In a post on 4 June under the title “Bradley Manning not a Prisoner of Conscience for Amnesty International ?” I related the controversy surrounding the status of human rights defender for Breadly Manning. On 13 June, under title “Snowden a human rights defender? – Russia seems to think so” I referred to a similar issue with regard to Edward Snowden. On 27 June, a left-wing news site in the US, the Examiner, reports exactly in these terms by stating that:
“Over 8000 human rights defenders, including a host of Hollywood’s most recognized celebrities, have signed a letter asking Ecuador’s President Correa to grant asylum to politically persecuted Edward Snowden, but since the U.S. has partially bought the Latin American country with millions of dollars of aid money, stakes are high.”..
“These are severe abuses of the basic constitutional rights of U.S. citizens and the rights of people in other nations,” states the Just Foreign Policy letter to Correa about the Snowden spy revelations. “Yet rather than focusing on the danger to citizens’ freedom and privacy exposed by these revelations, and what reforms are necessary to protect citizens’ rights, the Obama administration, the U.S. Congress and much of the media are again focusing their ire on the messenger – the brave whistle-blower who, at great personal risk, decided to step forward and inform the U.S. public about what is being done in their name and what is being done to them…Sadly, a great deal of the media and other institutions that should play the role of watchdog have largely abdicated their responsibility.”
Film directors Oliver Stone and Danny Glover signed the letter along with comedian Roseanne Barr along with some of the world’s most respected scholars such as Noam Chomsky.
For the article, signatures and the text of the letter to Correa: http://www.examiner.com/article/celebrities-join-8000-asking-us-aid-dependent-ecuador-for-snowden-asylum
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 
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