Tag: sarah harrison

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Edward Snowden News

CITIZENFOUR wins Oscar for Best Documentary

The Courage Foundation is delighted that CITIZENFOUR has been awarded the Oscar for the Best Documentary Feature of 2014.

The film shows that after journalists left Edward Snowden in Hong Kong, awaiting the United States’ charges and extradition request, Snowden relied on WikiLeaks to secure him asylum. As Laura Poitras’ film depicts, Snowden is now safe, living comfortably with his girlfriend in Moscow, but the film demonstrates the dangerous gap in protections for whistleblowers. WikiLeaks’ rescue – and the need it demonstrated – was the inception of Courage, devoted to providing protections, defence and safety nets for whistleblowers in the highest-risk situations, when others can’t or won’t help.

Courage, which hosts Edward Snowden’s only official defence fund, is establishing international networks ready to provide future Snowdens with logistical and legal help, in addition to assisting journalistic sources at risk before the investigation stage. But we need your help. Fighting legal battles against the most powerful governments in the world is expensive, yet essential. Courage’s Acting Director Sarah Harrison said: “Governments are ramping up their efforts to persecute those who expose the truth, and we must do the same if we’re going to keep our truth-tellers safe. Donate to Courage to ensure we are there when we are needed most.”

Donate to Courage today to contribute to the frontline of defence for future Snowdens: https://staging.couragefound.org/donate
Further information: https://staging.couragefound.org

Update

Video of Laura Poitras accepting the Oscar for Best Documentary:

The ACLU has published Edward Snowden’s statement congratulating Laura Poitras for her award:

When Laura Poitras asked me if she could film our encounters, I was extremely reluctant. I’m grateful that I allowed her to persuade me. The result is a brave and brilliant film that deserves the honor and recognition it has received. My hope is that this award will encourage more people to see the film and be inspired by its message that ordinary citizens, working together, can change the world.

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Courage News Events News

Sarah Harrison and Grace North at the 31st Chaos Communication Congress

The 31st Chaos Communication Congress was in Hamburg, Germany, 27-30 December. On 28 December, Courage Acting Director Sarah Harrison and FreeJeremy.net manager Grace North gave a talk entitled Doing Right by Sources, Done Right, in which they discussed the “ethics, operational security and public protections of sources,” in addition to the need for expanding our understanding of the term “whistleblower.”

In addition to Courage’s work hosting the defence funds for Edward Snowden and Jeremy Hammond, Harrison spoke about our upcoming projects. These include providing detailed advice for journalists to operate securely, to protect their sources from first contact to post-publication aftercare. Another project is Courage’s forthcoming Network of specialised lawyers who will be prepared to provide future sources at risk with legal advice and logistical assistance, be that funding, physical extraction, or negotiating asylum.

Harrison, who is WikiLeaks’ investigations editor, also revealed a US search warrant to Google demanding all emails and metadata from a member of WikiLeaks, which Google complied with.

CCCscreencap

Visit the CCC’s YouTube channel for more videos from the Congress, and here for more information about other events.

Categories
Edward Snowden News

Press release: Top musicians, actors and Nobel laureates show support for Edward Snowden, publishers and whistleblowers

  • Russell Brand, M.I.A., Tom Morello and More Involved in Effort
  • Vivienne Westwood, Viggo Mortensen, Others Promote Courage Foundation’s Whistleblower Defense Efforts

An international coalition of more than fifty actors, musicians and intellectuals have announced their support for Edward Snowden, WikiLeaks, whistleblowers and publishers. Some are also encouraging donations to the Courage Foundation —which runs the official legal defense fund for Edward Snowden and other whistleblowers, as well as fights for whistleblower protections worldwide – with tweets and social media posts.

“The courage that Edward Snowden and other whistleblowers and truthtellers have shown and continue to show is truly extraordinary and necessary in helping the public have access to their historical record through media,” said Sarah Harrison, WikiLeaks Investigations Editor and Director of the Courage Foundation. WikiLeaks and Harrison ensured Edward Snowden’s safe exit from Hong Kong and secured his asylum. “We cannot thank these cultural icons enough for showing their support.”

