Julian Assange: The Torture of A Journalist

Many know that Assange has been locked up in solitary confinement for most almost 11 months, but many don’t realize what else they are doing to him.  As if solitary confinement isn’t enough torture to inflict on an innocent man while he is in prison with terrorists, murderers and rapists, Belmarsh has hotboxed him, strip-searched him numerous times, harassed him and his visitors, and does not allow him to be touched.

Touching is a vital part of human existence.  According to an article on healthline, (seen here), states it is extremely important to have physical touching.

Skin-to-skin contact is vital for not only mental and emotional health, but physical health, too.

When you feel snowed under or pressured, the body releases the stress hormone cortisol. One of the biggest things touch can do is reduceTrusted Source such stress, allowing the immune system to work the way it should.

Touch can also calm certain bodily functionsTrusted Source, such as your heart rate and blood pressure.

It does so by stimulating pressure receptors that transport signals to the vagus nerve. This nerve connects the brain to the rest of the body. It uses the signals to slow the pace of the nervous system.

In early life, touch is thought to be crucial for building healthy relationships by stimulating pathways for oxytocin, the natural antidepressant serotonin, and the pleasure chemical dopamine.

Plus, it tackles loneliness. Even gentle touch from a stranger has been shownTrusted Source to reduce feelings of social exclusion.

It seems according to some studies that lack of touch lowers life expectancy, causes depression and can affect you long term.  An article on vice.com (you can find it here), states:

He describes the psychiatric literature showing that solitary confinement causes lasting mental health problems as “voluminous.” As the mental health issues that plague prisoners in solitary confinement are so vast, it’s difficult to isolate an absence of touch as a major contributing factor, but neuroscientist Huda Akil identifies a lack of touch—alongside other factors—as potential factors that might lead the brain to rewire itself and cause psychological problems. The testimony of prisoners such Peter Collins and Wikileaks whistleblower Chelsea Manning highlights how an absence of touch exacerbates the experience of solitary confinement: Writing in the Guardian, Chelsea Manning describes it as “‘no-touch’ torture.”

Literally, no touching is a form of torture.  It has long-lasting effects.  With the torture of Assange, I believe they intend to isolate him to the point he attempts and maybe even succeeds in committing suicide.

In an article seen here :

Why torture? The CIA claims it works. The assumption is that it works to gain actionable intelligence. Torture is often used for revenge, punishment, interrogation, and behavior modification.  In other terms torture is used to remove the continuity of thought to confuse the target to reveal information, erase brain patterns such as values and beliefs, or to break down the human spirit to make them submit and obey their handlers.

Isolation is commonly used as punishment in prisons. Many whistleblowers like Bradley Manning suffer this condition. In soft interrogation it is used to get the target to talk to their interrogator since humans have the need for companionship. In no-touch torture the target is driven from their friends and family using different techniques in order to isolate them so that the electronic mind control has more effect on their psyche.

Like in Guantanamo, the target becomes isolated losing their job and medical care. Part of the method involves slander in their community. They end up on the most part in poverty and paranoid about doctors and other people from false correlations that are purposefully induced into their lives. Isolation is also a form of sensory deprivation which will be discussed later. Days and weeks lose their meaning.

I have discussed the psychological and physical effects of solitary confinement in my article seen here.  You may find my article as well as the article listed above very interesting.  I do not recommend reading the above article if you are faint of heart or cannot handle descriptive violence, however.

Julian Assange has been a victim of psychological torture for nearly 10 years and instead of it ebbing, the British government has upped the ante in order to destroy him.  The U.S. attorneys have promised much of the same treatment adding no contact with the public to the mind game if he is extradited.  The end game is not only the destruction of an individual but to put fear in the mind of all individuals who expose government corruption.  This is not the works of a democracy but of a tyrannical, fascist state.

According to Nils Melzer, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture,  the British are using NAZI techniques on Assange. Extrapolating what Belmarsh has said about his treatment, one wonders how widely this ill-gotten method is employed in the prison & in the UK? Not to mention, by the United States government itself, considering what they put Manning through.

Melzer has also concluded that Assange is not only a victim of torture but will be furthered tortured if extradited by the United States.  He has criticized the U.K. government for their treatment of Assange and demanded he bet set free and that he gets the medical treatment he needs.  The U.K. has ignored the U.N.’s requests to free Assange.

The growing support of Assange brings hope to those who love him but will enough people rise up in time to save this candle in the darkness or will the corrupt governments succeed in silencing the voice in the Wilderness?  Will he be delivered to his executioners as was John the Baptist and Jesus?  Or will the people’s voice be heard all over the world to save this gentle giant?  Many have heard the battle call and are up in arms but is it too late?

Please, take a moment of your day and write your elected officials and demand the torture and incarceration of Assange be ended.  If he is extradited, or they manage to cause him to commit suicide, it is the end of democracy and free speech as we know it.  We will no longer be able to hold our governments accountable because there will be no one to show us their misdeeds.  End the torture now!