Category: News
The latest news from Courage Foundation
On August 15, 2024, we announced that, alongside Defending Rights & Dissent and Roots Action, the Courage Foundation has co-organized a new coalition of media freedom advocates, news rooms and journalists, to co-author a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging the U.S. to immediately cease sending weapons to Israel amid the country’s widespread killing of journalists in Palestine.
As we write to Sec. Blinken, Israel has killed at least 160 journalists in Palestine since the beginning of its assault on Gaza, it has imposed military censorship on both its own journalists and international reporters and has intentionally targeted reporters to shield its war from global scrutiny. The letter calls the U.S. to immediately stop abetting Israel’s war on journalists by ceasing the transfer of all weapons to the country.
“By providing the weapons being used to deliberately kill journalists, you are complicit in one of the gravest affronts to press freedom today.”
The letter was signed by seven press freedom organizations, 20 news outlets, and 113 journalists, including Pulitzer Prize-winners Spencer Ackerman, Laura Poitras, Kai Bird, and Chris Hedges, WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson, James Bamford of PBS, Tareq Hajjaj of Mondoweiss, and Ryan Grim of Drop Site News, among many more.
The Nation op-ed
The following day, our Executive Director Nathan Fuller and Defending Rights & Dissent’s Policy Director Chip Gibbons published an op-ed in The Nation magazine, explaining why we organized this coalition now.
“After 10 months of indiscriminate bombing, we all must speak up. Only with contentious people around the world loudly condemning these horrific abuses can we hope to create the necessary international pressure to bring them to an end.
Earlier this year, Secretary Blinken called on “every nation to do more to protect journalists” while affirming “unwavering support for free and independent media around the world.” But just 13 days after Israel killed Ismail al-Ghoul, and 12 days after the IDF justified his murder, the United States approved a $20 billion weapons package to Israel, to include fighter jets and other military equipment. Blinken’s words ring hollow, and the journalist death toll continues to rise.”
Read the full piece here.
Free press orgs
Defending Rights and Dissent
Freedom of the Press Foundation
Roots Action
Media Coverage
Democracy Now
Literary Hub
Antiwar.com
Common Dreams
Middle East Eye
World Beyond War
Al Mayadeen
Mehr News
Signatories
The following letter has been sent to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken by a coalition of journalists and press freedom advocates in solidarity with their colleagues facing targeted killings in Palestine. Read our press release about the letter here.
Dear Secretary Blinken,
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed more than 160 Palestinian journalists. This is the largest recorded number of journalists killed in any war. While Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of the densely populated Gaza means no civilians are safe, Israel has also been repeatedly documented deliberately targeting journalists.
Israel’s military actions are not possible without U.S. weapons, U.S. military aid, and U.S. diplomatic support. By providing the weapons being used to deliberately kill journalists, you are complicit in one of the gravest affronts to press freedom today.
On World Press Freedom Day this year, you called on “every nation to do more to protect journalists,” and reiterated your “unwavering support for free and independent media around the world.”
As journalists, publications and press freedom groups in solidarity with the courageous Palestinian journalists of Gaza, we call on you to do more to protect journalists and show unwavering support for free and independent media by supporting an arms embargo against Israel.
Israel has gone to great lengths to suppress media coverage of its war in Gaza, imposing military censorship on both its own journalists and international reporters operating in the country; and, with Egypt’s help, blocking all foreign journalists from Gaza. Israel shut down Al Jazeera, raided its office, seized its equipment, and blocked its broadcasts and website within Israel. The world relies only on the Palestinian journalists in Gaza to report the truth about the war and Israel’s widespread violations of international law.
Israel’s deliberate targeting of these journalists seems intended to impose a near blackout on coverage of its assault on Gaza. Investigations by United Nations bodies, NGOs, and media organizations, have all found instances of deliberate targeting of journalists.
