Encryption Requirements of IRS Publication 1075

Purpose

To define in simple terms the encryption requirements of Publication 1075 (NIST controls, FIPS 140-2) and provide recommendations to agencies on how they can comply with the requirements in various scenarios, i.e., remote access, email, data transfers, mobile devices and media, databases and applications.

Under the law (Internal Revenue Code Section 6103(p)), IRS must protect all the personal and financial information furnished to the agency against unauthorized use, inspection, or disclosure. Other Federal, State, and local authorities who receive FTI directly from either the IRS or from secondary sources must also have adequate security controls in place to protect the data received. In order to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of FTI, data encryption is an essential element to any effective information security system. It can be used to safeguard against unauthorized disclosure, inspection, modification or substitution of FTI. IRS Publication 1075 utilizes the encryption requirements of NIST SP 800-53 and FIPS 140-2 to constitute the encryption requirements agencies in receipt of FTI must comply with.

IRS Publication 1075 has adopted a sub-set of the moderate-impact security controls as its security control baseline for its compliance purpose. Among those, the below table depicts a list of encryption-related security controls that need to be implemented in order to comply with Publication 1075.

NIST 800-53 - Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems.

FIPS 140-2 Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules

NIST 800-52 guidance on the use of Transport Layer Security (TLS)

NIST 800-77 guidance on the use of IPsec

NIST 800-52 guidance on the use of Transport Layer Security (TLS)

NIST 800-77 guidance on the use of IPsec

NIST 800-56 guidance on cryptographic key establishment

NIST 800-57 guidance on cryptographic key management

FIPS 140-2 is the mandatory standard for cryptographic-based security systems in computer and telecommunication systems (including voice systems) for the protection of sensitive data as established by the Department of Commerce in 2001. When the system implements encryption to protect the confidentiality and/or integrity of the data at rest or in transit then the software or hardware that performs the encryption algorithm must meet FIPS 140-2 standards for encryption keys, message authentication and hashing.

For a list of approved security functions and commonly used FIPS-approved algorithms, see the FIPS 140-1 and FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Module Validation Lists which contains a list of vendors who have cryptographic modules validated as conforming to FIPS 140-2 are accepted by the Federal government for the protection of sensitive information.

When considering the implementation of encryption technology, agencies should verify the cryptographic module of the product being implemented is FIPS 140-2 validated and on the vendor list.

NIST 800-53 defines remote access as any access to an organization information system by a user (or an information system) communicating through an external, non-organization-controlled network (e.g., the Internet). Examples of remote access methods include dial-up, broadband, and wireless.

IRS Publication 1075 states that accessing systems containing FTI from a remote location requires an encrypted modem and/or Virtual Private Network (VPN). The key feature of a VPN is its ability to use public networks like the Internet without sacrificing basic security. Encryption and tunneling protocols are used to ensure the confidentiality of data in transit. Agencies should use IPSec or SSL encrypted VPN solutions and Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), IPSec or L2TP tunneling protocols to establish VPN connections.

Additionally, two-factor authentication i.e., something you know (e.g., password, PIN), and something you have (e.g., cryptographic identification device, token), is recommended whenever FTI is being accessed from an alternate work location.

Within the agencys local area network, a secure network access protocol such as Secure Shell (SSH) should be used in place of traditionally insecure protocols such as telnet, rsh and rlogin for login to a shell on a remote host or for executing commands on a remote host.

IRS Publication 1075 states e-mail systems shall not be used to transmit FTI data. Under the circumstances where there is an agency business requirement to use e-mail to transmit FTI, both the FTI data and message itself must be encrypted to protect the confidentiality of FTI.

Most commonly used ways to protect electronic messages are:

When messages require encryption, it is usually digitally signed also to protect its confidentiality. Therefore, the most frequently used way is the combination of the first 2 methods. The third method is used when two organizations want to protect the entire messages, including email header information sent between them. According to NIST SP 800-45, the most widely used standards for signing messages and encrypting message bodies are Open Pretty Good Privacy (OpenPGP) and Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) which both use public key cryptography. The most frequently used public key cryptography is Symmetric key cryptography. See NIST SP 800-45, Guidelines on Electronic Mail Security for general recommendations for selecting cryptographic suites for protecting email messages.

Additionally, all documents sent to the IRS Safeguards email box containing Safeguard Review Reports (SRR), Safeguard Activity Reports (SAR), Safeguard Procedure Reports (SPR), or any other documentation deemed sensitive to the agency shall be compressed into a ZIP file and encrypted using WinZip with the 256-bit AES encryption option or transmitted using Secure Data Transfer (SDT).

Internal (within agency LAN)

Encryption of FTI data transfers within an agencys LAN is not currently required by Publication 1075. However, when considering defense-in-depth, encryption FTI transmitted within the Local Area Network (LAN) is a good security practice. For example, Secure FTP or FTP tunneled over SSH should be used instead of FTP for file transfers.

For instances where encryption is not used for internal FTI transmissions, the agency must use other compensating mechanisms (e.g., switched Virtual LAN (VLAN) technology, fiber optic medium, etc.) to ensure that traffic containing FTI is isolated from the rest of the agencys LAN traffic, and the FTI is not accessible to unauthorized users.

External (outside agency LAN)

All FTI that is transmitted over the Internet, including via e-mail to external entities must be encrypted. This includes all FTI data transmitted across an agencys Wide Area Network (WAN).

All application user sessions, whether those be client/server or web-based applications, that access FTI from a back-end database or other server shall be encrypted and provide end-to-end encryption, i.e., from workstation to point of data.

It is recommended that all data transmissions between the server and the workstation occur over a VPN that employs FIPS 140-2 compliant end-to-end encryption. If a VPN solution is not feasible, then an alternate end-to-end encryption mechanism such as using HTTPS protocol and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)v3 (TLS) encryption is acceptable. SSL encryption should be based on a certificate containing a key no less than 128 bits and FIPS 140-2 compliant.

While encryption of data at rest is an effective defense-in-depth technique, encryption is not currently required for FTI while it resides on a system (e.g., in files or in a database) that is dedicated to receiving, processing, storing or transmitting FTI, is configured in accordance with the IRS Safeguards Computer Security Evaluation Matrix (SCSEM) recommendations and is physically secure restricted area behind two locked barriers. This type of encryption is being evaluated by the IRS as a potential policy update in the next revision of the Publication 1075.

However, if a system is used to receive, process, store or transmit FTI that also serves a secondary function not related to FTI processing (e.g., a workstation used to download FTI files from Secure Data Transfer system also serves as an employees user workstation), and this system does not meet the IRS SCSEM recommendations for secure configuration and physical security, the FTI residing on that system should be encrypted using FIPS 140-2 compliant encryption. This can be accomplished for example, using the Encrypting File System (EFS) on Windows 2000, XP and 2003 Server systems with the AES encryption algorithm.

