Julian Assange: The Permanent Damage Caused By Solitary Confinement

Currently, Julian Assange is being held at HMP Belmarsh in solitary confinement 23 hour days with little to no interaction with others. He is being treated worse than the murderers and terrorists in this facility. His extradition trial so far has shown nothing but injustice and appears to be a show trial where the U.S. lawyers hold the reins. I will explain below why solitary confinement is considered torture and what it does to the human mind.According the the UN’s Nelson Mandela Act, anything over 15 days in solitary is considered torture. I want to explain to you what complete isolation does to the mind and the body and how this will effect Julian’s current state.

It is a proven fact that lonely people are more prone to certain physical ailments including high blood pressure, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and are more prone to infection. Mentally it has been reported to play with your sense of time, cause hallucinations, and paranoia. Many completely isolated individuals who had no meaningful human contact lost track of reality all together as studies have shown. In a study on other primates regarding isolation, they found that after only 30 days the monkeys became enormously disturbed and after a year were unable to have social contact of any kind. ( Reference for studies ) In fact, a good example of lack of proper human interaction would be the orphans in Romania who were literally mentally handicapped because they were never held or given affection. In fact, it has been proven that solitary confinement can drive a person literally crazy.

We are talking about permanent damage here folks. It is not temporary and is considered torture for a reason. Most examples when introduced back into society have a lack of life skills and have lost the ability to relate to others as a normal individual would. They are highly anxious around people, often paranoid and fearful, leaving them with no joy in every day tasks or happiness. What emerges from reports on solitary confinement is literally like reading a medieval novel about torture. Some even experience pyschosis afterwards.

And as Alexis Agathocleous from the Center for Constitutional Rights has aptly noted (link reference ) :

We know that keeping someone in solitary confinement puts them at very serious risk of descending into irreversible mental illness. That’s not tolerable in a society that values the dignity and humanity of all people, no matter whether they are incarcerated or not.

Julian Assange is guilty of nothing but making war crimes transparent in the public interest. He did what good journalists do. He exposed the truth and now faces 175 years in prison if not the death penalty in the states. His health is deteriorating as well as his mental state. This is not just a travesty but an abomination.If the U.K. and U.S. governments can torture and slowly assassinate someone as well known as Assange, what can they do to us? What other atrocities are they committing behind closed doors? We own our governments, not the elites who take us to war to destroy and steal resources to line their ever-growing pockets. We must end this disgusting display of a super power gone mad now. We must free Assange.

The Disgusting Torture of Assange Displayed in Court

In a disgusting display of callousness by Magistrate Vanessa Baraitser, the U.K. judicial system showed no justice in court yesterday regarding Julian Assange. Many of his close friends showed dismay over the deteriorating health of the Wikileaks founder but were absolutely astounded by the decay of his mental faculties. A true genius of our time, stumbled to say his name and birth date when asked. Journalist Craig Murray was present and wrote an article about what he saw, ( You can read all of it here):

Before I get on to the blatant lack of fair process, the first thing I must note was Julian’s condition. I was badly shocked by just how much weight my friend has lost, by the speed his hair has receded and by the appearance of premature and vastly accelerated ageing. He has a pronounced limp I have never seen before. Since his arrest he has lost over 15 kg in weight.

But his physical appearance was not as shocking as his mental deterioration. When asked to give his name and date of birth, he struggled visibly over several seconds to recall both. I will come to the important content of his statement at the end of proceedings in due course, but his difficulty in making it was very evident; it was a real struggle for him to articulate the words and focus his train of thought.

I can tell you that yesterday changed my mind entirely and Julian exhibited exactly the symptoms of a torture victim brought blinking into the light, particularly in terms of disorientation, confusion, and the real struggle to assert free will through the fog of learned helplessness.

When Assange stated he didn’t understand the proceedings as he had trouble thinking properly, Baraitser dismissed him coldly with the statement his lawyers could explain. No sympathy or compassion was evident in her cruel, haughty response. Anyone who had ever listened to Assange speak previously would be able to see the well-spoken, articulate intellectual had digressed mentally.

It is a blatant misconception if anyone thinks there will be a fair trial for this tortured journalist. Ignoring the extradition treaty of 2011, Baraitser refused to hear that the charges against him were political. It is obvious to everyone, this case has already been decided by this Magistrate who has proven injustice is easily obtained by a superpower in England.

Assange appeared near tears when he spoke. It was obvious he was dazed and confused and struggling. My heart drowns in tears of dismay for this hero whose last statement in court was simply that he wanted justice.

I have wept over the obvious decline in his health, the distinct signs of aging and the decay of his brilliant mind. There is no doubt in my mind, he may not survive through the extradition process. My heart breaks and aches for Julian Assange. How he must be suffering. I often pray that God would ease his pain and heal him.

In today’s culture, breaking a man need not be physical torture but is mostly psychological. They are destroying him and weakening him through solitary confinement. Destroying his mind ensures them that he will be silenced forever. We must not let this happen. We must unite and fight to free him.

Assange Appears In Court

Julian Assange appeared in court today but it was not the Julian we are used to. Struggling to speak his own name and birth date, he explained to the judge the following:

“I don’t understand how this is equitable. [BECAUSE IT ISN’T] This superpower had 10 years to prepare for this case & I can’t access my writings. It’s very difficult where I am to do anything but these people have unlimited resources.”

Appearing in a suit, blue sweater, and white shirt, Assange was noticeably thinner but seemed in better condition than his last appearance in court. RT was the only media to obtain video of him, (You can see it here).