In a joint statement, five UN special rapporteurs declared:
“Israel has also killed journalists during the war outside of Gaza, such as on October 13, 2023 when an Israeli tank fired across the Lebanese border at clearly identified press, killing a Reuters reporter and injuring six other journalists.”
Under international law, the intentional targeting of journalists is a war crime.5 While all governments are bound by international law protecting reporters, U.S. domestic law also prohibits the State Department from providing assistance to units of foreign security forces credibly accused of gross violations of human rights. Israel’s well-documented pattern of extrajudicial executions of journalists is a gross violation of human rights.
Additionally, the First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the American people’s right to receive information and ideas.7 Israel’s deliberate targeting of journalists follows a longstanding pattern by the Israeli government to suppress truthful reporting on its treatment of Palestinians and its war in Gaza. By providing Israel with the weapons used to kill journalists, the State Department is abetting Israel’s violent suppression of journalism.
The US is providing the weapons Israel continually uses to target Palestinian journalists in Gaza. This is a violation of International law and U.S. domestic law. We urge you to immediately cease the transfer of all weapons to Israel.
“We have received disturbing reports that, despite being clearly identifiable in jackets and helmets marked “press” or traveling in well-marked press vehicles, journalists have come under attack, which would seem to indicate that the killings, injury, and detention are a deliberate strategy by Israeli forces to obstruct the media and silence critical reporting.”
Signed,
113 journalists
20 news outlets
7 press freedom organizations
Journalists
Abby Martin, The Empire Files
Adam H Johnson
Aída Chávez
Akayla Galloway, The Social Justice Center
Alex Han, In These Times
Alex Press, Jacobin
Ameen Izzadeen, The Sunday Times, Colombo
Amy K. Sater
Andy Lee Roth
April Alonso, Cicero Independiente
Arun Gupta
Azad Essa, Middle East Eye
Ben Burgis, Jacobin
Branko Marcetic, Jacobin
Britney Schultz, Truthout
Brittany M. Brown
Cathy Vogan, Consortium News
Charles Glass, Former ABC News Chief Mideast Correspondent
Chip Gibbons, Defending Rights & Dissent
Chris Hedges
Cody Bloomfield
Dahr Jamail, Independent Journalist
Dan Sheehan
Daniel Denvir, Host of The Dig podcast
Daniel Larison
Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com
Dave Reed, Mondoweiss
David Lindorff, Independent journalist, 54 years in the profession
David Pierce Griscom, Left Reckoning
David Swanson, World BEYOND War
David Zirin, The Nation Magazine
Dennis J. Bernstein, KPFA/PACIFICA RADIO/FLASHPOINTS
Doug Henwood, KFPA radio
Dr. Maha Hilal, Muslim Counterpublics Lab
Eleanor Goldfield
Eli Clifton
Erik Baker, Associate editor, The Drift
Frances Madeson, Member of National Writers Union
Gareth Porter, Independent Journalist
Gunar Olsen
Irene Romulo
Jack McGrath, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
Jack Mirkinson
Jake Romm, Protean Magazine
James Bamford, Author and Contributing Writer at The Nation
James Fox, Airmail News
Jeff Cohen, Founding Director of Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College
Jeffrey St. Clair, CounterPunch
Jen Deerinwater, Crushing Colonialism
Jim Lafferty, Host, Public affairs show Law and Disorder
Joe Lauria, Consortium News
Joel Whitney
John Hanrahan
Jonathan Cook
Joshua Frank, CounterPunch
Ju-Hyun Park, The Real News
Kai Bird
Kelley B. Vlahos, Responsible Statecraft
Kevin Gosztola
Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks
Lara Witt
Laura Poitras
Lena
Lidia Alvarez
Liza Featherstone
Loretta Graceffo, Truthout
Luke O’Neil, Welcome to Hell World
Luke Savage, Columnist, Jacobin
Malcolm Harris
Marjorie Cohn, Truthout
Matt Kennard, Declassified UK
