My name is Edward Snowden. A little over one month ago, I had family, a home & lived in great comfort. I also had the capability without any warrant to search for, seize & read your communications-anyone’s communications-at any time. That is the power to change people’s fates. It is also a serious violation of the law. The 4th & 5th Amendments to the US Constitution, Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights & numerous statutes & treaties forbid such systems of massive, pervasive surveillance. While the US Constitution marks these programs as illegal, my government argues that secret court rulings, which the world is not permitted to see, somehow legitimize [it]. These rulings simply corrupt the most basic notion of justice – that it must be seen to be done. The immoral cannot be made moral through the use of secret law. I believe in the principle declared at Nuremberg in 1945: "Individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience. Therefore individual citizens have the duty to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace & humanity..." I did what I believed right & began a campaign to correct this wrongdoing. I did not seek to enrich myself. I did not seek to sell US secrets. I did not partner with any foreign government to guarantee my safety. Instead, I took what I knew to the public, so what affects all of us can be discussed by all of us in the light of day, & I ask the world for justice... That moral decision to tell the public about spying that affects all of us has been costly, but it was the right thing to do & I have no regrets. Since that time, the government & intelligence services of the United States of America have attempted to make an example of me, a warning to all others who might speak out as I have. I have been made stateless & hounded for my act of political expression. The United States Government has placed me on no-fly lists. It has threatened with sanctions countries who would stand up for my human rights & the UN asylum system. It has even taken the unprecedented step of ordering military allies to ground a Latin American president’s plane in search for a political refugee. These dangerous escalations represent a threat not just to the dignity of Latin America, but to the basic rights shared by every person, every nation, to live free from persecution & to seek asylum. This willingness by powerful states to act extra-legally represents a threat to all of us & must not be allowed to succeed. published by Wikileaks The United States Government has invaded & attacked sovereign nations without just cause, it has used proxies to fight wars & participated in military coups against elected Governments. It has passed laws-like the Patriot Act, FISA & the NDAA & used a secret court to violate our Constitution. It assassinates, kidnaps, tortures & imprisons civilians-including American citizens-without due process. In short the Government we instituted to protect our rights & serve us-is now our master & anyone who raises their voice in dissent is their enemy. Principles NOT Parties
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 16:35:54 +0000
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