2011-07-14 WikiLeaks Notes: Latest News on #Cablegate Releases & #WikiLeaks

This is a "WikiLeaks News Update," constantly updated throughout each day. The blog tracks stories that are obviously related to WikiLeaks but also follows stories related to freedom of information, transparency, cybersecurity, and freedom of expression. All the times are GMT.

11:10 PM Senator John McCain has asked for a committee to be appointed to investigate Wikileaks and Anonynomous, which he described as a threat.

10:55 PM Investigation concludes Bradley Manning's treatment at Quantico violated Navy policy.

He was inappropriately kept under suicide watch after a medical officer established in two separate occasions a suicide risk status was no longer warranted.
On at least 20 occasions psychologists or psychiatrists also determined he was to be taken off “prevention of injury” status but brig commanders rejected the recommendations.

The Pentagon’s top lawyer had insisted Bradley Manning's treatment was in compliance with the law and military regulations, back in April when he was transfered to Fort Leavenworth, and Manning's complaint about his treatment had been previously been formally rejected, considered 'without merit'.

10:20 PM A press conference was held by Wikileaks today in London on the subject of the financial blockade imposed by Visa and Mastercard and subsequent legal action started by DataCell.

Update: Full press conference here.

'It is not a matter for these companies operating in Europe, operating in Australia, operating in Iceland to enforce unwritten rules of U.S. foreign policy.' - Julian Assange

During the press conference, Julian Assange also commented on the phone hacking case, stating:

“WikiLeaks and its employees have not been charged with any illegal activity,” he said. “Compare that to News International who has had employees and contractors imprisoned for illegal activity and yet still we do not see US financial companies cutting off their services to News International. Why not?”

“In our fervour to deal with the unethical practices that seem to have occurred in News Corp… we should be careful of producing collateral damage that will destroy the ability of investigative journalists to act in the public good.”

05:40 PM DataCell, as expected, has filed a complaint with the European Commission.

"The closure by Visa and MasterCard of Datcell‘s access to the payment card networks in order to stop donations to WikILeaks violates the competition rules of the European Community." their statement reads.

Visa Europe and Mastercard Europe are accused of abusing european laws by using their dominant position in the market to prevent DataCell from processing credit card donations to Wikileaks, putting DataCell at competitive disadvantage and discriminating between costumers.

The full complaint is available for download (pdf).

02:55 PM Glenn Greenwald’s piece on how Wired deliberately witheld important parts of the recently disclosed chat logs between Bradley Manning and Adrian Lamo, that would cast Lamo in a negative light and confirm that Julian Assange knew very little about the alleged source Bradley Manning’s identity :

"…Lamo lied to and manipulated Manning by promising him the legal protections of a journalist-source and priest-penitent relationship, and independently assured him that their discussions were "never to be published" and were not "for print." Knowing this, Wired hid from the public this part of their exchange, published the chat in violation of Lamo's clear not-for-publication pledges, allowed Lamo to be quoted repeatedly in the media over the next year as some sort of credible and trustworthy source driving reporting on the Manning case, all while publicly (and falsely) insisting that the only chat log portions it was withholding were -- to use Poulsen's words -- "either Manning discussing personal matters . . . or apparently sensitive government information."

According to these chat logs Bradley Manning claimed Julian Assange knew very little about him and took source protection very seriously. Bradley is even shown to have stated : "he wont work with you if you reveal too much about yourself ".
Furthermore, contrary to popular belief, Bradley Manning proves to have insight on the cables and what they represented. Bradley Manning is also shown to claim to have sources in the White House.

Additionally, Kevin Gosztola writes these chat logs may be inadmissible in court. Off-the-Record Messaging (OTR) was used by Bradley Manning to chat with Adrian Lamo and there is the possibility, as dicussed by a NetSecurity group on reddit, that part of the chat logs may have been forged.

02:05 PM From the SwedenVersusAssange vimeo account, a video on Julian’s extradition hearing. Both Kristinn Hrafnsson and Gavin MacFadyen pronounce themselves on the possibility of extradition.

Sweden x Assange: Julian Assange in Court. London, 12&13 July, 2011 from swedenversusassange on Vimeo.

Below, an excerpt from its description :

"JULIAN ASSANGE SHOULD BE FREE, BECAUSE:
HIS ARREST WARRANT WAS INACCURATE, INCOMPLETE, DESCRIBED DIFFERENT CONDUCT THAN THE ALLEGED BY THE TWO WOMEN; THERE WERE ALTERNATIVE METHODS TO QUESTION HIM AND THE ARREST WARRANT WAS NOT ISSUED BY JUDICIAL AUTHORITY."

01:45 PM China sold missiles to Iran, Syria and Pakistan, in violation of the Missile Technology Control Regime, a cable released on Monday reveals.

North Korea, too, is said to have purchased missile parts from the country to develop its missile industry.

Negligence in control of foreign missil exports has been appointed in the State Department cable as cause to the illegal sales, but John Tkacik, former State Department intelligence specialist, affirms the Chinese government is aiding and abetting the proliferation of the missile industry and has called the claims "absurd".
Two missile firms said to have been sanctioned and closed down continue in fact to ‘function unimpeded’ according to U.S. intelligence.