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Britain’s Socialist Workers Party & Socialist Party back extradition of Assange

Chris Marsden | 27.08.2012 21:34 | Repression | Technology | Terror War | Sheffield | World

Britain’s largest pseudo-left groups have lined up behind the demand that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange be extradited to Sweden.

Both the Socialist Workers Party and the Socialist Party echo the propaganda of the liberal media that Assange must face rape charges and that the allegations of sexual assault have nothing to do with the efforts of the United States, Britain, Sweden and other governments to silence him and destroy WikiLeaks.

The SWP’s Tom Walker writes, “Julian Assange must face rape charges, not US revenge.” He notes the fate of Bradley Manning, “the US soldier accused of leaking state secrets who has so far spent more than 800 days behind bars without trial in military prison.” He points out that Manning has been chained hand and foot and mostly held “in solitary confinement for 23 to 24 hours a day and denied clothes and blankets at night.”

But he does so only to then claim that the “case of Assange…is far more problematic” because his extradition to Sweden, thwarted by his being granted asylum by Ecuador, is “for arrest and questioning over accusations by two women of rape and sexual assault.”

“Assange and some of his supporters have refused to take the rape allegations seriously,” he complains, before admitting, “We know that Assange faces a secret ‘sealed indictment’ in the US, and a grand jury has been convened against Wikileaks.”

To square the circle, he urges the Swedish authorities to guarantee that Assange will not be extradited to the US, which would “clear the way for him to face his accusers.”

Walker is, of course, well aware that Sweden has refused to give such an undertaking and that it would be meaningless even if it did so.

The Socialist Party reproduces an edited article by one of its Australian co-thinkers bearing the telling headline, “No Extradition to the USA.” The article tacitly supports Assange’s extradition to Sweden, arguing that “in a society where crimes against women are often ignored and trivialised, such allegations cannot be dismissed and should be properly investigated...”

“It is important for socialists to reject any idea that some rape does not need to be taken seriously,” the SP insists, going so far as to compare Assange’s supporters with the US Republican senatorial candidate Todd Akin, who created a stir last week with his reactionary and ignorant remark about “legitimate rape.”

The SWP and SP had maintained a deafening silence on the attempt to railroad Assange. The SWP last published a five-sentence item on Assange on March 5, 2011, and the SP last wrote on the issue on December 15, 2010!

The reason for their reticence is now clear. Both have long been in agreement with the extraordinary campaign by the right-wing as well as the nominally liberal press to tar Assange as a sexual criminal, but were reluctant to say so publicly. Now the time to procrastinate is over. To do so would risk alienating the upper layers of the petty-bourgeoisie to which they are oriented—those who have long promoted the politics of gender and race in opposition to class-based socialism—and who are now being whipped up against Assange.

The media’s howls of outrage over Assange’s alleged conduct in bed, the high-sounding posturing as defenders of women and the invocations of natural justice are so much hot air. The sole aim of the press pack is to muddy the political waters, conceal the real issues at stake, and intimidate those opposed to extradition by casting them as misogynists or even “defenders of rape.”

There is nothing to distinguish the SWP and SP’s stand from that of various faux liberal commentators such as Owen Jones, who wrote in the Independent that people such as Assange who “do otherwise commendable work” if “presented with rape allegations” must “face them like anybody else… Let’s be clear, rape is rape.”

What unites all of these media commentators, the ex-left included, is an insistence that the allegations (no charges have been laid) against Assange are grave and must be taken seriously. By “seriously” they mean entirely uncritically and, above all, without reference to the context in which they were made. To do otherwise, they insist, is to somehow question not only his two accusers, but to endorse the exploitation of womankind by predatory males everywhere.

This endlessly repeated injunction must be rejected. It is only in the deeply disoriented circles to which the Guardian, Independent, et al. cater, of which the SWP and SP are an essential component, that the presumption of innocence can be replaced by an insistence that all women tell the truth and all men are liars and sexual predators.

The reason why there are still no charges placed against Assange is that the claims made by his accusers are not credible. His relations with the two women were consensual. Indeed, both of the women had repeated sexual encounters with Assange over an extended period, including after the alleged incidents that led to their complaints.

The European arrest warrant against Assange alleges “unlawful coercion” when he purportedly held plaintiff one down with his body weight and sexually molested her by allegedly failing to use a condom. The same accusation of not using a condom is made for plaintiff two, along with a claim that she was asleep when sex was initiated by Assange. The final claim is that he “deliberately molested” plaintiff one by pressing his erect penis against her body.

The police statements made by the women make no reference to a stated lack of consent or threat of force and refer to a split condom, rather than a failure to use one. The testimony regarding Miss W (plaintiff two) being asleep is contradicted by her own tweets—referring as they do to being only “half-asleep.” Plaintiff one had thrown a party for Assange after the alleged incident of sexual assault against her and invited Assange to stay in her room afterwards.

The women had initially gone to the police after conferring with one another, but then only to insist that Assange take an HIV test, which, in an extraordinary breach of standard procedure, the police did. The women did not allege rape.