Maureen Clare Murphy, The Electronic Intifada
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network
Maya Schenwar, Truthout
Meagan Day, Jacobin
Micah Uetricht
Michael Arria , Mondoweiss
Mickey Huff, Director, Project Censored
Natasha Lennard
Nathan Fuller, Courage Foundation
Nathan J. Robinson, Current Affairs
Nathan Tankus
Nausicaa Renner, Drop Site News
Negin Owliaei, Truthout
Nick French, Jacobin
Nima Shirazi, Citations Needed
Noah Kulwin
Norman Solomon
Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss.net
Richard Silverstein, Tikun Olam
Robert Scheer, University of Southern California
Roberto Savio, Othernews
Rosette Sewali
Rune Ottosen, PEN Norway
Ryan Grim, Drop Site News
Sam Carliner
Sam Sacks, Means TV – MMN
Samantha Borek, Truthout
Sarah Lazare
Séamus Malekafzali, Freelance
Seraj Assi, Jacobin
Seth Ackerman, Editor at Large, Jacobin
Shaheryra Mirza, Middle East Eye
Sharon Zhang, Truthout
Skip Kaltenheuser, Have Pen Will Travel, freelance based in DC
Spencer J. Ackerman
Stefania Maurizi, Investigative Journalist, Il Fatto Quotidiano
Tareq S Hajjaj, Mondoweiss
Tim Shorrock, Independent writer
Tony Sutton, ColdType
Umar Farooq
Y. L. al-Sheikh
Press Freedom Organizations
Courage Foundation
Defending Rights & Dissent
FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting)
Freedom of the Press Foundation
Project Censored
RootsAction
Whistleblower & Source Protection Program (WHISPeR) at ExposeFacts
News Outlets
Antiwar.com
Cicero Independiente
Citations Needed
ColdType
Consortium News
CounterPunch
Crushing Colonialism
Current Affairs
Drop Site News
Law and Disorder
In These Times
Middle East Eye
Mondoweiss
Othernews
Progressive Hub
The Real News Network
Tikun Olam
Truthout
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
Welcome to Hell World
The Courage Foundation has partnered with Defending Rights & Dissent and RootsAction to organize a coalition of journalists and press freedom advocates in solidarity with Palestinian journalists under assault in Gaza.
News outlets, press freedom organizations, and more than 100 journalists, including 4 Pulitzer Prize winners, have written to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging the U.S. to immediately cease sending weapons to Israel amid the country’s widespread killing of journalists in Palestine. The letter was initiated by the Courage Foundation, Defending Rights & Dissent, and Roots Action.
“Israel’s military actions are not possible without U.S. weapons, U.S. military aid, and U.S. diplomatic support,” the journalists write. “By providing the weapons being used to deliberately kill journalists, you are complicit in one of the gravest affronts to press freedom today.”
113 journalists, 20 news outlets, and 7 press freedom organizations, largely based in the U.S, have sent a joint letter to Sec. Blinken, calling on the U.S. to stop sending weapons to Israel that are used to kill Palestinian journalists.
Chip Gibbons, Policy Director, Defending Rights & Dissent, said:
“By providing Israel the weapons it uses to kill Palestinian journalists, the U.S. is complicit in these horrifying crimes. It is not enough for the State Department to issue words of concern or request Israel investigate its own crimes. That is why in this historic move, journalists, news outlets, and press freedom groups are joining together to tell the State Department that the only way to support press freedom is to impose an arms embargo on Israel.”
Nathan Fuller, executive director of the Courage Foundation, said:
“The United States cannot continue to claim it defends press freedom and upholds democratic values while continuing to arm a government that intentionally kills journalists in Palestine. We stand in solidarity with Palestinian reporters who are braving nightmarish conditions every single day to bring us the truth of this horrific assault, and we mourn those we have already lost to U.S. weapons deployed by Israel. The U.S. must reverse course immediately.”