The announcement coincides with the expanded theatrical release of Laura Poitras’ critically acclaimed documentary CitizenFour — providing a first-hand account of Edward Snowden’s disclosure of the NSA’s mass surveillance program.

“As Albert Camus once put it, governments, by definition, do not have consciences; they have policies and nothing more. Therefore, it is up to all of us as free-thinking citizens to demand truly transparent democracy and high, unbiased moral standards from those who govern us,” said Viggo Mortensen. “I hope everyone can chip in to support Snowden and those patriotic whistleblowers that come after him.”

Signed by Susan Sarandon, Russell Brand, Peter Sarsgaard, M.I.A., Thurston Moore, David Berman, Vivienne Westwood, Alfonso Cuaròn and several other artists and intellectuals, the statement praises the work of whistleblowers such as Snowden, highlighting the need to support these individuals as they face social and legal persecution for their revelations to the public.

The statement reads:

We stand in support of those fearless whistleblowers and publishers who risk their lives and careers to stand up for truth and justice. Thanks to the courage of sources like Daniel Ellsberg, Chelsea Manning, Jeremy Hammond, and Edward Snowden, the public can finally see for themselves the war crimes, corruption, mass surveillance, and abuses of power of the U.S. government and other governments around the world. WikiLeaks is essential for its fearless dedication in defending these sources and publishing their truths. These bold and courageous acts spark accountability, can transform governments, and ultimately make the world a better place.

In addition to urging the public to stand in solidarity with Snowden and other whistleblowers, many of the artists are calling on fans to watch CitizenFour, and are raising awareness of the Courage Foundation’s whistleblower defense efforts, which fundraises for the legal and public defense of whistleblowers and campaigns for the protection of truthtellers and the public’s right to know generally.

Said Grammy Award-winning guitarist, Tom Morello:

Those courageous enough to expose the crimes of government and unmask corruption embody the spirit of democracy and justice. Rather than being celebrated as the truth-tellers and champions of accountability that they are, they are persecuted and find themselves the target of a draconian legal system that punishes them for the act of exposing crimes.

Said Vivienne Westwood:

I didn’t ask Edward Snowden to stick his neck out for me. But now that he did I ask myself where would we be without him? The more that the public watches CitizenFour, which documents Edward Snowden’s bravery in revealing the NSA’s massive web of surveillance of the American people, opposition to the government’s assault on civil liberties will grow. I hope that audiences will turn their outrage into action and donate to the Courage Foundation’s Legal Defense Fund to provide legal representation to Snowden and other whistleblowers to counter the government’s unprecedented attack against these brave men and women.

FULL LIST OF SIGNATORIES:

Udi Aloni
Pamela Anderson
Anthony Arnove
Etienne Balibar
Alexander Bard
John Perry Barlow
Radovan Baros
David Berman
Russell Brand
Victoria Brittain
Susan Buck-Morss
Eduardo L. Cadava
Calle 13
Alex Callinicos
Robbie Charter
Noam Chomsky
Scott Cleverdon
Ben Cohen
Sadie Coles
Alfonso Cuaròn
John Deathridge
Costas Douzinas
Roddy Doyle
Bella Freud
Leopold Froehlich
Terry Gilliam
Charlie Glass
Boris Groys
Michael Hardt
P J Harvey
Wang Hui
Fredric Jameson
Brewster Kahle
Hanif Kureishi
Engin Kurtay
Alex Taek-Gwang Lee
Nadir Lahiji
Kathy Lette
Ken Loach
Maria Dolores GalĂĄn LĂłpez
Sarah Lucas
Mairead Maguire
Tobias Menzies
M.I.A.
W. J. T. Mitchell
Moby
Thurston Moore
Tom Morello
Viggo Mortensen
Jean-Luc Nancy
Bob Nastanovich
Antonio Negri
Brett Netson
Rebecca O’Brien
Joshua Oppenheimer
John Pilger
Alexander Roesler
Avital Ronell
Pier Aldo Rovatti
Susan Sarandon
Peter Sarsgaard
Assumpta Serna
Vaughan Smith
Ahdaf Soueif
Oliver Stone
Cenk Uygur
Yanis Varoufakis
Peter Weibel
Vivienne Westwood
Tracy Worcester
Slavoj Zizek

