UN expert in privacy seriously concerned about the behavior of Ecuador in the Assange and Moreno cases
UN - ACNUDH
May 23, 2019
[Google machine translation]
The independent expert said he had received information that, at the request of the United States Department of Justice, the Ecuadorian government had decided to register on May 20 the rooms of the embassy in London used by the founder of WikiLeaks and to confiscate his documents, telephones, electronic devices, memories, etc., to deliver them to the Government of the United States.
Concerned about the reports, Cannataci wrote to the Government of Ecuador recalling the guarantees that should exist before any registration, and also offered to provide the assistance of impartial experts to supervise the registration, and separate the information that could be relevant to an eventual process. criminal in the United States of information that should be kept private and returned to Assange.
The Special Rapporteur said that he was disappointed by the lack of timely response from the Government of Ecuador.
"On two occasions I have formally asked the Government of Ecuador to return the personal effects of Mr. Assange to his lawyers, but it seems that he intends to deliver them to the US authorities, although I do not have any problem with the registration and seizure procedures are carried out correctly under the rule of law, it is about very special circumstances in at least two aspects: there is something more at stake than the right to privacy, other human rights, and especially freedom of expression, also run danger if part of Mr. Assange's material falls into the wrong hands Mr. Assange referred to a series of confidential sources and whistleblowers whose identity and privacy should also be protected, "said the Special Rapporteur.
"I am also disappointed by Ecuador's lack of timely response to my proposal to visit Quito and to further evaluate the complaint I received from President Lenin Moreno about a violation of his right to privacy, related to the alleged hacking that led to the online publication of a large number of his communications and private photographs of himself and his family. " Cannataci said the visit would have been "an excellent opportunity to better understand the particularities of the case."
The Special Rapporteur said he hoped to receive a response soon to his concerns and proposals for cooperation.
FINISH
Mr. Joseph Cannataci (Malta) was appointed as the first rapporteur on the right to privacy by the Human Rights Council in July 2015. He is an academic who has had a pioneering role in the development of data protection, the law of privacy and technology law. A collegiate information technology professional in the United Kingdom and a member of the British Information Society, he continues to act as an expert consultant to several international organizations.
The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. The Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the United Nations human rights system, is the general name of the Council's independent investigative and supervisory mechanisms that deal with specific national situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. . The experts of the Special Procedures work voluntarily; they are not UN personnel and they do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of any government or organization and provide individual services.
For more information and press inquiries, please contact Mr. Jon Izagirre García (+41 22 917 97 15 / jizagirre@ohchr.org) or srprivacy@ohchr.org
For media inquiries related to other independent experts of the United Nations
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