All FTI maintained on mobile media shall be encrypted with FIPS 140-2 validated data encryption and, where technically feasible, user authentication mechanisms. This encryption requirement applies all portable electronic devices, regardless of whether the information is stored on laptops, personal digital assistants, diskettes, CDs, DVDs, flash memory devices, or other mobile media or devices.

Full disk encryption is an effective technique for laptop computers containing FTI that are taken out of the agencys physical perimeter and therefore outside of the physical security controls afforded by the office. Full disk encryption encrypts every bit of data that goes on a disk or disk volume and can be hardware or software based. Microsoft Windows Vista includes a form of full disk encryption called BitLocker Drive Encryption which uses the AES encryption algorithm with a 128 bit key.

The IRS does not recommend full disk encryption over file encryption or vice versa, agencies can make a decision on the type of technology they will employ as long as it is FIPS 140-2 validated encryption.

Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 13-Jan-2015

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Encryption Requirements of IRS Publication 1075

Julian Assange Wikipdia, a enciclopdia livre

Origem: Wikipdia, a enciclopdia livre.

Julian Paul Assange (Townsville, 3 de julho de 1971) um jornalista, escritor[1] e ciberativista australiano. um dos nove membros do conselho consultivo do WikiLeaks, um wiki de denncias e vazamento de informaes. tambm o principal porta-voz do website.

Assange estudou matemtica e fsica, foi programador e hacker, antes de se tornar porta-voz e editor-chefe do WikiLeaks. Fundou o WikiLeaks em 2006 e faz parte do seu conselho consultivo. Politicamente, Assange se define como libertrio, afirmando que "Eu sou um grande f de Ron Paul. () A famlia Paul so os mais fortes apoiadores da luta contra o ataque dos EUA ao WikiLeaks e a mim. () A nica esperana atualmente na poltica so os libertrios."[2]

Ganhou seu primeiro computador aos 16 anos e logo descobriu habilidade para invadir sistemas. S na Austrlia, enfrentou 30 acusaes de pirataria, mas pagou multa pelos danos causados e se livrou da priso.[3]

Por seu trabalho no Wikileaks ganhou outros prmios, como o Sam Adams Award e o Index on Censorship do The Economist em 2008, alm de ter sido considerado o "homem do ano" pelo jornal francs Le Monde em 2010. Neste ano, aps o vazamento da vasta massa de documentos sobre possveis crimes de guerra cometidos na Guerra do Afeganisto e na Guerra do Iraque pelo Exrcito dos Estados Unidos, sua fama cresceu. Em 2011 foi includo na lista da revista Time como um dos 100 mais influentes do planeta.

Em 30 de novembro, foi acusado de estupro e abuso sexual na Sucia e a Interpol o colocou em sua lista de procurados.

No dia 7 de dezembro, em Londres, Assange apresentou-se Polcia Metropolitana e negou a veracidade das acusaes contra ele, sendo liberado nove dias depois.[4] Em 31 de maio de 2012, a corte suprema do Reino Unido anunciou sua deciso a favor da extradio de Julian Assange para a Sucia.[5]

Assange perdeu a cidadania sueca e temia que, to logo chegasse Sucia, seria extraditado para os Estados Unidos e processado por espionagem, fraude e abuso de computadores. A Sucia tem um amplo acordo de extradio com os EUA.[6][7] O fundador do WikiLeaks j havia admitido a possibilidade de vir a ser assassinado numa priso norte-americana, na hiptese de ser extraditado para os Estados Unidos.[8] Por isso, o chanceler do Equador, Ricardo Patio, disse, em entrevista BBC, que seu governo pediu Sucia "que garantisse que Assange no seria extraditado para os Estados Unidos". Segundo ele, "h declaraes de autoridades dos EUA (...) que mostram que ele (Assange) deve ser considerado como um inimigo no armado, como um objeto a destruir. evidente em uma grande lista de casos concretos que o objetivo levar Assange e conden-lo."[9]

No caso de extradio para os EUA, Assange enfrentar pelo menos a priso perptua, dizem especialistas, lembrando a histria do suposto informante do WikiLeaks, o soldado Bradley Manning.[10] Manning, que est preso na base naval de Quantico, foi mantido nu, em isolamento, impedido de dormir, sob iluminao direta e vigilncia de cmeras 24 horas por dia. Trata-se do que a CIA chama de "tortura sem contato" (no-touch torture)[11]

Apesar de ter sido permanentemente monitorado[nota 1] , no dia 19 de junho de 2012, Assange conseguiu entrar na embaixada do Equador em Londres, onde pediu (e obteve) asilo poltico.[12] O governo do Reino Unido ameaou, por carta, invadir a embaixada, nos seguintes termos: " preciso adverti-los de que h base legal, no Reino Unido a Lei sobre Instalaes Diplomticas e Consulares, de 1987 (Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act) autorizando-nos a agir para prender o Sr. Assange, nas instalaes da embaixada. Esperamos sinceramente no chegar a tal ponto, mas se vocs no foram capazes de resolver o assunto da presena do Sr. Assange em suas instalaes, h uma opo aberta para ns".[13] O governo britnico tambm afirmou que no daria salvo-conduto ao australiano para sair da embaixada,[14] o que pode eternizar a sua permanncia no prdio - considerado territrio equatoriano, segundo a lei internacional.[15][16] Representantes do governo equatoriano informaram que pretendiam apelar para a Corte Penal Internacional, se o Reino Unido no permitisse que Julian Assange deixasse livremente o pas.[17]

Nasceu em Townsville, e passou grande parte de sua juventude vivendo em Magnetic Island.[18]

Seus pais trabalhavam numa companhia de teatro itinerante. Em 1979, sua me, Christine,[19] casou; seu marido era msico e fazia parte do grupo New Age conduzido por Anne Hamilton-Byrne. O casal teve um filho, mas se separou em 1982 e travou uma disputa pela custdia do meio irmo de Assange. Sua me, ento, levou os dois filhos para esconderijos pelos cinco anos seguintes. Assange mudou vrias vezes de lugar durante sua infncia, frequentando vrias escolas diferentes, s vezes estudando em casa, e depois frequentando diversas universidades da Austrlia.[20]

Em 1987, aps completar 16 anos, Assange comeou a "hackear" sob o nome "Mendax" (derivado de uma frase em latim, atribuda a Horcio: splendide mendax,[21] que significa "esplndido mentiroso").[22] Ele e mais dois outros hackers se uniram para formar um grupo chamado International Subversives ("Subversivos Internacionais"). Assange relembra as regras da subcultura: "No danificar os sistemas de computador que voc acessar (incluindo cometer falhas neles); no alterar as informaes contidas nesses sistemas (exceto para alterar registros a fim de cobrir seus traos de acesso), e compartilhar informaes."[22]