Israel has killed at least 160 journalists in Palestine since the beginning of its assault on Gaza, the largest recorded number of journalists killed in any war. As the signers note, Israel has intentionally targeted reporters to shield its war from global scrutiny:
“Israel’s deliberate targeting of these journalists seems intended to impose a near blackout on coverage of its assault on Gaza. Investigations by United Nations bodies, NGOs, and media organizations, have all found instances of deliberate targeting of journalists.”
Furthermore, Israel has imposed military censorship on both its own journalists and international reporters operating in the country, blocking all foreign journalists from Gaza, shutting down Al Jazeera, raiding its office and blocking its broadcasts and website within Israel.
The letter underlines that under international law, the intentional targeting of journalists is a war crime. Additionally, U.S. domestic law prohibits the State Department from providing assistance to foreign security forces credibly accused of gross violations of human rights, such as Israel’s well-documented pattern of extrajudicial executions of journalists.
The signatories remind Blinken that he recently called on “every nation to do more to protect journalists,” and reiterated his “unwavering support for free and independent media around the world”, and ask him to stand by his words. The letter concludes with a call to immediately stop abetting Israel’s war on journalists by ceasing the transfer of all weapons to the country.
“By providing Israel with the weapons used to kill journalists, the State Department is abetting Israel’s violent suppression of journalism. The U.S. is providing the weapons Israel continually uses to target Palestinian journalists in Gaza. This is a violation of International law and U.S. domestic law. We urge you to immediately cease the transfer of all weapons to Israel.”
Download a PDF version of the letter and this press release, below.
Quotes from the letter’s signers
Spencer Ackerman, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of “Reign of Terror: How The 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump.”
“Journalism is not a crime, and must never be a death sentence. When Russia kills and imprisons journalists, the U.S. is appropriately vocal in condemnation, but when Israel does it, the U.S. falls silent. Yet every Palestinian, Lebanese, American – remember Shireen Abu Akleh – and other journalist that Israel has killed implicates its patron, the United States, which possesses the leverage to stop Israel’s onslaught.”
Seraj Assi, a Palestinian writer living in Washington, DC, and the author, most recently, of My Life As An Alien (Tartarus Press)
“By targeting Palestinian journalists and their families, Israel is trying to cover up its genocide in Gaza and kill Palestinians in the dark. I’m also extremely worried about the safety of the remaining Palestinian journalists in Gaza, who have been in the crosshairs of the Israeli military for more than ten months. Unless we act now, Israel will continue to slaughter journalists in Gaza without consequences.”
Tareq Hajjaj, Gaza correspondent for Mondoweiss,
“Mr. Blinken,
I had a great life in Gaza City. I had a home, a job, and my family was around me!
My home was bombed by U.S made bombs, my city was levelled as well, and my family got separated. Some of them got killed and others got injured. I’m homeless now because of this war, thousands of families are like me!
Mr Blinken, I don’t think this is the purpose of arming Israel! These weapons are only damaging our lives, and pushed us to leave our homeland, and we are civilians, Mr. Blinken!”
James Bamford, bestselling author and journalist
“There is no better definition of courage than to be a journalist reporting from Gaza in the midst of a genocidal war of forced starvation and mass killing of innocent civilians. The Biden/Harris administration must stop sending weapons and aid to Israel until it ends its slaughter.”
Categories
A global movement freed Assange
Thank you, supporters around the world, for your contributions to Julian’s release
By Nathan Fuller, Assange Defense director
Stephen Rohde has written an excellent article on Julian Assange’s release, and the threat remaining to press freedom, “Until Julian Assange Is Pardoned, Press Freedom Remains at Risk.” Rohde asked me to comment on how we got here, and while he quoted from it briefly, I wanted to share my full response:
The movement to free Julian Assange has been a truly global effort. Activists on nearly every continent, in dozens of countries and hundreds of cities have each played a meaningful part in securing Julian’s release. I’m so happy for Julian, finally getting the freedom he’s deserved for so long, and I am so proud and honored to have been a part of that effort, and to have met so many amazing people along the way.
