Via Disobedient Media

Earlier today, CIA whistleblower and member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) John Kiriakou personally delivered a letter to the Ecuadorian embassy in Washington, DC, which was addressed to Ecuadorian Ambassador, Francisco Jose Borja Cevallos.

The document calls for the immediate restoration of communications for Wikileaks Editor-In-Chief Julian Assange.One week ago, Julian Assange’s internet, phone calls and access to visitors were totally cut off at the behest of Ecuadorian President, Lenin Moreno.

A video of Kiriakou delivering the message to the Ecuadorian embassy in Washington is available here.

Wikileaks supporters have rallied both online and on the ground in London to call for his human rights to be restored continually, ever since news emerged that Assange had been prevented from contact with the outside world.

The Courage Foundation reported that a similar Spanish-language message calling on Ecuador’s Lenin Moreno to end the isolation of Julian Assange was also delivered to the Ecuadorian President today. That letter was signed by 338 intellectuals from 33 countries. The effort was coordinated by the Landless Workers’ Movement in Brazil.

John Kiriakou’s personal support of this message was particularly noteworthy, in light of the fact that his former agency is now personally invested in arresting the Wikileaks co-founder. Kiriakou recently participated in the online vigil, #ReconnectAssange, during which he spoke to the unjust treatment Assange would likely face if extradited and prosecuted in the Eastern District Court of Virgina, saying: “[Assange] couldn’t possibly get a fair trial in the Eastern District of Virginia.”

Those who wish to support Assange and Wikileaks can sign the petition calling for his right to free speech to be respected.

A copy of the letter delivered by Kiriakou to Ambassador Francisco Jose Borja Cevallos, as well as the signatories supporting its contents, are provided below.

Your Excellency:

We, the undersigned applaud and commend the decision of the Government of Ecuador to grant asylum, to welcome as a citizen, and to grant diplomatic status to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

In the case of Mr. Assange, Ecuador has been a role model for the international community for its views on transparency and press freedom. Every country should emulate Ecuador.

I am reminded of August 1990 when Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait. US President George H. W. Bush was unsure of what the US response should be. He received a call from British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. “Now is not the time to go wobbly, George,” she told him. Well, now is not the time to go wobbly in our support of Wikileaks and Julian Assange.

It is only because of Wikileaks that we know about war crimes and atrocities committed against Iraqi citizens by US troops. It is because of Wikileaks that we know about the surveillance industry, about warrantless wiretapping and a great deal more about NSA spying on American citizens. And with President Trump’s appointment of the notorious Gina Haspel as the new CIA director, we know that there is a danger that the CIA will keep its torture history secret by keeping it classified.

It is Wikileaks that has kept, and will continue to keep, all Americans informed of what their government does in their name. It is Julian Assange who has led that fight. We ask the Government of Ecuador to keep up the fight for transparency and press freedom, to continue to be a world leader in honesty and accountability. We call on the Government of Ecuador to reconnect Julian Assange to the world.

Respectfully,

John Kiriakou, former CIA counterterrorism officer and former senior investigator, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.”

Signatories on the letter included: