UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, urged the UK government Tuesday to stop the impending extradition of Julian Assange to the US. She urged the government to carefully consider Assange’s appeal and cited significant concerns that his extradition could put him at risk of treatment amounting to torture.
The Special Rapporteur called for the British government to reconsider the extradition order and make sure it complies with the absolute prohibition against sending individuals to places where they might face torture and “other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. She also urged them “to take all the necessary measures to safeguard Mr. Assange’s physical and mental health.”
Assange is currently being held at Belmarsh prison in the UK, and the British government had already ordered his extradition to the US in June 2022. He is currently in the process of appealing that decision and is due to appear at the High Court on February 20-21. In that hearing, the court will be reassessing an earlier ruling that had denied Assange permission to appeal the decision to extradite.
From 2012-2019, the controversial WikiLeaks founder was sequestered in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden for allegations of sexual assault. He remained there for seven years before Ecuador rescinded his political asylum and he was forcibly dragged out by Metropolitan Police officers. Shortly after this he was further arrested at the behest of the US government, which sought his extradition on 18 charges related to his “alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States.” This included his alleged involvement in unlawfully obtaining and revealing classified documents concerning national defence, some of which unveiled evidence of alleged war crimes.
Assange was sent to Belmarsh Prison in southeast London, a Category A prison known for housing high-profile inmates, especially those involved in national security cases. He has been in solitary confinement since his imprisonment, has suffered from a “recurrent depressive disorder” and “is assessed as being at risk of committing suicide.” Edwards is concerned that his extradition to the US would see him “being placed in prolonged solitary confinement, despite his precarious mental health status, and … receive a potentially disproportionate sentence.” She went on to say that the “diplomatic assurances of humane treatment provided by the Government of the United States are not a sufficient guarantee to protect Mr. Assange against such risk.”
