150 human, digital, & media rights NGOs all on Obama to end prosecution of Snowden

[Luminous Animal]

Dear President Obama,

We are writing to you as free speech and media freedom organisations from around the world to express our strong concern over the response of the US government to the actions of whistleblower Edward Snowden. We urge you to take immediate action to protect whistleblowers and journalists.

Edward Snowden’s recent disclosures have triggered a necessary and long-delayed public debate about the acceptable boundaries of surveillance in a democratic country, a debate that on 5 June you welcomed having. The revelations brought into question the legitimacy of the secretive process of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and closed Congressional intelligence committees as appropriate forums to determine the fundamental human rights of Americans and persons worldwide. The disclosures have clearly served the public interest, including by prompting similar debates in countries around the world.

We are, therefore, dismayed that criminal charges have been filed against Snowden, including those under the vague and overbroad Espionage Act of 1917. Statements by the State Department that Snowden is not a whistleblower simply because of the nature of the charges against him flatly contradict international standards on freedom of expression and information. Attempts to obstruct Snowden’s freedom of movement, his right to seek asylum, including the revocation of his passport, and other forms of retaliation also violate US obligations under international law.

Moreover, we are concerned that the charges against Snowden are not an isolated incident, and that there have been an unprecedented number of prosecutions against whistleblowers during your administration, as well as intrusive investigations to identify the sources of journalists reporting on matters that are in the public interest. This tendency of the US government towards obsessively controlling information flows and an aversion to public discourse is both undemocratic and unsustainable in the digital era.

- See more at: http://www.article19.org/resources.php/resource/37194/en/letter-to-obama-to-stop-the-prosecution-of-snowden#sthash.t1inwvz6.dpuf

[Luminous Animal]

1. Kick.

[burnodo]

2. K&R

[Mojorabbit]

3. K and R nt

[quinnox]

4. K&R

[forestpath]

5. K&R

[kelliekat44]

6. I wan't aware that Snowden was being "Prosecuted" anywhere? nt

[ProSense]

7. I thought he was in Russia?

Haven't they heard?

He has been charged, but is yet to be prosecuted.

The charges aren't likely to be dropped, though.

[99Forever]

8. K&R

[randome]

9. We will never hear from Snowden again.

He walked away from his fiance and his parents without a backward glance. He had no friends to speak of. His actions and behavior speak, to me, of someone very troubled and self-destructive.

That's why I think he will spend the rest of his life in a tunnel of his own making so he doesn't need to see much of the outside world.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font][hr]

[reusrename]

15. Of course he was troubled by the criminal conduct of some administration officials.

That's when he stopped looking for heroes and decided BE one.

[one_voice]

10. When did the prosecution start?

[reusrename]

14. The criminal complaint was filed June 14, 2013.

http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/world/us-vs-edward-j-snowden-criminal-complaint/496/

[CakeGrrl]

11. What prosecution? He fled the country.

Oh, just let him go for abusing the security privileges granted by his employer?

And does that go for everyone else who decides to take a job just to steal secrets?

[JoeyT]

19. How many innocents did Snowden kill?

How many are homeless because of his actions?

It was certainly good enough for war criminals and banks who did far more damage than Snowden ever could. We won't prosecute them, of course, because they have power and money. Which adds a bit of irony to the administration calling Snowden a coward.

[Luminous Animal]

12. Snowden, Greenwald and Wikileaks are winning

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/08/201387957162873.html

Mark Weisbrot

Twist and shout! The Russians did a big favour for the freedom-loving peoples of the world, including those in the US who can still think with our own brains. The self-righteous pundits who complain about Russia's own human rights record, as if this were even remotely relevant, might try to recall how Snowden ended up there in the first place. He was passing through Moscow on his way to South America, and it was only by virtue of Washington's "gross violations of his human rights," as Amnesty International called it, that he got stuck there.

Indeed, the whole chase scene is symbolic of the difficulties in which Washington finds itself immersed. Unable to win their case in the court of public opinion, the self-styled leaders of the free world resort to threats and bullying to get their way - which kind of sums up American foreign policy in the second decade of the 21st century. And the spectacle of US attorney general Eric Holder trying to offer Russia assurances that his government would not torture or execute Snowden speaks volumes about how far the US government's reputation on human rights - even within the United States - has plummeted over the past decade.

Meanwhile, Snowden and Glenn Greenwald and Wikileaks are winning. At the outset Snowden said his biggest fear was that people would see "the lengths that the government is going to grant themselves powers unilaterally to create greater control over American society and global society and that 'nothing will change'". But his disclosures have already created a new debate, and political change will follow.

Two weeks ago there was a surprisingly close call in the US House of Representatives, with the majority of House Democrats and 94 of 234 Republicans defying their House (and Senate) leadership, the White House, and the national security establishment in a vote to end the NSA's mass collection of phone

[GiaGiovanni]

13. KIck

Kick

[KoKo]

16. Recommend... Good to see this International Coalition...

That's gotta bite.

[Le Taz Hot]

17. K & R

Will he listen to international pleading? He sure as hell doesn't listen to us.

[WillyT]

18. K & R !!!