Em 1991 a Polcia Federal Australiana invadiu sua casa em Melbourne, e ele foi acusado de ter acessado os computadores de uma universidade australiana, da Nortel canadense e de outras organizaes, via modem.[22] Em 1992, ele se declarou culpado de 24 acusaes de hacking e foi libertado sob fiana por bom comportamento, depois de ser multado em AU$2100.[22]

Em uma entrevista Forbes, Assange comentou: " um pouco chato, na verdade. Porque eu escrevi um livro sobre isso [ser hacker], existem documentrios sobre isso, as pessoas falam muito sobre isso. Elas podem cortar e colar. Mas isso foi h 20 anos. muito irritante ver artigos modernos me chamando de hacker de computador. Eu no me envergonho disso, estou muito orgulhoso disso. Mas eu entendo a razo pela qual sugerem que eu sou um hacker de computador agora. H uma razo muito especfica."[23]

No final de 2012, o fundador do site WikiLeaks, ainda, refugiado na embaixada do Equador em Londres, anunciou que em maro de 2013, publicaria um livro intitulado "Manual da Rebelio: como somos vigiados pela Internet".[24] O livro, do qual so co-autores Jacob Appelbaum, Andy Mller-Maguhn e Jrmie Zimmermann, acabou ficando pronto mais cedo e ganhou um outro ttulo: Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet (no Brasil, Cypherpunks - Liberdade e o futuro da Internet, Boitempo Editorial).[25] Nele so discutidas questes como a possvel transformao da Internet em mero instrumento de controle, a servio do poder poltico e econmico. "A Internet, nossa maior ferramenta de emancipao, est sendo transformada no mais perigoso facilitador de totalitarismo que j vimos," diz o texto.[26][27] Assange prev uma futura onda de represso na esfera on-line que pode transformar a internet em uma ameaa aos direitos fundamentais da pessoa. O cerco ao WikiLeaks e a ativistas da Internet, as tentativas de introduzir uma legislao contra o compartilhamento de arquivos, como o Sopa) e o Acta indicariam essa tendncia a permitir que "governos e grandes empresas descubram cada vez mais sobre os usurios da Internet e escondam as prprias atividades, sem precisar prestar contas de seus atos."[28] Segundo ele, "hoje, o Google sabe mais sobre voc que sua me. Esse o maior roubo da histria".[29] .

Em 1989 Assange passou a viver com sua namorada, com quem teve um filho, Daniel Assange.[30] Mas, aps a invaso da casa pela polcia, em 1991, ela partiu, levando consigo o filho do casal.[31] Todo o processo levou Assange e sua me a fundarem o Parent Inquiry into Child Protection ("Investigao Paterna para Proteo Criana"), um grupo ativista centrado na criao de um "banco de dados central" para informaes sobre processos de custdia de crianas na Austrlia - informaes que, de outra forma, seriam inacessveis.[31]

Em 2006, fundou o WikiLeaks. Esteve envolvido nas publicaes de documentos sobre execues extrajudiciais no Qunia, e isso lhe garantiu o prmio Amnesty International Media Award de 2009. Tambm publicou documentos sobre resduos txicos na frica, tratamento dado aos prisioneiros da Priso de Guantnamo e outros.[32] .

Em 2010, o WikiLeaks publicou detalhes sobre o envolvimento dos Estados Unidos nas guerras do Afeganisto e Iraque. Em 28 de novembro do mesmo ano, WikiLeaks e seus cinco parceiros de mdia, El Pas, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, The Guardian e The New York Times, comearam a publicar os telegramas secretos da diplomacia dos EUA.[33]

Em maro de 2011, os estdios DreamWorks (de Steven Spielberg) compraram os direitos do livro WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy (no Brasil, publicado como WikiLeaks - A guerra de Julian Assange contra os segredos de estado), dos jornalistas David Leigh e Luke Harding, do jornal britnico The Guardian.[34] O filme americano de 2013 The Fifth Estate (no Brasil, O Quinto Poder[35] ) foi baseado nos livros Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World's Most Dangerous Website, escrito por um ex-porta-voz do site, e no referido WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy, e conta, numa tica pessoal, a historia no site WikiLeaks.

Em 2012 Julian Assange apresentou um programa de entrevistas entitulado O mundo Amanh, entrevistando entrevistas com vrias personalidades importantes e muitas vezes controversas dos mundos intelectual e poltico, incluindo Rafael Correa, Noam Chomsky, Tariq Ali, Moazzam Begg e outros.[36] , apresentado na Russia Today e noticiado em 14 de abril de 2012, antes do lanamento, pela CNN.[36]

Assange ganhou o Amnesty International UK Media Awards de 2009, por ter exposto os assassinatos extrajudiciais no Qunia.[37] Ao receber o prmio, declarou: " um reflexo da coragem e da fora da sociedade civil queniana que esta injustia tenha sido documentada. Atravs do trabalho enorme de organizaes como a Fundao Oscar, o KNHCR, Mars Group Kenya e outros, tivemos o apoio fundamental de que precisvamos para expor estes assassinatos para o mundo."

Assange tambm ganhou o Index on Censorship do Economist de 2008.[38]

Em 2010, ganhou o Sam Adams Award, prmio concedido queles que aliam tica e inteligncia a agncias inteligentes.[39][40]

Em setembro de 2010, Assange foi votado como uma das 50 figuras mais influentes de 2010 pela New Statesman, ficando em 23 lugar.[41]

Alm disso, algumas comunidades da Internet promoveram a indicao de Julian Assange para o Prmio Nobel da Paz 2011, pela fundao do WikiLeaks.[42]

Em agosto de 2010, um ms depois da divulgao, pelo WikiLeaks, de documentos secretos do Exrcito americano sobre a Guerra do Afeganisto, a Justia da Sucia expediu dois mandados de priso contra Assange, um deles por estupro e o outro, por agresso sexual. Assange estava ento na Sucia para uma srie de palestras, depois que o Partido Pirata local aceitou acolher vrios servidores do Wikileaks, diante da perseguio das autoridades dos Estados Unidos. Enquanto a Polcia sueca procurava Assange, surgiam, na Internet, denncias sobre uma possvel conspirao contra ele.[43] A mulher no centro da alegao, disse polcia que fez sexo consensual com Assange, mas acordou na manh seguinte e percebeu que ele estava fazendo sexo com ela outra vez, sem o seu consentimento e sem o uso de preservativo.[44] Pouco depois, a Justia sueca anunciou a retirada da ordem de priso.[45]

O porta-voz do Pentgono, Bryan Whitman, declarou que qualquer insinuao sobre uma eventual conspirao do Departamento de Defesa dos Estados Unidos contra Assange "absurda".[46]

Em 1 de setembro a justia da Sucia reabriu o processo de estupro e agresso sexual contra Assange. No dia 20 de novembro, as autoridades suecas pediram Interpol que ele fosse capturado, com fins de extradio.[47] .

