julian assange fears torture, death in American dentention facilities

let’s face it – despite our supposed freedoms here in the U.S., and our ability to choose who will be in charge, our government is out of our control and is determined to strip its own citizens of every bit of human dignity and decency.

wikileaks spokesperson julian assange has argued in a british court that his extradition to sweden to face allegations of sexual misconduct could lead to his being kidnapped by U.S. agents, taken to the U.S., tortured and killed. there is no reason to refute this concern.

(Reuters) – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will argue he should not be extradited from Britain to Sweden over alleged sex crimes because he could end up in the United States facing the death penalty, his lawyers said on Tuesday.

The 39-year-old Australian computer expert, who has infuriated Washington by releasing details of secret U.S. diplomatic cables on his website, is wanted for questioning by Sweden over allegations of sexual offences made by two WikiLeaks volunteers.

Following his brief appearance in a London court on Tuesday, lawyers published an outline of the defense he will use at a full extradition hearing next month, in which they said Assange faced possible execution in the United States.

“There is a real risk that, if extradited to Sweden, the U.S. will seek his extradition and/or illegal rendition to the USA,” said the document on the website of law firm Finers Stephens Innocent.

“Indeed, if Mr Assange were rendered to the USA, without assurances that the death penalty would not be carried out, there is a real risk that he could be made subject to the death penalty.”

If Assange ends up in the United States, the document adds, there is “a real risk” he would be subject to ill-treament or even torture, both prohibited under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

see the full article, from rueters

grassroots movements and individual acts of defiance against the TSA’s perverted “security” methods

the transportation security administration’s policy of molesting people as they attempt to board planes has sex offenders across the country hopeful for long-term employment opportunities! to perform one’s daily job as a TSA agent, one would necessarily have to be a sexual deviant, longing to get a glimpse beneath the clothing of unsuspecting travelers, or to actual have the opportunity to grope them, as is the stated policy of the TSA. what if you had to regularly experience such degrading treatment regularly because of your job?

from msnbc…

TSA forces cancer survivor to remove, display prosthetic breast

By Suzanne Choney

A longtime Charlotte, N.C., flight attendant and cancer survivor told a local television station that she was forced to show her prosthetic breast during a pat-down. Cathy Bossi, who works for U.S. Airways, said she received the pat-down after declining to do the full-body scan because of radiation concerns. The TSA screener “put her full hand on my breast and said, ‘What is this?’ ” Bossi told the station. “And I said, ‘It’s my prosthesis because I’ve had breast cancer.’ And she said, ‘Well, you’ll need to show me that.’ “

Bossi said she removed the prosthetic from her bra. She did not take the name of the agent, she said, “because it was just so horrific of an experience, I couldn’t believe someone had done that to me. I’m a flight attendant. I was just trying to get to work.”

For Americans who wear prosthetics — either because they are cancer survivors or have lost a limb — or who have undergone hip replacements or have a pacemaker, the humiliation of the TSA’s new security procedures — choosing between a body scan or body search — is even worse…

…Sharon Kiss, 66, has a pacemaker, but also has to fly often for her work. “During a recent enhanced pat-down, a screener cupped my breasts and felt my genitals,” she said in an e-mail to msnbc.com “To ‘clear my waistband’ she put her hands down my pants and groped for the waistband of my underwear.

“I expressed humiliation and was told ‘You have the choice not to fly.’ “

The remark infuriated Kiss, who lives in Mendocino, Calif. “Extrapolate this to we should not provide curb cuts and ramps for people confined to wheelchairs because they can choose to stay home … This a violation of civil rights. And because I have a disability, I should not be subjected to what is government-sanctioned sexual assault in order to board a plane.” (Joe Heller / The Green Bay Press-Gazette, Politicalcartoons.com)

here are more jolly holiday stories about the treatment of u.s. citizens:

Disorderly conduct charge dropped in airport protest case

By Frank Green

A disorderly conduct charge against a Charlottesville man who stripped off his clothes to protest airport-security procedures was dropped Monday in Henrico County General District Court. Aaron B. Tobey, 21, a student at the University of Cincinnati, was charged on Dec. 30 at Richmond International Airport, where he was catching a flight to attend a family funeral. Before boarding the plane, he removed his shirt and displayed his chest, on which was written words from the Fourth Amendment: “The right of the people to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated.”

read the rest of the article…

and, from the kingstoneast news:

TSA Humiliating Travellers

And stories abound about the inconsiderate “pat down” officers. Thomas Sawyer, 61, a bladder cancer survivor says TSA agents removed his urostomy bag, soaking his pants, with his own urine. The officers didn’t apologize, but made him board the plane without being able to clean up or change.