___

For more information, or for interview with the Courage Foundation, please contact Yasmina Dardari at yasmina@fitzgibbonmedia.com

 

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Courage News News

Press release: Known Unknowns Fund launched to protect alleged sources under investigation

  • New fund will be the first to aid suspected sources before they face charges
  • An alleged source under investigation by the US government has already reached out to Courage for assistance
  • Courage Advisory Board members Daniel Ellsberg and Thomas Drake underline the importance of the new fund
  • Donations can be made online at https://staging.couragefound.org/known-unknowns-fund/#donate

Courage, the international organisation dedicated to the protection of truthtellers, today announces the launch of the Known Unknowns Fund to support suspected sources under investigation. The Fund is the first specifically designed to assist individuals who are alleged to have disclosed information of significant public value but do not yet face formal charges. The name of the fund, a play on former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s notorious defence of inadequate sourcing, acknowledges that many who find themselves in this situation will not be in a position to confirm their identity to the public.

Daniel Ellsberg, the Pentagon Papers whistleblower and a member of Courage’s Advisory Board said:

In the US, the administration of injustice against whistleblowers under President Obama serves to intimidate potential truth-tellers by the prospect of ruinous legal costs defending themselves under investigation, even if no indictment follows. The Known Unknowns Fund will benefit not only those who may earn suspicion of telling wrongly-withheld truths; it also serves the public interest in being so informed.

By providing support at the pre-indictment stage, Courage hopes to limit the number of cases that proceed to prosecution. The organisation has already received a request for assistance for an alleged source who is currently under investigation by the US government.

Courage’s Acting Director Sarah Harrison explained:

Courage has decided to launch the Known Unknowns Fund because there is a real and pressing need that no one else is in a position to fulfill. We have already received a request regarding someone who needs our help, as they are under investigation by the US government for being the alleged source of some important stories in the US media regarding botched counter-terrorism programmes. Up to this point, Courage has advocated for whistleblowers the public already knows about and who have been wrongly retaliated against. Alleged sources who haven’t yet been charged are in a different situation and a really difficult one – they are often in desperate need of financial and other support, but requesting it publicly can harm their legal situation. Even speaking about an investigation in public can put an individual at risk of additional prosecution. Courage’s Known Unknowns Fund aims to help those who can’t ask openly. We want to make sure that the public has an opportunity to support and protect alleged sources ahead of time, so they can get legal advice and prepare a legal team before potential charges are brought.

The experience of whistleblowers shows a clear need for this new initiative. NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake was charged under the 1917 Espionage Act and faced 35 years in prison. By the time the US government’s case fell apart, Drake had spent several years under investigation and another awaiting trial. At the sentencing hearing Judge Richard D. Bennett said that the conduct of the investigation against Drake had been “unconscionable”, likening the experience to “four years of hell.”

Thomas Drake, who is also a member of the Courage Advisory Board, said:

During my pre-trial criminal proceedings, I was advised by private counsel that my criminal defense prior to public trial would cost at least a million dollars and perhaps as much as three million. I had to prepare a legal defense from my own resources against a government criminal investigation and prosecution which had no such limitations. I went virtually bankrupt, emptied all my liquid assets, took out a second mortgage on my residence and went into severe debt paying for my private attorney over two years. I ended up declared indigent before the Court and represented for criminal defense by public defenders and by attorney Jesselyn Radack, who represented me in the court of pubic opinion as well as whistleblower advocacy and media outreach. She was my voice when I had none. If something like the Known Unknowns Fund had existed before I was indicted, I’d have been in a much better position to defend myself.