Em 28 de novembro o WikiLeaks voltou carga, divulgando mais de 250 mil documentos diplomticos confidenciais do Departamento de Estado dos Estados Unidos. Os documentos revelam, por exemplo, como o governo dos EUA, mais precisamente Hillary Clinton,[carecede fontes] deu instrues a seus diplomatas para que atuassem como espies e recolhessem informaes sobre lderes polticos e nas Naes Unidas, inclusive dados biomtricos e carto de crdito do secretrio geral da ONU, Ban Ki-moon.[carecede fontes] Como sempre, as informaes foram repassadas a cinco grandes jornais do mundo, dentre os quais, The New York Times, Le Monde e The Guardian.

Dois dias depois, em 30 de novembro, a Interpol distribuiu em 188 pases, uma notificao vermelha, isto , um chamado queles que souberem do paradeiro de Assange, para que entrem em contato com a polcia. O advogado de Assange, Mark Stephens, declarou ser "muito incomum" que se emita uma notificao vermelha em casos semelhantes ao do seu cliente. Stephens observou tambm que o promotor sueco pediu que Assange seja detido sem acesso a advogados, a visitantes ou a outros presos.[48]

No mesmo dia, Spiegel Online noticiou que um grupo de antigos companheiros de Assange, que discorda da sua orientao e do seu estilo supostamente autocrtico, teria planos de lanar outra organizao, semelhante WikiLeaks, ainda em dezembro.[49] .

Em 7 de dezembro de 2010, s 9h30 no horrio local, Julian Assange apresentou-se Polcia Metropolitana, em Londres. Ele negou a acusao de crimes sexuais contra duas mulheres na Sucia. At ento no havia indiciamento.[4][50] O fundador da organizao esteve no presdio de Wandsworth at o dia 16 de dezembro e esperou em liberdade condicional por uma nova audincia de extradio.[51][52][53]

A acusao da Justia sueca contra Julian Assange a de que, durante uma sesso de sexo consensual, seu preservativo se rompeu, tendo sido retirado o que na Sucia equivalente a estupro (pena de dois anos de priso). Uma das denunciantes, Anna Ardin (a outra Sofia Wilen)[54] , alega que Assange rompeu a camisinha de propsito.[55] Ardin cubana, anticastrista, e consta que trabalhou para ONGs financiadas pela CIA.[56][57][58]

Em 14 de dezembro Julian Assange foi julgado por um tribunal de Londres, obtendo sua libertao mediante o pagamento de fiana no valor de 200 mil libras. Alm de ter que entregar seu passaporte, ele fica obrigado, at a prxima audincia do caso (marcada para 11 de janeiro de 2011), a viver sob toque de recolher e a usar uma pulseira dotada de um dispositivo eletrnico que indica sua localizao. A deciso foi anunciada pelo juiz Howard Riddle, da corte de Westminster. A princpio, foi informado por Mark Stephens, advogado de Assange, que os representantes do ministrio pblico da Sucia no pretendiam apelar da sentena.[59] Todavia, posteriormente, a advogada Gemma Lindfield informou Corte de Magistrados da cidade de Westminster que os promotores suecos desejam apelar da ordem de fiana, o que deveria ocorrer no prazo de 48 horas.[60] Desde o dia 7, Assange ficou detido em uma cela de isolamento na priso de segurana mxima de Wandsworth, onde teve a correspondncia censurada. Sua me, Christine Assange, falou por telefone durante dez minutos com ele e recebeu uma mensagem, depois transmitida ao canal de televiso australiano Seven Network: "Fao um apelo a todo o mundo para que meu trabalho e meus seguidores sejam protegidos desses ataques ilegais e imorais", dizia um trecho da mensagem.

Em 16 de dezembro de 2010 Assange foi libertado pela justia britnica, aps a negao do recurso da promotoria sueca contra sua liberdade condicional. Enquanto isso, o Departamento de Justia dos Estados Unidos busca provar que Assange encorajou ou ajudou o soldado Bradley Manning a extrair do sistema de computadores do governo material militar reservado e arquivos do Departamento de Estado. Com isso, as autoridades americanas pretendem processar o fundador do WikiLeaks por conspirao.[61]

Segundo o escritor e advogado constitucionalista norte-americano Glenn Greenwald, caso os EUA consigam processar Assange com base na lei de espionagem, de 1917, e na lei de fraude e abuso de computadores, de 1986, jornalistas ficaro mais vulnerveis a aes judiciais. Alm disso, segundo o advogado, o caso pode gerar algum tipo de represso ou censura na Internet. "As pesquisas com o pblico americano mostram que a maioria acredita que o WikiLeaks causou mais danos do que benefcios e que Assange deve ser encarcerado. Os governos sempre querem controlar a Internet. A razo pela qual no podem fazer isso a oposio pblica. O compromisso do WikiLeaks com a transparncia pode aumentar o apoio pblico ao controle da Internet."[62]

Em 24 de fevereiro de 2011, o juiz britnico Howard Riddle determinou a extradio de Assange para a Sucia. Ele afirmou que contestaria a deciso, considerando que o veredito teria tido motivao poltica, sem uma anlise adequada das acusaes feitas contra ele durante o processo. A defesa alegou que Assange no receberia um julgamento justo na Sucia por causa das fortes crticas feitas pelo primeiro-ministro daquele pas, Fredrik Reinfeldt, ao acusado.[63]

Em 31 de maio de 2012, a corte suprema do Reino Unido anunciou sua deciso a favor da extradio de Julian Assange para a Sucia. Em 19 de junho, ele se refugiou na embaixada do Equador em Londres, na esperana de obter asilo poltico daquele pas. Caso o fundador do WikiLeaks seja extraditado para a Sucia, o mais certo que seja posteriormente extraditado para os Estados Unidos, onde deve ser julgado por espionagem, em consequncia da publicao de 250 mil documentos diplomticos norte-americanos.[12] No caso de extradio para os Estados Unidos, seus advogados temem que ele possa ser enviado para a Priso de Guantnamo.[64] Assange contratou o jurista espanhol Baltasar Garzn para assessor-lo na busca asilo poltico no Equador. Garzn, mundialmente reconhecido por sua defesa dos direitos humanos, ganhou maior notoriedade famoso por ter sido o juiz que ordenou a priso do ex-ditador chileno Augusto Pinochet, em 1998.[65]

Investigadores das acusaes contra Julian Assange, fundador de Wikileaks[66][67] suspeitam que ele pode ter sido vitima de uma armadilha sexual planejada por servicos de inteligencia, sobretudo depois da revelao por Edward Snowden, dos documentos sobre as estrategia e objetivos da CIA a serem usados contra Wikileaks[68][69] e Julian Assange.[70][71]

No dia 16 de agosto de 2012 o presidente do Equador, Rafael Correa, confere asilo diplomtico a Assange.[72] Mas o Reino Unido ameaa invadir a embaixada equatoriana em Londres.O Conselho de Ministros das Relaes Exteriores da UNASUL em reunio extraordinria, na cidade de Guayaquil, em 19 de agosto de 2012,decidiu apoiar o governo soberano de Rafael Correa, do Equador, em relao deciso tomada pelo pas de oferecer asilo diplomtico a Assange e repudiou a ameaa por parte do governo dos Estados Unidos contra a embaixada do Equador em Londres[73] .

