Institute for Public Accuracy: An array of
high-profile Americans -- including Rev. Jesse
Jackson, feminist Gloria Steinem, Vietnam veteran Ron
Kovic, leaders of the ACLU and the Newspaper Guild,
and artists such as Sean Penn, Bonnie Raitt and Martin
Sheen -- released a joint statement Thursday (Jan. 29)
in support of Katharine Gun, a British whistleblower.
Ms. Gun faces two years in prison in England for
alerting the public about U.S. spying on United
Nations diplomats aimed at securing U.N. approval for
war against Iraq...We honor Katharine Gun as a
whistleblower who bravely risked her career and her
very liberty to inform the public about illegal spying
in support of a war based on deception. In a
democracy, she should not be made a scapegoat for
exposing the transgressions of others.
Repudiate the 9/11 Coverup and the Iraq War Lies, Show
Up for Democracy in 2004: Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.accuracy.org/press_releases/PR012904.htm
January 29, 2004
U.N. Spy Scandal on Iraq: Prominent Americans Support British Whistleblower
An array of high-profile Americans -- including Rev.
Jesse Jackson, feminist Gloria Steinem, Vietnam
veteran Ron Kovic, leaders of the ACLU and the
Newspaper Guild, and artists such as Sean Penn, Bonnie
Raitt and Martin Sheen -- released a joint statement
Thursday (Jan. 29) in support of Katharine Gun, a
British whistleblower. Ms. Gun faces two years in
prison in England for alerting the public about U.S.
spying on United Nations diplomats aimed at securing
U.N. approval for war against Iraq.
The initiator of the statement is Daniel Ellsberg, who
in 1971 leaked the Pentagon Papers exposing decades of
deception behind U.S. involvement in Vietnam. He
praises Katharine Gun for her "courageous action." Mr.
Ellsberg wrote in the Jan. 27 Guardian newspaper: "Her
revelation of a classified document urging British
intelligence to help the U.S. bug the phones of all
the members of the U.N. Security Council to manipulate
their votes on the war may have been critical in
denying the invasion a false cloak of legitimacy."
---------
AMERICANS CONCERNED ABOUT KATHARINE GUN
Should this woman go to prison for the "crime" of
telling the truth?
The following statement has been signed by:
DANIEL ELLSBERG, author/whistleblower
JAMES ABOUREZK, former U.S. senator
BARBARA EHRENREICH, writer
LINDA FOLEY, president Newspaper Guild
DANNY GLOVER, actor/director
JIM HIGHTOWER, commentator/author
REV. JESSE JACKSON, founder Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
RON KOVIC, Vietnam veteran/author
SEAN PENN, actor/director
BONNIE RAITT, musician
RAMONA RIPSTON, executive director Southern California
ACLU
MARTIN SHEEN, actor/director
GLORIA STEINEM, feminist author
(Affiliations for identification only)
As the world teetered on the edge of war in early
March 2003, with the United States and Britain
pressuring the U.N. Security Council to give up on
weapons inspections and authorize a war against Iraq,
a news story broke that made headlines in much of the
world. The story disrupted momentum toward a U.N. war
resolution.
Quoting a leaked "top secret" memo written by an
official of the U.S. National Security Agency, the
Observer newspaper in London reported that, in
furtherance of the war resolution, American spies were
"mounting a surge" of surveillance targeting countries
on the Security Council -- especially "against" six
undecided countries. The spying intercepted diplomatic
communications via home and office telephones and
emails in search of "the whole gamut of information
that could give U.S. policymakers an edge in obtaining
results favorable to U.S. goals." The NSA memo
requested the help of British intelligence in the
surveillance.
The Observer's story about U.S. dirty tricks at the
U.N. rocked much of the world, especially the
countries targeted for spying. Today, a 29-year-old
British woman, Katharine Gun, is facing two years in
prison for acting on her conscience and helping to
bring the spy memo to light.
Ms. Gun, a translator at the British intelligence
agency GCHQ, was arrested shortly after the story was
published. In November, she was charged with violating
Britain's draconian Official Secrets Act. She is being
represented by the British human rights group Liberty;
restrictions on her defense have been denounced by
Amnesty International.
Katharine Gun recently explained her actions in
written statements: "Any disclosures that may have
been made were justified on the following grounds:
because they exposed serious illegality and wrongdoing
on the part of the U.S. government which attempted to
subvert our own security services.... I will defend
the charges against me on the basis my actions were
necessary to prevent an illegal war in which thousands
of Iraqi civilians and British soldiers would be
killed or maimed. No one has suggested, nor could
they, that I set out to receive any payment. I have
only ever followed my conscience. I have been
heartened by many messages of support and
encouragement that I have received from Britain and
around the world."
There has been much talk in recent months about the
"special relationship" between the U.S. and British
governments, which led the world to war. But history
tells us of another "special relationship" -- between
people of good will in the United States and Britain
who worked together in opposition to slavery and
colonialism, and most recently against the push for
war on Iraq. It is in the spirit of friendship between
our peoples in defense of democracy that we sign this
statement.
We honor Katharine Gun as a whistleblower who bravely
risked her career and her very liberty to inform the
public about illegal spying in support of a war based
on deception. In a democracy, she should not be made a
scapegoat for exposing the transgressions of others.
We urge the U.S. media to inform the public about this
important case involving fundamental issues of
secrecy, freedom of the press and international law.
We urge our elected officials to express their
concerns over this prosecution to the British
government.
We urge Americans to express their solidarity with
Katharine Gun directly to the government of Britain
through the British Embassy, 3100 Massachusetts Ave.,
Washington, D.C. 20008. Phone: 202-588-7800. Fax:
202-588-7870. (Please cc to the address below.)
Contact: Americans Concerned about Katharine Gun
c/o Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building
Washington, D.C. 20045
solidarity@accuracy.org
For more background: www.accuracy.org/gun
For more information, contact at the Institute for
Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541)
484-9167