Donations to the Known Unknowns Fund can be made at https://staging.couragefound.org/known-unknowns-fund/#donate

___

The following people are available for interview and comment by emailing courage.press@couragefound.org

Daniel Ellsberg, Courage Advisory Board Member and whistleblower
Thomas Drake, Courage Advisory Board Member and whistleblower
Ray McGovern, Courage Advisory Board Member, veteran intelligence analyst and whistleblower champion
Sarah Harrison, Courage Acting Director

Categories
Courage News Jeremy Hammond News

Press release: Jeremy Hammond announced as second Courage beneficiary

  • Imprisoned hacktivist media source Jeremy Hammond becomes Courage’s second beneficiary, in addition to Edward Snowden
  • Tax deductible donations to Jeremy’s defence fund can now be made throughout the EU, via the Wau Holland Foundation
  • Jeremy Hammond’s official support site will be relaunched at freejeremy.net, with the current support team still fully involved

Courage, the international organisation dedicated to the protection of truthtellers, has announced that its new beneficiary will be Jeremy Hammond.

Jeremy was sentenced to ten years in prison for being the alleged media source for documents from the private US intelligence firm Strategic Forecasting, Inc. (Stratfor), which included revelations that they had been spying on human rights defenders, for example Bhopal activists and members of PETA, at the behest of corporations and governments.  WikiLeaks published these documents in partnership with 29 media organisations worldwide as the Global Intelligence Files, which are still being used for news stories around the world. Despite hundreds of pleas, including a letter submitted by WikiLeaks from itself and its media partners – “newspapers, TV networks, and magazines with a combined audience of 500 million” – asking for leniency for Jeremy, the maximum possible sentence was given.

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Jeremy Hammond, a political dissident and former member of the hacktivist network Anonymous, was sentenced to a decade in prison after he refused to inform on others and defended his actions in service of the truth and the  public’s right to know. The judge in his case refused to recuse herself despite a glaring conflict of interest: her husband was a former Stratfor client and had his information revealed in the Global Intelligence Files.

Since March 2012, Jeremy has been cut off from his friends and family, and punished with extensive stays in solitary confinement. By hosting his defence fund, Courage will raise donations to enable Jeremy’s defence team to continue advocating on his behalf, monitoring his condition and fighting for his rights while in prison.

Sarah Harrison, Acting Director of Courage and WikiLeaks Investigations Editor, said:

Courage supports and defends truthtellers who take risks and need our help, wherever they are. We traditionally think of whistleblowers as insiders disclosing their employers’ abuses, but those on the outside who work to make public the secret wrongdoing of the powerful are just as vital in the effort to hold them accountable. Thanks to Jeremy, we now know the inner workings of the private intelligence sector which runs much of US intelligence activities including more than 80% of the NSA’s operations. Jeremy has found himself at the sharp end of the US government’s crackdown on the media so it’s important that he knows he has our support.

Grace North, who has been coordinating support efforts for Jeremy Hammond since June 2013, said:

This is an exciting new partnership for those of us who have worked so tirelessly to support Jeremy through this journey. Jeremy believes that one of the most important things a person can do to combat the injustices of the world is to educate themselves and others. Joining with the Courage Foundation is the next step in getting information and education to as wide an audience as possible. The more people we can reach with Jeremy’s message, and with the information Jeremy so bravely sacrificed his freedom to disclose, the more people we can have fighting on the front lines for not only Jeremy’s freedom, but the freedom of humanity.

In addition to hosting the defence fund, Courage will publicly advocate for Jeremy Hammond and build his network of support. A relaunched website at freejeremy.net will keep the public updated on Jeremy’s case, raising awareness about the importance of his revelations and publishing Jeremy’s writing from prison.