Recebeu asilo do Equador, mas no pode deixar o prdio da Embaixada em Londres e seguir para o aeroporto e mudar-se de vez para Quito. Certamente, seria preso antes de cruzar a rua. De um pedacinho do Equador no Reino Unido, segue firme em sua luta por liberdade.[74]

A priso de Julian Assange, bem como as atividades mais recentes do WikiLeaks, geraram pronunciamentos de pessoas pblicas. Thomas Flanagan, assessor do primeiro-ministro canadense Stephen Harper, numa entrevista CBC News, recomendou a Barack Obama que oferecesse uma recompensa a quem matasse o fundador do Wikileaks ou que usasse "um drone para acabar com ele".[75][76][77]

J o senador republicano Mitch McConnell declarou, durante entrevista no programa Meet The Press da NBC: "Acho que esse homem [Assange] um terrorista high tech. Ele causou um enorme dano ao nosso pas. E eu penso que ele deva ser processado at que sejam esgotados todo os limites da lei; e se [esses limites] forem um problema, preciso mudar a lei."[78]

O vice-presidente dos Estados Unidos, Joe Biden, em 19 de dezembro, tambm declarou rede de televiso NBC que o Departamento de Justia explora vias legais para deter Julian Assange. Paralelamente via judicial, h iniciativas que visam estrangular tecnica e financeiramente o WikiLeaks. O Bank of America, seguindo os passos da MasterCard, Visa, PayPal e Amazon , anunciou que deixar de processar transaes relacionadas com WikiLeaks.[79]

O cineasta ingls Ken Loach, a milionria Jemima Khan e o jornalista investigativo australiano John Pilger tinham se oferecido para pagar a fiana de Assange e tambm compareceram corte de Westminster no dia do julgamento. Michael Moore e Bianca Jagger tambm contriburam para o pagamento. Alm de dezenas de jornalistas, uma multido de simpatizantes do ativista australiano se concentrou em frente ao tribunal londrino, recebendo com alegria a notcia de que ele seria posto em liberdade.[60][80] .

O ex-presidente brasileiro Luiz Incio Lula da Silva prestou solidariedade a Assange e disse que ele um exemplo do discurso livre.[81][82] O chefe da direo nacional do MST, Joo Paulo Rodrigues, organizou um abaixo-assinado e manifestaes na porta da embaixada junto com outros movimentos sociais da ALBA.[83] .

Vladimir Putin, quando primeiro-ministro da Rssia, declarou que a priso de Assange contra a democracia, que alguns pases se "orgulham" de ter.[84]

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Julian Assange Wikipdia, a enciclopdia livre

Chelsea Manning convicted over magazines, toothpaste …

Story highlights

The former U.S. Army soldier, already imprisoned for providing classified documents to Wikileaks, was found guilty Tuesday on four charges, the inmate tweeted.

"I am receiving 21 days of restrictions on recreation -- no gym, library or outdoors," Manning tweeted.

Those four charges include medicine misuse, prohibited property, disorderly conduct and disrespect.

The medicine charge came after officials discovered an expired tube of toothpaste in her cell, according to a statement on ChelseaManning.org.

The contraband came in the form of books and magazines -- such as a copy of Vanity Fair magazine featuring Caitlyn Jenner and a copy of Cosmopolitan magazine featuring an interview with Manning. But according to ChelseaManning.org, she received the reading material legally through the prison's open mail system.

The disorderly conduct and disrespect charges both stem from an incident during dinner on July 2. Officials accused Manning of "sweeping food onto the floor" and conducting herself "in a contemptuous manner by being disrespectful to the cadre present." ]

A U.S. Military spokesman declined to comment, citing that the proceedings were "protected by the Privacy Act of 1974."

The statement on Manning's website offers her explanation of what happened.

"The catalyst for this attack on Chelsea seems to have been an incident in the mess hall where she may have pushed, brushed, or accidentally knocked, a small amount of food off of her table," the statement said. "She then asked to speak to her lawyer when confronted by a guard. The absurd charges were tacked on later."

According to the statement, the four charges could have been punishable by "indefinite solitary confinement."

"These absurd charges against Chelsea, and the outrageous threat of indefinite solitary confinement, are clearly an attempt to silence Chelsea's important voice and cut her off from the outside world," the statement said.

RELATED: Chelsea Manning breaks silence, accuses U.S. of lying about Iraq

Manning is serving a 35-year prison sentence at Fort Leavenworth, an Army prison in eastern Kansas, for leaking a trove of classified documents to Wikileaks. She was convicted of violating the Espionage Act.

Manning, who was born male and was formerly known as Bradley Manning, said two years ago that she is female. She eventually filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming she "has been denied access to medically necessary treatment" for her gender disorder.

RELATED: Bradley Manning wants to live as a woman, be known as Chelsea

Manning regularly publishes op-eds in The Guardian about transgender rights, the prison system and government transparency, according to the statement. She recently won the ability to begin hormone therapy after threatening to sue the military.

RELATED: Chelsea Manning sues to get transgender medical treatment

CNN's Barbara Starr and Eugene Scott contributed to this report.

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Chelsea Manning convicted over magazines, toothpaste ...

Chelsea Manning found guilty for prison contraband …

Whistleblower Chelsea Manning was found guilty Tuesday on four disciplinary charges and given 21 days of recreational restrictions for breaking military prison rules keeping expired toothpaste and Vanity Fairs CaitlynJenner cover, among other things, in her cell, her attorney said.

Mannings attorney, Chase Strangio with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement Manning was convicted during a four-hour, closed-door disciplinary hearing without legal representation. A message from Mannings Twitter account said her restrictions include no gym, library or outdoors.

[5 of the most famous federal whistleblowers]

Now these convictions will follow me through to any parole/clemency hearing forever, the tweet said. Was expecting to be in minimum custody in February, now years added.