That is why the initial investigation of August 20, 2010 was dropped and an arrest warrant against Assange cancelled the next day by one of Stockholm’s chief prosecutors, Eva Finne, who said in a statement to the press: “I don’t think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape.”

The reissue of the warrant took place only after the intervention of Swedish Chief Prosecutor Marianne Ny on September 1, 2010.

Under normal circumstances, such flimsy and unsubstantiated allegations would not be considered the basis for criminal charges, especially after the two women were allowed to confer and give evidence together by the police. But these are not normal circumstances.

Whatever weasel words are employed by his accusers, the levelling of sex allegations against Assange was clearly politically motivated. It was done only after consultation between the police, public prosecutors and the Swedish government.

Equally, the determination of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat government in the UK to deport Assange, even if this means breaking diplomatic relations with Ecuador, can have nothing other than political motives. This is, after all, a country that worked might and main to ensure that the fascist mass murderer Augusto Pinochet was not extradited to Spain.

Those journalistic hacks who deny the involvement of Washington in these events know they are lying. They do so because of a shared desire to see Assange silenced. Those such as the SWP and SP who insist that the threat of his being shipped off to the US should not impede a supposed struggle against gender-based violence are more shame-faced, but contribute to the same outcome.

Chris Marsden
- Homepage: https://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/aug2012/assa-a27.shtml

Comments

Hide the following 7 comments

No.

27.08.2012 22:43

A very good and lucid argument which gets to the heart of what is going on here...and reveals the methods used by those who fight against freedom of speech while claiming to be its most ardent defenders.

The SWP and SP have a long history of working side by side with the state and its crones. By their own admission they stand only for the disparate groups that they have made deals with over time. The SWP and SP are not talking from the perspective of natural justice or a realistic appraisal of the current problems many of us face. They speak from the POV of the varying disparate groups they have allied themselves with over the years. So we see a staunchly feminist critique of Assange and his situation that reflects only the skewed agenda of those groups the SWP and SP represent by alliance.

One would think that the SWP and SP would know well enough the trickery and evasiveness of the elite and would know well enough to speak out against it. No, instead they default to the bothersome language of the moral train crash that is modern Socialism. This isn't a statement about Assange or even the politics of Sweden or the US. This is mongrel politics attempting to ascertain a moral stance from which to enliven its political base. The result, a stupendous tangled nonsense that misses the mark by a nautical mile.

These statements are compelling example of why the modern Socialist tendency spends so much of its time failing not only its own political credo but the masses who strive and hope for some timely political representation at a time of horrendous inequality and theft of the public wealth.

We all know the truth here. Assange is just the latest target of the political elite who have wasted no time at all once again exploiting women for the purpose of spreading their corrupt agenda. Not for the first time have the public middle classes been asked to revel in disgust at the fabricated sexual habits of those who stand against the state and its crimes. Not for the first time has the cause of female emancipation been used as a weapon. Not that long ago, the rights of the women of Afghanistan were been misused as a cause to maintain the occupation that was killing their children.

Since when do you trust a soldier to safeguard the rights of a woman?

And what of it?

What comes of it is that the elite are entrusted once again to manage us as though we were flies, and the SWP and SP have stepped forward once again not to defeat that which is trying to defeat us, but to queue with their caveats like orphans in a workhouse in the hope of some crumb of privilage from that very same elite.

No, this will not do.

The cause of female emancipation is too important to be left to the worlds rapists.

Lenininski Milton-Friedman


comment

28.08.2012 18:09

Only Assange hasn't been charged with anything. The statists claim to want to 'extradite' him to ask him questions which they could equally ask him without him even leaving the Ecuador embassy. If they do drag him off to Sweden, he could just give a "no comment" interview as all good activist should. Anything we say to the police can be used against us, but can never help us.

anarchist


But...

29.08.2012 04:00

yes I agree that it is quite possible that there is a state conspiricy to get Assange to the United States, of course he may be wanted for that and it is likely governments are trying to silence him.

However this is not about answering the questions of states, or governments, or indeed the police; I think it's about answering, or even acknowledging the statements of two women who have said that Assange has raped them.

I think, as radicals it is inportant to remember that our response and critique of sexual assault, patriarchy, and other expressions of oppression towards women should be as robust as our critiques of states governments etc. It is inportant that we don't end up silencing the voices of two surviors by rushing to a staunch anti statist position which defends a person who may be a rapist. To his great detrament Assange has done little or nothing to address answer or listen to any of the allegations made against him; whilst I don't believe in courts or laws or their form of justice, I do beleive in accountability and social responsibility and Assange has a duty to the people who accuse him of rape to listen to them and act accordingl. To ignore those concerns is detramental to the fight against broader patterns and expressions of sexism and patriachy in our society..

Person


Swedish law

29.08.2012 09:35

"Only Assange hasn't been charged with anything. The statists claim to want to 'extradite' him to ask him questions which they could equally ask him without him even leaving the Ecuador embassy. If they do drag him off to Sweden, he could just give a "no comment" interview as all good activist should. Anything we say to the police can be used against us, but can never help us."