Donations to Jeremy’s defence fund can be made at freejeremy.net/donate.
Tax-free donations can be made throughout the EU via the Wau Holland Foundation at http://www.wauland.de/en/projects/07.html#JH

Courage originally began in August 2013 as The Journalistic Source Protection Defence Fund and has run Edward Snowden’s official defence fund since that time. Jeremy Hammond is Courage’s next beneficiary; his official support site is located at https://www.freejeremy.net and the related twitter account at @FreeJeremyNet

—-

For the Courage launch of Jeremy Hammond becoming a beneficiary, the following people are available for interviews and comment by emailing courage.press@couragefound.org:

Sarah Harrison, Courage’s Acting Director
Renata Avila, Courage Advisory Board Member and human rights lawyer
Kevin Zeese, Courage Advisory Board Member and cofounder of popularresistance.org
Bernd Fix, of the Wau Holland Foundation who now collect EU wide tax deductible donations for Jeremy Hammond
Margaret Ratner Kuntsler, Attorney for Jeremy Hammond
Grace North, Support network coordinator for Jeremy Hammond

Categories
Courage News Edward Snowden News

Press release: Courage welcomes Russia’s continued protection of Edward Snowden

Courage, which runs Edward Snowden’s official defence fund and his associated asylum campaign, welcomes today’s announcement that Russia will continue its protection of Edward Snowden.

Courage’s Acting Director Sarah Harrison, who facilitated Edward Snowden’s exit from Hong Kong and spent four months in Russia, including 40 days in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, securing his initial asylum said:

I’m relieved to hear that Edward Snowden will continue to be protected, keeping him safe from American prosecution. Courage congratulates the Russian people and the dedicated international team of lawyers, campaigners and supporters who have made this happen. Although the US government has lost this round, let us not forget the stakes – last year whistleblower Chelsea Manning was sentenced to 35 years in a US military prison and the Grand Jury against both WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden continues. By hosting Edward Snowden’s defence fund and keeping the public aware of his case, Courage has helped keep Edward Snowden safe for the past year, but his fund will need continued public support to ensure he stays protected for years to come.

Courage originally began in August 2013 as The Journalistic Source Protection Defence Fund and has run Edward Snowden’s defence fund since that time. Courage’s official Edward Snowden support site is located at http://edwardsnowden.com and the related twitter account at @CourageSnowden.

Last month Edward Snowden applied for an extension to his one year temporary asylum that ended on July 31st 2014. Courage has been campaigning for that application to be accepted; hand delivering letters calling for his protection and asylum application not to be blocked to the UK, US and German governments, writing to the Russian embassy in Washington, DC last week asking for his application to be accepted and launching an ad campaign that has been seen by over a million users of Russian social network Vkontakte.

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Courage News Edward Snowden News

Press Release: Courage campaigns for Snowden’s continued protection in Russia

With Edward Snowden’s Russian asylum expiring in one week, Courage campaigns for his continued safety

  • Through Vkontakte (Russia’s “Facebook”) a campaign promoting asylum extension for Snowden was seen by more than 1 million users in Russia last week alone
  • 37 countries already covered by Courage’s #StandWithSnowden campaign
  • More than $90,000 in Bitcoin donations received by Courage in the year since Courage set up Snowden’s defence fund
Continue reading “Press Release: Courage campaigns for Snowden’s continued protection in Russia”
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Courage News Edward Snowden Events News

Video: Sarah Harrison gives Global Media Forum keynote address

At last week’s Global Media Forum, WikiLeaks Investigations Editor and Courage Foundation Acting Director Sarah Harrison gave the keynote address, entitled “The Battle Against Unaccountable Power”, which covered whistleblowing, publishing, and press freedom. Harrison stressed the the value of publishing source documents in full and in searchable formats, using transparency to hold the powerful to account and the importance of combating government claims that overstate threats to national security.

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Courage News Edward Snowden News

Video: Sarah Harrison discusses Courage on Democracy Now!

Courage Foundation Acting Director and WikiLeaks Investigations Editor Sarah Harrison sat down with Democracy Now! to talk about her four months with Edward Snowden after escorting him from Hong Kong to Moscow, why she can’t return to the UK, and why we need the Courage Foundation.

