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UN Human Rights Commissioner Says Snowden Shouldn't Face A Trial

from the disclosing-human-rights-violations dept

Thu, Jul 17th 2014 4:00pm — Mike Masnick

We just noted that the UN has made it clear that mass surveillance and broad data retention likely violates international law. Given that, perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise to hear that UN human rights commissioner Navi Pillay has said that Ed Snowden should not face a trial, since he was revealing human rights violations:

"Those who disclose human rights violations should be protected: we need them," Pillay told a news conference.

"I see some of it here in the case of Snowden, because his revelations go to the core of what we are saying about the need for transparency, the need for consultation," she said. "We owe a great deal to him for revealing this kind of information."

While this is unlikely to lead the US to suddenly drop its Espionage Act charges against Snowden (when has the US ever cared about what the UN has to say?), it's yet another example in a growing list of people recognizing just how extreme and isolated the US government's kneejerk reaction was to the Snowden revelations. If the US government were actually willing to be self-critical, it might realize what a mistake it's doing in trying to string up the messenger. We should be examining the appropriateness of the surveillance state, not whether the person who revealed the details should spend the rest of his life in jail.

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Filed Under: ed snowden, human rights, navi pillay, un, whistleblowing

33 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jul 2014 @ 4:15pm

"While this is unlikely to lead the US to suddenly drop its Espionage Act charges against Snowden (when has the US ever cared about what the UN has to say?)"

I find it rather likely that they now double down on it, just to stick it to the rather unpopular UN (for the government at least).

Because, how dare those peasants to challenge their lord and master...
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- Anonymous Coward, 17 Jul 2014 @ 8:54pm
  
  Re:
  You forgot to mention that the ITU (UN organization) is going to destroy the internet...
  TechDirt link about the evils of the UN.
  (ﾟдﾟ)
  Just adding some conflict to the debate ;)
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Peter (profile), 17 Jul 2014 @ 4:15pm

Your right, of course..
I completely agree with you -- I just hope most people do. Obama's making a giant mistake, but there is still time to fix it if he chose. He just has to be brave, which it turns out is not one of his stronger qualities. But who knows -- sometimes he will have a revelation and really change.
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- Anonymous Coward, 17 Jul 2014 @ 4:44pm
  
  Re: Your right, of course..
  Clinton was a mistake, Bush as a bigger mistake, and Obama IS a giant mistake. He is not fixing anything or have you missed the past few years of his dereliction of duty to the Oath he took as president?
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- David, 17 Jul 2014 @ 9:15pm
  
  Re: Your right, of course..
  Obama will become white before he becomes brave.
  
  Frankly, the "birthers" may suspect that Obama was born in Kenya. But a more realistic fear is that he was born amongst the Death Eaters in Fort Meade.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jul 2014 @ 4:39pm

Rephrase that please
Since we know the US government would interpret "shouldn't face a trial" completely differently, namely jump straight to murder.
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Adam, 17 Jul 2014 @ 5:03pm

Snowden's crime was embarrassing the USofA. No politician ever forgives that.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jul 2014 @ 5:12pm

the US government never listens to anyone else but expects everyone else to not only listen to it but to take notice of, even if that means fucking over the citizens of the countries involved!
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- Anonymous Coward, 17 Jul 2014 @ 5:41pm
  
  Re:
  Oh, they listen all right; That's what Snowden revealed. It's just that they only use it for their own benefit.
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That One Guy (profile), 17 Jul 2014 @ 5:46pm

Not a problem
'UN Human Rights Commissioner Says Snowden Shouldn't Face A Trial'

That's okay, they never planned on holding one for him anyway.
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- GEMont (profile), 18 Jul 2014 @ 10:34pm
  
  Re: Not a problem
  Actually, they already held the trial, announced the verdict and declared the punishment, the day after they realized Snowden confiscated their stash of super secrets.
  
  Mind you, the whole thing took place in a secret room in a secret bunker and the secret members of the secret court and secret jury are duty bound by secret oath (right fist on chest, left hand covering mouth, eyes looking upwards), and the threat of painful slow death, to keep the secret verdict and secret punishment decided upon, a complete secret from the US public, because - money, prison, heads-on-pikes.
  
  They did however, scribe the details of the court case, verdict and punishment on the front end of the drone missile they call "The Executioner".
  ---
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alternatives(), 17 Jul 2014 @ 5:47pm

(when has the US ever cared about what the UN has to say?)

When the UN position agrees with the US position.

Otherwise it is sand pounding time.
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Whatever (profile), 17 Jul 2014 @ 6:38pm

UN so cool
I have to love the UN, a powerless, toothless tiger with lots of roar and very little bite. Now they have started down the same sort of road that clever politicians like Putin use:

Bootstrapping.

Yesterday, it's a story of how the UN thinks that bulk gathering might, maybe, possible, could be sort of kinda in violation maybe sort of of human rights we think.

Today, it's well, we have already shown that data gathering was a violation of human rights, so Snowden should get off scot free.

You don't even have to be sensitive to smell how putrid this one smells, it will be interesting to see who is behind these two shocking revelations!

It's an incredible jump of logic. In the mean time, the UN as a whole ignores some of the most serious human rights abuses of mankind's history, because it's not convenient to point them or try to deal with them.