In a press release from Wikileaks, (seen here):

Official Press Release:

At today’s case management hearing against WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, who faces US extradition and 175 years’ imprisonment for publishing classified information revealing war crimes, district magistrate Vanessa Baraitser allowed the defence two extra months to submit new evidence that is emerging in Spanish investigative proceedings.

The magistrate refused to allow a preliminary hearing to hear arguments that the extradition request for Julian Assange was barred by the 2003 US-U.K. Extradition Treaty, which prohibits political crimes such as Espionage. Assange is charged under the 1917 Espionage Act. (Attached is an information note on today’s submissions from Mr. Assange’s solicitors, Birnberg Peirce and Partners LLP.)

The second application from the defence was to ask the court postpone the full extradition hearing due for 24th February 2020. The application to postpone was based on two grounds:

Firstly, Mr. Assange’s conditions in Belmarsh prison, where he is kept in isolation without access to legal papers, a computer or meaningful participation in his case. These conditions obstruct his legal defence in a significant way.

Secondly, subsequent to the timetable being agreed in June, a Spanish Court has initiated a case with direct impact on Assange’s extradition case in the United Kingdom. The case concerns clandestine operations against Assange, his lawyers and doctors and Assange’s family, including at the Ecuadorean Embassy. The sheer magnitude of the evidence in the Spanish case necessitates that the defence be given more time, argued the defence. The application was refused but will be revisited at the 19 December case management hearing.

https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/10/09/inenglish/1570606428_107946.html

https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/10/04/inenglish/1570197052_180631.amp.html

https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/09/25/inenglish/1569384196_652151.html

Mr. Assange was asked by the magistrate if he had understood events in court and responded:

“I don’t understand how this is equitable. This superpower had 10 years to prepare for this case and I can’t access my writings. It’s very difficult where I am to do anything but these people have unlimited resources…They are saying journalists and whistleblowers are enemies of the people. They have unfair advantages dealing with documents. They [know] the interior of my life with my psychologist. They steal my children’s DNA. This is not equitable what is happening here.”

Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks Editor-In-Chief said

“The Case should be thrown out immediately. Not only is it illegal on the face of the treaty, the US has conducted illegal operations against Assange and his lawyers which are the subject of a major investigation in Spain.”

The case management dates were set as follows

18 November 2018
Call-over hearing (administrative hearing necessary to bring a defendant before a judge every 28 days)

18 December 2019
Deadline for evidence

19 December 2019
Case management case (to review the progress of the case, including evidence submitted)

7 February 2020
Deadlines for bundle submission by both sides

11 February 2020
Deadline for defence skeleton argument

18 February 2020
Deadline for prosecution skeleton argument

25 February 2020
Extradition hearing begins.

Prison is no place for a man in Julian’s condition. His health is deteriorating, his psychological state is suffering from solitary confinement. They are martyring him slowly. It is an abomination and a travesty of justice.

The mistreatment and injustice of the slow assassination of this man truly breaks my heart. It angers me, it hurts me but it makes me want to fight. Julian does not deserve to be martyred. His torture and persecution must end. We must free him now!

An Update On Assange

Yesterday was the six month anniversary of Assange being arrested. He has served his prison term for supposedly absconding (he didn’t, he sought political asylum). Six months after Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno revoked Assange’s asylum against international law, the end of Moreno has finally taken place. Ecuadorian citizens protested and the military stood with the protesters. As they say, Karma is a bitch.

A recent letter from Assange to a supporter explains his current situation. (See pic below).

“Thanks.I am in the whale but you are at the surface and have grasped the line. P.S. Belmarsh put all my mail somewhere they couldnt find for the last three months. J.P.A. Belmarsh Londonistan. UK”

Another update regarding Assange, according to the Courage Foundation’s page, is as follows:

On 21st October, Julian Assange will have a case management hearing, dealing with schedule for future hearings & progression of defence.

With few updates from his lawyers and most visitors keeping quiet, update are few and far between and sometimes inaccurate unfortunately. I will do my best to continue to update you.

Assange Update

The Courage Foundation recently posted an update which I will share below. Even though Assange has served his time in the U.K. for his bail charge, he is still in the same cell, getting the same treatment and living in hell.

As though living in tortured hell is not enough, the prisoner next door set fire to his cell and was returned to that same cell. Julian is already living in fear of what is to come, he shouldn’t have to fear for his life from his prison mates. According to the article The Courage Foundation posted on defend.wikileaks.org seen here:

On Saturday, 28 September, supporters gathered outside Belmarsh as Eileen Chubb presented Assange with the 2019 Gavin MacFadyen Award, jointly given by Compassion in Care and the Whistler and accepted by Julian’s father John Shipton on Julian’s behalf. When Julian was moved from his cell through prison corridors to the exercise yard that day, he was able to see the protesters from afar, saying he saw hundreds of supporters outside. In his limited interactions with others, he was told that guards and other prisoners had heard heard the protest as well. But when Julian’s exercise time ended, prison guards took him back to his cell by a different route, one they’ve never used in the past for such moves, so that he couldn’t see the supporters as he walked.

Also in the article was the following:

On Sunday, 29 September, a man in the cell next door to Julian in Belmarsh’s health ward was apparently driven to desperation. The prisoner set fire to or in his own cell, sending smoke into the corridors and into the nearby cells. A day later, the inmate is back in the same cell.

Assange’s next administrative hearing is scheduled for 11 October 2019 at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

Assange is an innocent man, guilty of nothing but publishing uncomfortable truths about the way the United States ignores our rights and international law when waging war. He deserves to be free and compensated for the torturous treatment he has received and is receiving. He should be a free man.