While a plea deal was signed at the culmination of this saga, what happened outside of the courtroom has been just as important as inside. Knowing that process can be punishment, that justice delayed is denied, and that this case has always been political as well as legal, we have always tried to influence both our fellow citizens and our elected officials just as much as any judge.
We carried out just about every action we could think of as we tried to spread the word and communicate the importance of this case. We rallied in the streets, hosted panel discussions, called our representatives, wrote op-eds, shared blog posts, produced videos, created artworks — if there’s a method to communicate, you can bet an Assange activist used it to shout loud and clear, ‘Free Assange!’
This effort required incredible teamwork and voices in every corner of civil society speaking up. Groups of lawyers, professors, artists, politicians, doctors, journalists, and free press and human rights organizations have all coauthored letters to the United States and United Kingdom governments, calling for Julian’s freedom.
The Courage Foundation had already been underway for half a decade when Assange was arrested in April 2019, having worked to defend and support Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, Lauri Love, and others, and we’d already been covering the abuses and persecution Julian faced while in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London before that. I started meeting regularly with likeminded activists in the United States, and I want to shout out specifically the people I met with on a regular basis for those first couple years: our group included Vinnie DeStefano, who became our national organizer, Margaret Kunstler, Marty Goodman, Jim Lafferty, Stephen Rohde, Ann Batiza, Paula Iasella, Susan McLucas, Deborah Hrbek, Patricia Dahl, Dick and Sharon Kyle, Michael Smith, Chuck Zlatkin, Bernadette Evangelist, Jeff Mackler, Mike Madden, Frank Lawrence, Eric Harvey, Suzanne Murphy, Kendra Christian, Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, Joe Lombardo, and over the years several more came in and out, and we decided a new committee was needed here in the U.S. (Courage had been an international organization).
Soon Ben Cohen stepped in to help us build up a real campaign team. I’ve always been proud of our reach, particularly with limited funds and so many volunteers, and the fact that we quickly created branches in cities all across the country, starting with NYC, LA, Denver, Milwaukee, Boston, Washington DC, and Chicago. By tabling for Assange at Roger Waters’ U.S. tour, as well as at screenings of Ithaka with Julian’s brother and father, we were able to expand even further, building out our network with supporters in just about every major city in the United States.
We’ve organized and carried out dozens of campaigns within the larger goal of freeing Assange. We’ve cohosted a webinar series with Stella Assange, we’ve lobbied congress with letters and emails and phone calls and postcards, we’ve created pamphlets and flyers and posters and collages and montages. Activist groups in New York City and London were in the streets every week for years, sounding the alarm, never giving up.
Assange Defense has been a part of or uplifted many of these efforts, but we are far from the only ones — there are so many groups and activists who have been dedicated to this fight, including Free Assange in the UK (formerly Don’t Extradite Assange), the Australian Assange Campaign, support groups across Europe and Latin America, individuals across the United States undertaking solo efforts to get the word out. It’s amazing how wide-reaching this movement is and how many people have gotten involved.
Exactly how many supporters we have around the world feels impossible to measure, but we’ve seen petitions with hundreds of thousands of signatures, livestreams with a quarter million total views, and have been able to sell out movie theaters and fill lecture halls at various events. At Courage, even before his arrest we launched a photo campaign in support of Julian called We Are Millions, and it really does feel like it took the global village to free him. I’m really proud to have been one leader among many others within that movement, and to see our indefatigable, passionate work finally pay off.
June 27, 2024 — Julian Assange has reached a plea deal for time served and has been released from Belmarsh Prison on June 24, 2024, after 1901 days unjustly detained (and a dozen years persecuted) for his journalism. He flew to Bangkok and then to Saipan Island, a U.S. overseas territory, where a hearing to formalize the plea deal took place, finally landing in Canberra, in the evening of June 26.
Julian’s freedom was welcomed and celebrated around the world.
Free press groups that fought for Julian’s freedom over the years, welcomed the good news, while also noting that the fight for press freedom is far from over, as US prosecution has already set a dangerous precedent.