Well that's because you are thinking in terms of UK law, Swedish law is different. Saying Assange hasn't been charged with anything is a meaningless technicality, in Swedish criminal cases no one gets charged until very late on in the investigation. Arrest for an alleged crime in Sweden is the procedural stage before charging (or “indictment”).

They do not want to question Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy in the UK. Assange is not wanted just for questioning, he is wanted for arrest. You get to see how riduculous what you are proposing is because Assange if questioned, can either say he did or didn't rape those women, and the Swedish authorities can still take no action.

It would be harder for the US to extradite Assange from Sweden, as it would now require the consent both the UK and Sweden.

It is not legally possible for Sweden to guaruntee that Assange wil not be extradited to the US, by asking for this guaruntee, Assange is asking for the impossible, as he probably knows. All extradition requests have to be dealt with on their merits and in accordance with the applicable law; and any final word on an extradition would (quite properly) be with an independent Swedish court, and not the government giving the purported 'guarantee'.

What amazes me, is that Assange has managed to cook up this conspiracy theory, and get so many on board, just to help him worm out of this arrest.

Personally, I would like to see people focus on Bradley Manning, and realise that Assange is playing us.

Bright


Assange.

29.08.2012 11:50

"yes I agree that it is quite possible that there is a state conspiricy to get Assange to the United States, of course he may be wanted for that and it is likely governments are trying to silence him."

Well history certainly seems to indicate that. Assange would be a nobody were it not for the project he has been involved with. I very much doubt that the US would pass up an opportunity to arrest and arraigne him given half a chance. After all, one of their senior US intelligence analysts has released highly confidential information about US military movements and processes and highlighted the overlap between the US military and its supposed diplomatic corp, not to mention the overlap between US military and other governments around the world. Embarassing certainly. Its an easy jump to make to stitch together this unauthorised release and Assange's wanted status in the US. Its an even easier jump to understand that the US has a very good reason to feign indifference over this matter because it does not want to cast a public light on itself right now. Behind the scenes, I would imagine every department in the US government both military and civilian are working hard to see Assange enter US territory...by hook or by crook.




"However this is not about answering the questions of states, or governments, or indeed the police; I think it's about answering, or even acknowledging the statements of two women who have said that Assange has raped them."

Thats a very big and difficult jump to make. It entails placing these two women above the entire US military and civilian nexus in terms of importance. It also entails placing feminism's importance above and beyond the cause of peace. Somebody in the background has been very busy crafting this situation and getting into a position in which they can play one cause off against the other. Is this the US military nexus or is it Assange? As always, its a question of who has more resources at their disposal!

Its a very dull and very ordinary thing is building the disgrace of an oppenent. It entails little more than giving somebody a job to do and then testing for progress in much the same way as you would give a political scientist the job of researching an opponents history in the hope you might be able to find some little nugget of information your campaign can use to destabilise that same opponent. Its all very dull Assange's situation is no different to the situation a lot of people have found themselves in over the years. If you oppose the US in any way, and especially if you are effective at it, you may expect your sexual, financial and political habits to have question marks stuck all over them, which are intended for public consumption through the mechanism of freedom of the press. If you work in the political national media, unravelling this 'process' will entail much of your daily work.




"I think, as radicals it is inportant to remember that our response and critique of sexual assault, patriarchy, and other expressions of oppression towards women should be as robust as our critiques of states governments etc. It is inportant that we don't end up silencing the voices of two surviors by rushing to a staunch anti statist position which defends a person who may be a rapist. To his great detrament Assange has done little or nothing to address answer or listen to any of the allegations made against him; whilst I don't believe in courts or laws or their form of justice, I do beleive in accountability and social responsibility and Assange has a duty to the people who accuse him of rape to listen to them and act accordingl. To ignore those concerns is detramental to the fight against broader patterns and expressions of sexism and patriachy in our society"

As radicals it is equally important that you recognise that you are not the only radicals out there. The US government and military nexus prides itself on its radical credentials! Why shouldn't it, after all it is plainly more successful at it than you. It has built over the last decade 5 separate conflicts in 5 separate nations all on the basis of hunting down a single individual! Even after they claim to have killed that individual, they are still able to maintain at least three of those conflicts.

If they can do that, then it is a very simple thing to exploit or even build a spurious charge of rape in service to attaining their latest 'asset'.

These are the questions we need to ask and consider when formulating a response to the the issue of Assange. It is highly unlikely that this whole issue revolves around the use of condoms between willing political partners. It is highly unlikely that this issue revolves around whether Julian Assange looks like the British television personality John Inman as some media would have us believe! These are populist narratives and derive from the installed political classes and their routine anti-social tendencies. Those classes are servants to a foreign government. It is a crime to take them seriously.

There is a greater narrative to be had and that narrative involves being as radical as we can be. Conceding the issue to the law and passing our ammunition to the state doesn't qualify as being radical.

Person 2


the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth

07.09.2012 14:47

Well written,to the point,covers all relevant information concerning the case, or lack there of,Well done.

kiwi steve


hmm

29.09.2012 17:47

Since when did it matter what the SWP and other fractious groups thought? I'm sure most people care more about the case itself than what the People's Front of Judea thinks.

Fruitcake