After visiting Julian Assange in the London prison where he is serving a 50-week sentence for skipping bail, a United Nations expert warned Friday that the WikiLeaks founder is showing “all symptoms typical for prolonged exposure to psychological torture” and demanded an end to U.S. extradition attempts.
In a statement, Nils Meltzer—the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture—issued a scathing rebuke of the U.S., the United Kingdom, Ecuador, and Sweden for their treatment of Assange, who was reportedly too ill to appear via video at a scheduled extradition hearing on Thursday.
“In 20 years of work with victims of war, violence, and political persecution, I have never seen a group of democratic states ganging up to deliberately isolate, demonize, and abuse a single individual for such a long time.”
—Nils Meltzer, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture
Meltzer, who was accompanied on his visit by two medical experts, said Assange was experiencing “physical ailments” as well as “extreme stress, chronic anxiety, and intense psychological trauma” in part due to the Trump administration’s efforts to extradite and prosecute him for exposing U.S. war crimes and other state secrets.
“In 20 years of work with victims of war, violence, and political persecution, I have never seen a group of democratic states ganging up to deliberately isolate, demonize, and abuse a single individual for such a long time and with so little regard for human dignity and the rule of law,” said Meltzer. “The collective persecution of Julian Assange must end here and now!”
If Assange is extradited to the U.S., Meltzer warned, he “would be exposed to a real risk of serious violations of his human rights, including his freedom of expression, his right to a fair trial, and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.”
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