Politicians, journalists, activists, public figures, long time supporters, celebrated Julian’s freedom, while emphasizing the work of millions of unknown activists who dedicated their lives to freeing him—and us all.
Categories
Julian’s release
From London to Bangkok to Saipan to Canberra, Julian Assange arrives home a free man.
June 26, 2024 — Upon his release from Belmarsh prison on June 24th, following a plea deal agreement with the US government, Julian Assange boarded a plane to Bangkok and then to Saipan Island, a US overseas territory, where a hearing to formalize the plea deal took place.
“It appears this case ends with me here in Saipan”, said judge Manglona before who Julian’s plea deal was presented. “With this pronouncement it appears you will be able to walk out of this courtroom a free man. I hope there will be some peace restored.”
At a press conference after the hearing concluded, Julian Assange’s US attorney Barry Pollack further explained the terms of the plea deal.
Mr Assange was not going to agree to any dispositions in the case that required him to accept allegations that are simply not true. Mr Assange did not plead guilty to, and would not plead guilty to 17 counts of the Espionage Act, computer hacking… there was a very narrow agreed upon set of facts here, and Mr Assange acknowledged that, of course, he accepted documents from Chealsea Manning, and published many of those documents because it was in the world’s interests that those documents be published. Unfortunately, that violates the terms of the Espionage Act. That’s what we acknowledged today.Barry Pollack
Pollack stressed that the chilling precedent is set by the US prosecution itself:
“What sets a chilling precedent is the prosecution, the fact that the US elected to charge Mr Assange with violating the Espionage Act. The court today determined that no harm was caused by Mr Assange’s publications, we know they were newsworthy, we know that they were quoted by every major media outlet on the planet, and we know that they revealed important information. That is called journalism. US prosecuted that. They exposed Mr Assange 175 years in prison. That is what has chilling effect.”Barry PollackBarry Pollack
Julian touched down safely in Canberra, Australia, around 8pm local time, and was welcomed by his family, his wife Stella, and father John Shipton, and scores of supporters.
At a press conference upon the arrival Julian and his lawyers, his Australian solicitor Jennifer Robinson, conveyed how important was the support Julian had from Australian PM and the government.
In a moving speech upon Julian’s arrival, Stella Assange thanked Australian PM Albanese, government officials, opposition politicians and the Australian people, as well as millions of people around the world who tirelessly worked to secure his freedom. She asked for understanding, space and privacy as Julian recuperates. She also recognized that the breakthrough in negotiations came at a time when there had been a breakthrough in the legal case, that is when the UK High Court had allowed permission to appeal in which Julian would be able to raise the First Amendment argument.
“It is in this context that things finally started to move. I think it revealed how uncomfortable the United States government is, in fact, of having these arguments aired… the fact that this case is an attack on journalism, it’s an attack on the public’s right to know and it should never have been brought.Stella Assange
Julian Assange’s UK lawyer Gareth Pierce, in a rare statement for the press, said that the Assange case “has exposed major fault lines —not just within the US/UK extradition treaty itself, but in respect of human rights protections in both countries previously thought to be absolute. The responsibility for addressing their manifestation in one extraordinary experience demands a continued commitment even though the legal case, happily, has now ended.”
June 25, 2024 — Julian Assange has been released from Belmarsh maximum security prison on the morning of 24 June, after having spent 1901 days there. He was granted bail by the High Court in London and was released at Stansted airport during the afternoon, where he boarded a plane and departed the UK.
In their statement, Wikileaks expressed gratitude to all the supporters who tirelessly campaigned for Julian’s release, putting the pressure on political leaders to finally secure his freedom.
This is the result of a global campaign that spanned grass-roots organisers, press freedom campaigners, legislators and leaders from across the political spectrum, all the way to the United Nations. This created the space for a long period of negotiations with the US Department of Justice, leading to a deal that has not yet been formally finalised. We will provide more information as soon as possible.
