UN’s backing a snub to victims, says UK
BRITAIN: Britain has privately castigated United Nations chiefs for ignoring the rights of female victims of sexual violence when the organisation championed Julian Assange.
The ambassador to the UN in Geneva wrote a scathing letter to the head of a panel that had told the British government to free Assange and pay him compensation.
Assange, 45, jumped bail and took refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy five years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden over an alleged rape.
‘‘Violence against women is a serious crime which has no place in any society. Allegations of sexual assaults are extremely serious matters which require proper investigation,’’ ambassador Julian Braithwaite wrote.
’’The suggestion of the majority opinion that extradition is disproportionate is highly questionable. It fails to take account of the rights of the alleged victims and also seems inappropriate from a UN human rights body.’’
Braithwaite said Britain was ‘‘surprised and disappointed by the outcome of your deliberations, and has serious doubts about the legal arguments. Moreover, in our view the opinion seriously undermines the credibility of the working group’’. In public Britain was more restrained, saying the panel was mistaken.
It can also be disclosed that: ❚ When Assange submitted his case to the panel, Britain’s ambassador asked it how his ‘‘selfimposed detention falls within their remit’’; ❚ The working group declined to meet Britain ‘‘due to lack of time’’; ❚ The panel did not engage with the government or ask for explanation of its perspective, according to a Foreign Office memo. - The Times