicly declared.

I have received a warning from a current Western intelligence officer that DDB has been in contact with the FBI, on more than one occasion, and that the information from this contact was “helpful”. I do not know if DDB was complicit with the reported contact.

David House, of the Bradley Manning Support Network, stated publicly, and repeatedly, that U.S. investigative authorities attempted to bribe him to become an informant and infiltrate WikiLeaks activities.

I have been told that the girlfriend of a Berlin-based Israeli intelligence officer attended the wedding of ADB and DDB. This may not be significant.

I have received intelligence from current Western intelligence officer, that Anke Domscheit Berg, personally, came into contact with the CIA during her time working for the McKinsey & Company consulting group. This was a direct, volunteered statement of fact and warning, and not a statement of speculation. I do not know if ADB was complicit in the reported
contact.

J. Assange http://tl.gd/chdoeo · Reply

via twitlonger.com

WikiLeaks Guatemala: Plaza Publica - Martínez Lohayza (GANA) investigado por narcotráfico | http://t.co/8qX8Vvn

RT @issylvia: Democracies learn from Mubarak’s example: democratic governments crack down on freedom of expression | Al Jazeera http://t …

Security flaws in OpenLeaks (note, also, GoDaddy is US controlled) http://t.co/l0QyDKg

Responsible department: Home Office

The accusations against Mr. Assange (he has yet to be officially charged with any crime) do not fall inside the realms of illegality under British law; many legal minds have dubbed them trivial and, more importantly, a waste of the court’s time. The original case was dropped within 24 hours whilst Mr. Assange was still in Sweden, proving also that even if seen through Swedish eyes the charges have no legal substance. The continuation of the prosecution (and resulting persecution) of a man who has done nothing wrong under the laws of the country which imprisons him is unacceptable and must be reviewed impartially by the British government. The British government should review the accusations against Mr. Assange and come to a decision as to whether or not his continued prosecution is necessary - all of this without intervention from Sweden, which already dropped the case while it was in its hands and whose input is therefore considerably less relevant.

via epetitions.direct.gov.uk

(New York) – Internal military documents that recently came to light expose the Indonesian military’s surveillance of peaceful activists, politicians, and clergy in the easternmost province of Papua, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch urged the Indonesian government to order the military to cease the unlawful monitoring immediately, and to ensure that civilian authorities retain responsibility for basic law enforcement.

The approximately 500 pages of documents, dated 2006 to 2009, include detailed reports of military surveillance of civilians and provide military perspectives on social and political issues in the area. Most are fromIndonesia’s Special Forces (Komando Pasukan Khusus, or Kopassus) and the Cenderawasih military command in Jayapura, the provincial capital. They range from internal briefings, presentations, teaching tools, and intelligence products such as daily and quarterly Kopassus reports, to a paper on the status of Papua under international law. A separate document that came to light recently describes a surveillance operation in 2011, indicating that such surveillance continues.

“The Kopassus documents show the deep military paranoia in Papua that conflates peaceful political expression with criminal activity,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “It’s outrageous in a modern democratic country like Indonesia that activists, clergy, students, and politicians are the targets of military surveillance.”

via hrw.org

RT @dpa_techticker: CCC schließt Daniel Domscheit-Berg aus, Vorstand wirft OpenLeaks-Gründer vor, “den guten Ruf des Vereins ausgebeutet …

via bradleymanning.org