(…)
As he returns to Australia, we thank all who stood by us, fought for us, and remained utterly committed in the fight for his freedom.
Wikileaks pioneered scientific journalism, published groundbreaking stories of government corruption and human rights abuses, and held the powerful to account. As editor-in-chief, Julian paid severely for these principles, and for the people’s right to know.
In her statement, Stella stressed the immense importance of supporters who stood up for Julian but also for truth and justice.
“Throughout the years of Julian’s imprisonment and persecution, an incredible movement has been formed. People from all walks of life from around the world who support not just Julian… but what Julian stands for: truth and justice.”
After almost 15 years in detention, of whichthe last 5 were spent in 2×3 meter cell, isolated 23 hours a day, Julian will soon reunite with his wife Stella Assange, and their two children.
Julian’s freedom is our freedom.
Categories
Daniel Hale is out of prison!
March 5, 2024 — Drone whistleblower Daniel Hale was finally released from prison last month, The Dissenter reports, having served 33 of the 45 months he was sentenced, most of which was spent in the incredibly restrictive Communications Management Unit at F.C. Marion. As Kevin Gosztola writes,
The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) transferred Hale to U.S. Penitentiary Marion in Illinois in October. He was placed in a Communications Management Unit (CMU), which prisoners nicknamed “Little Guantanamo” in the 2000s as it was established by President George W. Bush’s administration for Muslim prisoners.
By putting Hale in a CMU, he was effectively cut off from the support network that came to his aid during his prosecution. The prison could prevent him from writing articles for publication or retaliate against him if he gave any journalists permission to publish his writing.
Noor Mir, a close friend and member of his support team, said in December 2021 that his communications were “severely limited.” Mir was his only contact during the first months that he was in prison.
Hale was only permitted two 15-minute calls per week and anyone he contacted had to be approved by the BOP. All phone calls were monitored in real time by the FBI, and any letters or reading material sent to him was scanned.
Hale authored an article for Al Jazeera upon his release contrasting his treatment with that of the president for allegedly mishandling classified information,
All told, the guilt I professed for wilfully delivering national defence information to a journalist was nothing compared to the immense shame I felt for wilfully participating in the drone programme. In 2021, scarcely weeks after I was sentenced to federal prison, Zemari Ahmadi and nine members of his family, most of them small children, were the victims of a mistaken US drone strike. The Pentagon called it a “righteous strike” before the truth forced them to quietly back away and conduct an internal investigation in which it found no one to be at fault for the innocent lives that were taken.
To this day, I am the only person to have worked in the drone programme to have been held responsible. Not for my role in it, but for my effort to reveal the deadly truth of it to the public with the help of a journalist.
I am sincerely glad President Biden was able to receive what so many others in the crosshairs of the Espionage Act have been denied – the benefit of the doubt. But if Joe Biden truly wishes to convey the kind of ideals that helped secure his presidency in the first place, he would utilise his power as president to pardon the whistleblowers and cease the global war on terror policy of “targeted” killing.
Read Daniel’s full piece here, and more about his release here.
Categories
Courage website back online
For a little over a year, the Courage Foundation website has been down, but we have not been out.
Our modest staff resources have been focused on the project of building AssangeDefense.org, a vibrant and busy coalition of human rights defenders, press freedom advocates, and civil liberties lawyers resisting the unprecedented prosecution against Julian Assange, which has dangerous implications for journalists and their sources the world over.
The organization lost two of its Trustees during this time, and the world lost two of its most creative and courageous thinkers: Dame Vivienne Westwood and John Pilger.
Our work and campaigning efforts continue, including through Courage fundraising for those facing persecution and prosecution, and advocating for truthtellers, journalists, and whistleblowers.
Courage will continue to stand with Julian Assange and also Daniel Hale, who became a beneficiary in May 2022. This young veteran whose courage and conscience changed his life was unjustly imprisoned for blowing the whistle on the US military’s drone assassination program. He deserves to be free.
Thanks for your patience, and for your continued support.