The transgender Army private was convicted in 2013 of espionage for leaking 700,000 top secret military documents to the whistleblower news site WikiLeaks and was sentenced to 35 years at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.

In July, she was written up for possessing prohibited property, such as books and magazines, while she was in administrative segregation; medicine misuse for having expired toothpaste; disorderly conduct for brushing food onto the floor, and disrespect, according to the Associated Press.

Manning faced a maximum sentence of indefinite solitary confinement.

[Chelsea Manning will begin gender treatment in military prison]

The U.S. military said last week it was committed to a fair and equitable process, during Mannings disciplinary hearing, which it called a common practice in correctional systems to hold prisoners accountable to facility rules.

But just days before Mannings hearing, a message from her Twitter account claimed she had been denied access to the prisons legal library.

Support for Manning swelled. More than 100,000 people signed an online petition to urge officials to make her disciplinary hearing public.

When I spoke to Chelsea earlier today she wanted to convey the message to supporters that she is so thankful for the thousands of people from around the world who let the government know we are watching and scrutinizing what happens to her behind prison walls, Strangio said in a statement to Vanity Fair. It was no doubt this support that kept her out of solitary confinement.

[Chelsea Manning, imprisoned for leaking secrets, to tweet from Fort Leavenworth]

But the fact that Chelsea had to face todays four-hour Disciplinary Board without counsel and will now be punished for daring to share her voice sets a concerning precedent for the remaining decades of her incarceration.

Chelseas ridiculous convictions today will not silence her, Mannings other attorney, Nancy Hollander, tweeted after the hearing. And we will fight even harder in her appeal to overturn all her convictions.

The military would not release any information on Mannings disciplinary hearing, citing the Privacy Act of 1976, according to the Associated Press.

(This post has been updated to correct the spelling of Caitlyn Jenners first name.)

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Chelsea Manning found guilty for prison contraband ...

Chelsea Manning Found Guilty of Violating Prison Rules …

Convicted national security leaker Chelsea Manning was found guilty Tuesday of violating prison rules and will receive three weeks of recreational restrictions at the Kansas military prison where she's serving her 35-year sentence, her attorney said.

The transgender Army private was accused of having a copy of Vanity Fair with Caitlyn Jenner on the cover and an expired tube of toothpaste, among other things. Her attorney, Chase Strangio of the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a news release that Manning was convicted of all charges after a closed four-hour disciplinary board hearing in which she had no counsel.

Manning received 21 days of recreational restrictions limiting access to the gym, library and outdoors. The maximum punishment she could have faced was indefinite solitary confinement.

The U.S. Army has declined to release any information on the results of the hearing, citing the Privacy Act of 1976. The military said in a statement last week that it is committed to "a fair and equitable process," and called such proceedings "a common practice in correctional systems to hold prisoners accountable to facility rules."

The prison infractions include possession of prohibited property in the form of books and magazines while under administrative segregation; medicine misuse over the toothpaste; disorderly conduct for sweeping food onto the floor; and disrespect. All relate to alleged misconduct on July 2 and 9.

"When I spoke to Chelsea earlier today she wanted to convey the message to supporters that she is so thankful for the thousands of people from around the world who let the government know that we are watching and scrutinizing what happens to her behind prison walls," Strangio said.

Strangio credited public support for keeping Manning out of solitary confinement. Petitions signed by 100,000 people were delivered Tuesday to the U.S. Army by digital rights group Fight for the Future and others.

In addition to the recreational restrictions, the convictions that are now on her record could be cited in future hearings concerning parole or clemency, which could delay her transition to a less restrictive custody status, Strangio said.

The intelligence analyst, formerly known as Bradley Manning, was convicted in 2013 of espionage and other offenses for sending more than 700,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks while working in Iraq. She is serving a 35-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth for leaking reams of war logs, diplomatic cables and battlefield video to the anti-secrecy website in 2010.

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Chelsea Manning Found Guilty of Violating Prison Rules ...

Chelsea Manning found guilty but spared solitary …

Chelsea Manning supporters hold up banners near the Pentagon before delivering more than 100,000 signatures to the US army calling for new charges to be dropped. Photograph: Mike Avender/FFTF

Chelsea Manning has been found guilty of possessing unapproved reading material by a panel at Fort Leavenworth prison but will be spared the indefinite solitary confinement that had reportedly been among her possible sentences, according to a tweet sent from her official account.

Related: Same-sex marriage isn't equality for all LGBT people. Our movement can't end | Chelsea Manning

Instead the prison board ruled during a disciplinary hearing held on Tuesday that Manning will face 21 days of restrictions on her recreational activities, including no access to a gym, a library or the outdoors.

Manning was given a 35-year sentence for leaking US state secrets to WikiLeaks.

I was found guilty of all four charges at todays board; I am receiving 21 days of restrictions on recreation no gym, library or outdoors, announced a tweet sent from Mannings official Twitter account, @xychelsea.

A petition of more than 100,000 signatures was delivered to the US army liaison office in Congress on Tuesday asking that the charges against Manning be dropped.

Chase Strangio, Mannings attorney at the ACLU, said after the verdict that Manning was so thankful for the thousands of people from around the world who let the government know that we are watching and scrutinizing what happens to her behind prison walls.

It was no doubt this support that kept [Chelsea] out of solitary confinement, said Strangio.

Manning was accused of disrespect, disorderly conduct and other violations under the rules of the Fort Leavenworth prison in Kansas where she is serving her sentence.

She was also charged with medicine misuse after a search of her cell on 9 July uncovered an expired tube of toothpaste.

A tube of anti-cavity toothpaste, MKIC, was found in your possession past its expiration date of 9 April 2015. You are involved in violation of ACC Policy Letter 16, using, possessing, handling or storing of medicine, except as authorized by the facility medical staff. Failure to take medication as prescribed by medical staff, read the charging documents, which were also shared on Mannings twitter account.

According to Manning other items confiscated from her cell included the memoir I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai, a novel featuring trans women called A Safe Girl to Love, the LGBT publication Out Magazine, the Caitlyn Jenner issue of Vanity Fair and a copy of Cosmopolitan that included an interview with Manning.

Her lawyers said they had been barred from Tuesdays four-hour hearing and that prior to the hearing Manning was barred from accessing the prisons library.

Strangio said the fact that Manning faced the disciplinary board without counsel sets a concerning precedent for the remainder of her incarceration.

Not only does this punishment mean the immediate loss of library and recreation for Chelsea, but she also will carry these infractions through her parole and clemency process and will be held longer in the more restrictive custody where she is now incarcerated, said Strangio.