Back to sleep toothless tiger.
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- Anonymous Coward, 17 Jul 2014 @ 7:08pm
  
  Re: UN so cool
  Yeah, wouldn't you like it if this human rights abuse was conveniently not pointed out or dealt with.
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  - Whatever (profile), 17 Jul 2014 @ 7:12pm
    
    Re: Re: UN so cool
    yes, the US can learn a lot about human rights abuses from Cuba and North Korea. Their glass houses are remarkably intact!
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    - Anonymous Coward, 18 Jul 2014 @ 6:47am
      
      Re: Re: Re: UN so cool
      Yes, there are very disturbing human rights abuses going on throughout the world.
      
      That does not mean that State Surveillance is not a serious human rights violation.
      
      You're quite the master of false arguments.
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      - Whatever (profile), 18 Jul 2014 @ 7:03am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: UN so cool
        No false argument. State surveillance outside of the law is a serious issue, but it doesn't even stand close to the execution of close family members or the shooting of people trying to escape the repressive regimes. Sort of comparing a paper cut to a gaping wound.
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        Anonymous Coward, 18 Jul 2014 @ 7:33am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: UN so cool
        -- State surveillance outside of the law is a serious issue --
        But we should completely ignore it because LOOK OVER THERE
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        sigalrm (profile), 18 Jul 2014 @ 10:08am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: UN so cool
        State surveillance outside of the law is a serious issue, but it doesn't even stand close to the execution of close family members or the shooting of people trying to escape the repressive regimes.
        
        ...and there's absolutely no historical precedent to suggest that extensive state surveillance has ever resulted in the execution of close family members or the shooting of people trying to escape the repressive regimes.
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        Anonymous Coward, 19 Jul 2014 @ 11:34pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: UN so cool
        Yes, I'm a doctor and I'm not treating your tetanus because people are dying of real problems like Ebola. Seriously, appeal to worse problems is /not/ a justification.
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        Anonymous Coward, 20 Jul 2014 @ 5:40am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: UN so cool
        This argument is made all the more hilarious by the fact that it's coming from an absolute jackass.
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- Ninja (profile), 18 Jul 2014 @ 5:38am
  
  Re: UN so cool
  Yeah, look at their Human Rights abuses, ignore ours, no need to worry, they are small.
  
  Great approach I tell you.
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- GEMont (profile), 18 Jul 2014 @ 10:40pm
  
  Re: UN so cool
  As far as slaying messengers go, that was pretty lame.
  
  Ya really need a bigger gun son.
  And a better aim really wouldn't hurt none.
  
  Real sad when ye canna even bag a toothless tiger. :)
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- Anonymous Coward, 21 Jul 2014 @ 1:00pm
  
  Re: UN so cool
  So... the basis of your argument is that the UN should ignore the Snowden issue because it ignores other human rights issues? That isn't logic, that's insanity.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jul 2014 @ 7:29pm

Of course Snowden shouldn't face trial. He's not the one violating international laws on human rights. He's the one exposing these heinous crimes. It's the equivalent of prosecuting someone for calling up a silent observer hotline to report a crime.
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- Atkray (profile), 17 Jul 2014 @ 10:04pm
  
  Re:
  With the amount of eavesdropping that has been revealed, and the apparent unwillingness of LEOs to actually investigate, I supect this has already happened.
  
  Many times.
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  - Anonymous Source, 18 Jul 2014 @ 1:51am
    
    Re: Re:
    Thats why anyone with any resemblance of reality handles those kind of things by talking quietly to other people who will pass information on.
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Ninja (profile), 18 Jul 2014 @ 3:39am

If the US government were actually willing to be self-critical

This massive paradox, if it ever happens, would create a space-time rift that would destroy the universe.

Other than that you were right on spot: the US doesn't care about being isolated in some endeavor it seems.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Jul 2014 @ 9:28am

Not, as you say, that the executive branch of the US government gives a damn about the opinions of the EU or it's courts, the UN membership, or even it's own citizens, courts, or Congress. The executive branch of US government is a sovereign entity unto itself, and answers to nobody...period.
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- Anonymous Coward, 18 Jul 2014 @ 9:54am
  
  Re:
  The executive branch answers to their corporate paymasters. The corporate paymasters answers to Wall Street. So I guess Wall Street is running the show. Which would explain why no banksters have gone to prison yet.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 18 Jul 2014 @ 9:57am
    
    Re: Re:
    This is an interesting train of thought. I guess the Occupy protesters had it 100% right. They were actually protesting against the one's in charge. Which explains why their protests were cracked down on so viciously.
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sigalrm (profile), 18 Jul 2014 @ 10:04am

Wrong headline...
It reads "UN Human Rights Commissioner Says Snowden Shouldn't Face A Trial"

It should read: "UN Human Rights Commissioner and US Government in Full Agreement that Snowden Shouldn't Face a Trial"

See? The US and the UN occasionally agree on policy matters.
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GEMont (profile), 20 Jul 2014 @ 2:15am

American Justice
"UN Human Rights Commissioner Says Snowden Shouldn't Face A Trial" - and we agree whole heartedly.

However, the directors and department heads of the NSA, FBI, CIA and Homeland Security for the last decade, should all face a trial for a large number of criminal charges.

However under the modern American Justice System, only the good guys need to fear legal prosecution for their actions, regardless of how many crooks those actions expose.

The law is now primarily there to protect the criminals.

After all, they are the ones that are writing them these days.
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