Harrison explained why she would go to such lengths to help Snowden:

A few reasons. One’s sort of a general ethical point that someone had done something so brave, and they should be supported, and I felt an empathy, a natural human empathy, and wished to support. Then there’s also the fact that, I mean, I work for a publishing organization. We obviously rely a lot on sources and believe in source protection. And the last example that the world had of how the U.S. government treats a high-value source is Chelsea Manning, who they put into a cage, was tortured, sentenced to prison for 35 years in the end. And I think it’s important for the world that you can speak the truth, you can blow the whistle, and you don’t have to end up in a cage; there are people that will support you, that there are people that will take risks for you, when you have risked so much, and you can have asylum in a country.

Asked about the importance of the Courage Foundation, she said:

[It’s] for Edward Snowden’s defense and also for future Snowdens. We want to show that there is an organization that will do what we did for Snowden and as much as possible in raising money for legal defense, public advocacy for whistleblowers, so that they know when they—if they come forward, there is a support group there for them.

When asked what future Snowdens should do, Harrison advised:

I think that it is important for them to understand that there are people that will support them. I think they should reach out to organizations like the Courage Foundation that can help them—ideally pre-emptively. It would be better if we didn’t have to save someone with their face all over the front pages of every newspaper in the world. And I think that—I think it’s important that they understand that there is a public desire for the truth and that they will hopefully be seen as heroes.

See the full segment and full transcript of the interview here.

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Courage News News

Courage: showing solidarity with whistleblowers and defending our right to know

In an interview by US lawyer and Courage Advisory Board member Kevin Zeese for Truthout, Acting Director of Courage Sarah Harrison talks about Courage, why the organisation was started and how it is working to protect whistleblowers.

As well as protecting individual truthtellers, Courage also defends the right to know broadly by “fighting for policy and legal changes to give whistleblowers the protections they deserve”, Harrison explained.

The ethos of Courage is to reflect the courage shown by the truthtellers it serves to protect, showing support and solidarity in spite of risks:

I think it was important to show future whistleblowers that if you come forward and expose wrongdoing, that there are people who will stand with you and help you, no matter what the cost… It is very important to show a sense of solidarity around whistleblowers.

Harrison explained how Courage was borne from her experience of helping NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden to safety and achieving his asylum in Russia:

The Courage Foundation was born from the idea that whistleblowers need protection from prosecution. When we first started to help Edward Snowden, there were many other NGOs and organizations around the world that should have been able to help him; but, when it comes to high risk people with huge persecution from places like the United States, the reality is that to move quickly and robustly to provide the support they need is actually very difficult. So after we helped Snowden, we realized that there was a need for an organization that was able to do this for future Snowdens as well.

Campaigning for asylum and international protections for truthtellers is set to be some of Courage’s core work. Harrison explained why:

It is unrealistic to expect that a country is suddenly going to put in place laws that are really going to protect someone like Snowden who comes forward with such high value classified information. It is better to focus on agreements and conventions between countries that prevent extradition so there is the ability to support a whistleblower from another country somewhere else.

Mr Snowden also reiterated the importance of protections for truthtellers at an international level in his recent testimony to the Council of Europe, 24 June 2014. Referencing the problems he faced in securing a safe haven after disclosing national intelligence of global importance, he said:

it’s critical that we need international mechanisms in these cases to distinguish between the legality of the act on national terms and the propriety of the act on global terms.

In many cases those protections are not provided on a uniform national basis and that raises the question of how our global society can provide an independent, international mechanism for arbitration and redress on matters that are of international public importance

A full transcript of Mr Snowden’s testimony can be found here.

As Mr Snowden’s temporary asylum period in Russia ends, Harrison described it as a ‘critical’ time for people to take action. She invited supporters to take part in the ‘Stand With Snowden’ campaign, recently launched by Courage, to show solidarity with Mr Snowden, and to pressure governments around the world to act and help Snowden to a safe haven.

A full transcript of Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers’ interview of Sarah Harrison can be found at Truthout.

Take Action – #StandWithSnowden

Upload a photo of yourself or your friends, family, and colleagues holding a sign like the one Sarah Harrison is holding below and the many more on our campaign page here. Make sure you mention where you’re from: Courage will formally approach the governments of those countries where the public support for Snowden is strongest to ask them to act.

 

#StandWithSnowden
#StandWithSnowden