No one should have to face the lingering threat of solitary confinement for reading and writing about the conditions we encounter in the world. Chelseas voice is critical to our public discourse about government accountability and trans justice and we can only preserve it if we stay vigilant in our advocacy on her behalf.

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Chelsea Manning found guilty but spared solitary ...

chelsea manning: Pictures, Videos, Breaking News

Alford writes that whistleblowers have "seen what one is not supposed to know." In exposing a wrong, they have risked and lost much -- job, status, security, liberty, friends. To come to a resolution, they would also lose their faith in the adages we buy into as the currency of the social order: life is fair, the system isn't stacked against us, the individual matters, the truth shall set us free.

Nan Levinson

Author of 'War Is Not a Game: The New Antiwar Soldiers and the Movement They Built'

We as a culture do not like women as autonomous beings. We do not support them -- sometimes we punish them.

The free flow of information is necessary for a democratic society, and this flow cannot be purely in the hands of government. This is why the rights to expression and a free and open press are among the most widely recognized rights on earth.

Obama's Justice Department has brought more than twice as many prosecutions for the crime of leaking confidential information to journalists as the combined total of all presidents back to Woodrow Wilson. Whether you agree with Obama's track record of such prosecutions, you'd have to admit that treating Petraeus differently would be indefensible hypocrisy and elitism.

Cliven Bundy isn't the only one saying strange things; take our Week to Week news quiz to see if you can identify the others.

John Zipperer

Vice president of media & editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California

Hopefully today's name change, so meaningful to me personally, can also raise awareness of the fact that we trans* people exist everywhere in America today, and that we must jump through hurdles every day just for being who we are.

Chelsea Manning

Former U.S. Army intelligence analyst, military whistleblower and democracy advocate

On Tuesday, the San Francisco Pride Committee, under a new board, did the LGBT community proud by finally conferring one of our community's highest honors upon one of its most courageous individuals, Private Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning.

Andy Thayer

Anti-war activist and co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network in Chicago

It should be a matter of national and mass priority to pursue these things and the government that refuses to pursue them can scarcely be called a government "of the people, by the people, for the people" in any meaningful way.

Our state of affairs goes against a pinnacle of American justice, equality before law, facilitating everything from war crimes, to torture, to domestic spying, to a predatory, ravenous Wall Street that feeds on the middle class with impunity.

My fellow Americans: I deliver this address at a time of great distress in our nation. Never before have we faced challenges of such severity as we d...

C. Robert Gibson

Independent journalist published in Guardian, the Washington Post, Al Jazeera America, NPR, and other publications

This has been -- officially at least -- one of those quiet weeks for political reporters. But members of both House and Senate are in this quiet time having to think hard about the uncomfortably hot potato recently tossed into their laps by President Obama.

What an amazing year for the movement of movements that continues to develop here in the United States and around the world.

Dennis Trainor

Creator of Acronym TV/ Director- American Autumn: an Occudoc

Tutu was part of a tsunami of change that challenged and toppled the walls of apartheid. But he was not finished then. He has continued to fight onwards to publicize the plight and agitate for positive change.

Every American should be outraged that leakers and whistleblowers are being prosecuted under an espionage statute without ever having to show they meant to harm the U.S. or that any harm actually occurred.

Trevor Timm

Executive Director, Freedom of the Press Foundation

This week's Real Talk With Rob Smith takes on homophobia in hip-hop, Russia, and Chelsea Manning. ...

Rob Smith

Iraq war veteran, author, public speaker and LGBT activist

As the State Department and the DoD reluctantly concluded at Manning's trial, little if any verifiable damage was indeed done to the United States. There is no denying that the disclosures were embarrassing and awkward, but that is not worth most of a man's life.

Peter Van Buren

Author of "Ghosts of Tom Joad: A Story of the #99Percent" and "We Meant Well"

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chelsea manning: Pictures, Videos, Breaking News

Subverting Illusions: Julian Assange and the Value of …

Three years after Ecuador's government granted political asylum to Julian Assange in its small ground-floor London embassy, the founder of WikiLeaks is still there -- beyond the reach of the government whose vice president, Joe Biden, has labeled him "a digital terrorist." The Obama administration wants Assange in a U.S. prison, so that the only mouse he might ever see would be scurrying across the floor of a solitary-confinement cell.

Above and beyond Assange's personal freedom, what's at stake includes the impunity of the United States and its allies to relegate transparency to a mythical concept, with democracy more rhetoric than reality. From the Vietnam War era to today -- from aerial bombing and torture to ecological disasters and financial scams moving billions of dollars into private pockets -- the high-up secrecy hiding key realities from the public has done vast damage. No wonder economic and political elites despise WikiLeaks for its disclosures.

During the last five years, since the release of the infamous "Collateral Murder" video, the world has changed in major ways for democratic possibilities, with WikiLeaks as a catalyst. It's sadly appropriate that Assange is so deplored and reviled by so many in the upper reaches of governments, huge corporations and mass media. For such powerful entities, truly informative leaks to the public are plagues that should be eradicated as much as possible.

Notably, in the U.S. mass media, Assange is often grouped together with whistleblowers. He is in fact a journalistic editor and publisher. In acute contrast to so many at the top of the corporate media and governmental food chains, Assange insists that democracy requires the "consent of the governed" to be informed consent. While powerful elites work 24/7 to continually gain the uninformed consent of the governed, WikiLeaks has opposite concerns.

Genuine journalistic liberty exists only to the extent that overt or internalized censorship is absent. Especially in a society such as the United States with enduring press freedoms (the First Amendment is bruised and battered but still on its feet), the ultimate propaganda war zone is between people's ears. So much has been surrendered, often unwittingly and unknowingly. Waving the white flag at dominant propaganda onslaughts can only help democracy to expire.

Julian Assange has effectively insisted that another media world is possible and the corporate warfare state is unacceptable. Not coincidentally, the U.S. government wants to capture Assange and put him away, incommunicado, in a prison cell.

*****

Last week, in Sweden, most but not all of the sexual-assault allegations against Assange expired. Still, Assange notes, "I haven't even been charged." And Sweden's government -- while claiming that it is strictly concerned about adhering to its laws -- has refused to limit the legal scope to its own judicial process.

As the BBC reports, "Assange sought asylum three years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden, fearing he would then be sent to the U.S. and put on trial for releasing secret American documents." Closely aligned with Washington, the Swedish government refuses to promise that it would not turn Assange over to the U.S. government for extradition.

"Julian Assange has spent more time incarcerated in the small rooms of the embassy, with no access to fresh air or exercise and contrary to international law, than he could ever spend in a Swedish prison on these allegations," says one of his lawyers, Helena Kennedy.

