{"id":173656,"date":"2020-11-30T12:01:02","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T12:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=173656"},"modified":"2020-11-30T09:23:26","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T09:23:26","slug":"doctors-for-assange-statement-ongoing-torture-and-neglect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/11\/doctors-for-assange-statement-ongoing-torture-and-neglect\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctors for Assange Statement: Ongoing Torture and Neglect"},"content":{"rendered":"

22 Nov 2020 – <\/em>Sunday 22nd<\/sup> November 2020 marked 12 months since doctors from around the world wrote to the UK Home Secretary<\/a>, Priti Patel, calling for an immediate end to the torture and medical neglect of Julian Assange.<\/p>\n

Since that time, Doctors for Assange has repeatedly cautioned that the documented abuse of Mr Assange\u2019s human rights, including his detention in London\u2019s Belmarsh prison, is deleterious to his health and survival. Our warnings have taken the form of letters<\/a> to governments; widespread media coverage<\/a>; public statements<\/a> and interviews<\/a>; and two<\/a> appeals<\/a> in the premier medical journal, The Lancet<\/em>. They have been widely referenced in the media, by advocates and by politicians of conscience.<\/p>\n

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Julian Assange in January 2020 in a police van on the way to London\u2019s maximum security Belmarsh prison.
Dominic Lipinski\/Press Association Images\/Keystone<\/p><\/div>\n

Now, one year on, the torture and medical neglect of Mr Assange not only continues unabated but has intensified. He remains arbitrarily deprived of his liberty in Belmarsh prison, as determined by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, imprisoned for journalistic activity that was legal when and where it occurred and remains so. He has been found to be at risk of dying and a victim of psychological torture by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture.<\/p>\n

Priti Patel\u2019s Home Office did not respond to our letter directly, but instead issued a statement to the media, reported on 25th<\/sup> November 2019:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe allegations Mr. Assange was subjected to torture are unfounded and wholly false. The UK is committed to upholding the rule of law and ensuring that no one is ever above it.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be clear, when Doctors for Assange wrote to the Home Secretary, Mr Assange had been assessed as being a victim of past and continuing psychological torture. It was not simply the case that he had been subjected to torture; he was being subjected to ongoing torture, which continues to this day.<\/p>\n

Mr Assange is being detained in Belmarsh high security prison by the UK government in deference to a US government extradition request based on controversial and unprecedented political charges in retaliation for prize-winning, public interest journalism. Plainly, Julian Assange is a political prisoner of the UK-US \u2018special relationship\u2019.<\/p>\n

And yet, none of the medical and psychological conditions itemised in our first letter to the UK government have been adequately treated or addressed. Nor has the Australian government intervened on behalf of its citizen despite our and others\u2019 appeals for it to do so.<\/p>\n

Mr Assange not only remains in solitary confinement, recently increased from 23 to 24 hours a day, he is at high medical risk from Covid-19 given a chronic lung condition and likely immuno suppression due to prolonged psychological torture. He meets internationally agreed criteria for release of vulnerable prisoners in light of Covid-19. Nevertheless, emergency bail has been denied, and Covid-19 positive inmates are being housed in Julian Assange\u2019s prison wing as of November 2020. His mother<\/a> and fianc\u00e9e<\/a> are understandably expressing their fears for his life.<\/p>\n

Doctors for Assange shares those fears, on multiple medical grounds, and we mark one year since our first letter by renewing our call for Julian Assange to be released from prison, immediately.<\/p>\n

Foreseeable medical and psychological harm<\/strong><\/p>\n

Given his ongoing torture and medical neglect, it is no surprise that the court at Julian Assange\u2019s extradition hearing at the Old Bailey in September 2020 heard evidence of severe psychological and medical suffering, with a high risk of suicide. Indeed, medical experts testified that Mr Assange suffers from many of the medical, psychological and cognitive symptoms that Doctors for Assange has warned of for the last 12 months.<\/p>\n

In light of the continued abuses of Mr Assange\u2019s human right to health despite our warnings, it was foreseeable that the court would hear in September 2020 that Julian Assange suffers from severe depression, trauma, suicide risk and cognitive impairments affecting concentration, memory and verbal functioning.<\/p>\n

In a widely publicised open letter to the Australian government<\/a> in December 2019, Doctors for Assange wrote that Julian Assange\u2019s treatment by governments, judiciaries and prison authorities (arbitrariness, constant fear, threat and trauma, and prolonged isolation):<\/p>\n