US blogger Erin Chase, author of the $5 Dinner Mum, described in detail how she was touched on the genitals without warning during the new “enhanced pat-down” procedure. She says the airport official failed to tell her that she was going to be touched in private areas. “She felt along my waistline, moved behind me, then proceeded to feel both of my buttocks. She reached from behind in the middle of my buttocks towards my vagina area. She then moved in front of me and touched the top and underneath portions of both of my breasts.”

Even more alarming than the adult stories are the stories of children being searched. A six-year-old boy was forced to board his flight in tears after a TSA agent groped his genitals. Another three-year-old girl shouted “Stop touching me” at the TSA agent who “patted her down.”

see the rest of the article…

rape victim humiliated, arrested at airport

original story Written by Kelly Holt

In an interview with The New American, 56-year-old Claire Hirschkind explained that her story began after a Thanksgiving trip to San Francisco. Because of a pacemaker-type implant in her chest (for an epileptic condition), she cannot be subjected to full-body scanners. When she left San Francisco, she discovered that scanners had been installed in the airport during her stay. Opting out of the scanning, she ended up enduring an unexpected, humiliating and aggressive pat-down. Subjected to groping and squeezing of her breasts and private area in full view of other travelers, she also experienced a re-living of old traumas she had suffered as a rape victim.

So in an effort to avoid a repeat of her Thanksgiving trip, Hirschkind decided to plan in advance for Christmas travel. She called Mike Scott, the ABIA Director of Security, to find out what to expect, and he assured her, “No such thing will happen to you here in Austin, ma’am.”
But it did. Even though the Austin airport does not have full-body scanners, Hirschkind decided to play it safe, so upon arriving at the checkpoint, she asked if the AIT scanners were in use, informing the agent she needed to avoid them because of the implant. Told to step aside, she was led to a screening area where a female TSA employee and three Austin police officers informed her she would be patted down.

Hirschkind told the officers and the TSA employee about her implant and agreed to either a pat-down of the implant area in her chest, to wanding, or to passing through the traditional metal detector — in other words, any other kind of screening. She recalls:
I turned to the police officer and said, “I have given no due cause to give up my constitutional rights. You can wand me,” and they said, “No, you have to do this.”

Hirschkind, who remained cooperative and had determined not to raise her voice or engage in name-calling, agreed to the pat-down, but on one condition: I told them, “No, I’m not going to have my breasts felt,” and she [the TSA agent] said, “Yes, you are.”

see the rest of the article…

but, people are not just passively submitting to government-imposed sexual assault…

this is from the website We Won’t Fly

The federal government’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently dictated new airport security procedures that leave us travelers with the choice of a virtual strip search in a full body scanner or a very hands-on pat down that touches breasts and genitals.

TSA agents routinely treat travelers like dirt. The scanner images – which can be saved and transmitted – leave little to the imagination. The “enhanced” pat downs involve touching, often directly, of breasts and genitals and, sometimes, removal of prosthetics.

There are reports of pants being dropped, strip searches behind closed doors, hands down pants and exposed breasts. The TSA is trampling our basic human dignity, not to mention our liberty. Without these, what do we have left? The TSA traumatizes the most vulnerable in our communities: children, grandmas and sexual assault survivors. Victims can be moved to tears or relive past traumas.

The scanners do not detect the explosives used by the underwear bomber – the pretext for rolling them out in the first place. A former head of Israeli airport security says he can get enough explosives through them to take down a 747. The pat downs can’t detect weapons inside the body. The risk of dying from scanner radiation is equal to the risk of dying in a terrorist attack. And the TSA focuses on dangerous objects instead of dangerous people.

Neither of the two scanners – millimeter wave or x-ray “backscatter” – have been proven safe. In fact, the TSA itself recently retracted an earlier claim that a Johns Hopkins study proved the scanners’ safety. University of California scientists recently informed the white house that the radiation dosage is higher than what TSA will admit and disproportionately affects eyes, breasts, testicles and skin.
This security theater makes us less safe. It is ineffective and dangerous. It tramples our basic human dignity and liberty. It presents a serious health risk. Flying is simply not worth the trouble anymore. We Won’t Fly is a consumer advocate that speaks out in defense of air travel.