*****

While government leaders have ample reasons to want to impale his image on a media spike and put him in prison for decades, many corporate titans -- including venerated innovator billionaires of Silicon Valley -- are not much more kindly disposed. The extent of their relentless commitments to anti-democratic greed has been brilliantly deconstructed in Assange's 2014 book "When Google Met WikiLeaks."

"Google's geopolitical aspirations are firmly enmeshed within the foreign-policy agenda of the world's largest superpower," Assange wrote. "As Google's search and internet service monopoly grows, and as it enlarges its industrial surveillance cone to cover the majority of the world's population, rapidly dominating the mobile phone market and racing to extend internet access in the global south, Google is steadily becoming the internet for many people. Its influence on the choices and behavior of the totality of individual human beings translates to real power to influence the course of history."

As for courage -- which too often is the stuff of mystifying legends about heroes on pedestals -- Assange's observations might help us to grasp how it can gradually be summoned from within ourselves. Worth pondering: "Courage is not the absence of fear. Only fools have no fear. Rather, courage is the intellectual mastery of fear by understanding the true risks and opportunities of the situation and keeping those things in balance."

Assange added: "It is not simply having prejudice about what the risks are, but actually testing them. There are all sorts of myths that go around about what can be done and what cannot be done. It's important to test. You don't test by jumping off a bridge. You test by jumping off a footstool, and then jumping off something a bit higher, and a bit higher."

While visiting him last fall and a couple of months ago, I found Assange no less insightful during informal conversations. This is a dangerous person, in words and deeds -- dangerous to the overlapping agendas of large corporations and governments in service to each other -- dangerous to those who constantly make a killing from war, vast inequities and plunder of the planet.

See more here:
Subverting Illusions: Julian Assange and the Value of ...

Ecuador hits back at UK criticism over Julian Assange …

Julian Assange with Ecuadors foreign minister, Ricardo Patino (left) inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Photograph: John Stillwell/AP

Ecuador has hit back at the British government over who is to blame for the deadlocked case of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

The Australian has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for more than three years to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces allegations of sexual assault.

Three of four investigations were dropped last week after they time-lapsed.

The Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire said Ecuadors decision to harbour Assange had prevented the proper course of justice.

He said the UK continued to have a legal obligation to extradite him to Sweden.

The continuing failure to expedite the Swedish prosecutors interview, and to bring this situation to an end, is being seen as a growing stain on the countrys reputation, he said.

Ecuadors acting foreign minister, Xavier Lasso, said he categorically rejected the accusations. It is not acceptable to try to place the responsibility for the lack of progress in this area over the last five years on Ecuador.

If diplomatic relations had been abused it was the British government that had done so, he said, recalling that it had threatened to violate the immunity of diplomatic premises and maintained a police cordon outside the embassy in London.

The British government has the sole responsibility for such an invasive and unnecessary police deployment, Lasso said.

The republic of Ecuador will not take lessons from any foreign government, least of all those that are unaware of the institution of political asylum, its legitimacy, attached and enshrined in international law, and its humanitarian nature based on the sovereign equality of nations.

Assange fears being taken to the US for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks.

The police operation to guard the embassy has cost more than 12m.

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Ecuador hits back at UK criticism over Julian Assange ...

Bradley Manning: Pictures, Videos, Breaking News

Obama's Justice Department has brought more than twice as many prosecutions for the crime of leaking confidential information to journalists as the combined total of all presidents back to Woodrow Wilson. Whether you agree with Obama's track record of such prosecutions, you'd have to admit that treating Petraeus differently would be indefensible hypocrisy and elitism.

Hopefully today's name change, so meaningful to me personally, can also raise awareness of the fact that we trans* people exist everywhere in America today, and that we must jump through hurdles every day just for being who we are.

Chelsea Manning

Former U.S. Army intelligence analyst, military whistleblower and democracy advocate

The amorphous nature of wars since at least the dawn of the Cold War in the mid-1940s has meant that the U.S. has more or less been at war for generations. This, in turn, has precipitated the ever-burgeoning war-industrial-intelligence complex.

"Listen, all these kids here with a piece, I'd written a line in a song on my last record about "Kids with Uzis, ice suckers, Death is a always thing." You can't get away from that mess. Whatever the kids got, the adults put them in their hands. They don't know what the hell they're doing, the kids."

I have tended to see whistleblowers as courageous individuals performing an often useful function, but also as slightly crazy vigilantes who were participating in that conspiracy against confidentiality, and thus against privacy.

Our state of affairs goes against a pinnacle of American justice, equality before law, facilitating everything from war crimes, to torture, to domestic spying, to a predatory, ravenous Wall Street that feeds on the middle class with impunity.

My fellow Americans: I deliver this address at a time of great distress in our nation. Never before have we faced challenges of such severity as we d...

C. Robert Gibson

Independent journalist published in Guardian, the Washington Post, Al Jazeera America, NPR, and other publications

It is one year since the death of 26-year-old Aaron Swartz, the renowned computer programmer, writer, political organizer and Internet activist. People all around the world are remembering Swartz

Ruair McKiernan

Social innovator, campaigner, and presidential appointee to Irelands Council of State

Snowden, in a larger sense, in a good way, doesn't matter as a person. What matters is what he has revealed to us about a national security state that has clearly gone quite insane, violating our liberty and our freedom to live without unwarranted search and seizure of our private lives.

Peter Van Buren

Author of "Ghosts of Tom Joad: A Story of the #99Percent" and "We Meant Well"

This week's Real Talk With Rob Smith takes on homophobia in hip-hop, Russia, and Chelsea Manning. ...

Rob Smith

Iraq war veteran, author, public speaker and LGBT activist

Miley Cyrus! Okay, now that I have your attention, we can talk. What happened to the dream, the democratic experiment, that was the United States of A...

"Music, absolutely, without question, put me in a direction that you can say saved my life, although to me, my life was already safe."

On the day HuffPost Hawaii launched, I had the chance to sit down briefly -- nine minutes, to be exact -- with Honolulu Civil Beat publisher and CEO P...

Jon Letman

Independent journalist living in Kauai, HI

Should the army pay for Bradley (aka Chelsea) Manning's sex reassignment surgery? If he'd been acquitted, the responsibility for any operations would ...

The original concept of a hero, at least to the ancient Greeks, was that of a demi-god, the child of a god and a mortal, in other words a human with god-like characteristics of bravery and self-sacrifice.

Lyric Hughes Hale

Editor of Econvue, a forum for independent voices and expert opinions on the global economy

When most of the media refused to recognize Pfc. Manning as a woman, there was an outpouring of criticism of that action. Subsequently, both the Associated Press and The New York Times decided to violate their previous editorial policies. Here's the problem.

Dana Beyer

Executive Director, Gender Rights Maryland

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Bradley Manning: Pictures, Videos, Breaking News