In a new letter to the British medical journal The Lancet, Doctors for Assange say that the British government may be held legally responsible for the torture of the imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher.
Here is the doctors’ statement followed by the letter to The Lancet and the doctors’ letter to the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Robert Buckland.
UK officials may be legally culpable in the torture of Julian Assange
Doctors have warned that UK officials could be held accountable for the torture of Julian Assange in an open letter published in The Lancet on International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
The 216 undersigned physicians and psychologists from 33 countries have accused UK and U.S. government officials of intensifying Julian Assange’s psychological torture in spite of the world’s leading authorities on human rights and international law calling for his immediate release from prison.
Clinical Psychologist and Australian co-author of the publication, ‘The ongoing torture and medical neglect of Julian Assange’, Dr Lissa Johnson said the failure to properly treat Mr Assange may amount to an act of torture in which state officials, from parliament to court to prison, risk being judged complicit.
“Our letter is published just two days after the US Department of Justice announced a new superseding indictment against Assange representing yet another escalation in psychological torture tactics,” said Dr Johnson.
“Introducing extra charges at this late stage, right before the defence evidence deadline and over a year after the indictment deadline, when documents given to the prison generally take two weeks to be passed on, when he has not been supplied with a computer and when he is unable to meet with lawyers under Coronavirus lockdown, serves to ramp up his helplessness in the face of threat and is a key psychological torture tactic,” she said.
The doctors note that torture is prohibited under UK law, warning that UK officials could be judged “complicit”, including for their “silent acquiescence and consent”. They write that Assange at medical risk due to escalating abuses of his “fundamental human and legal rights at the hands of judicial, prison, and contracted security authorities”.
The letter follows Julian Assange’s failure to attend four court hearings in a row on medical grounds. The authors charge UK and US authorities with “collective persecution and judicial harassment” in which “Mr Assange has been unable to engage in his own defence or even participate in his own hearings.”
A copy of the Lancet letter has been sent to the UK Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Robert Buckland. It coincides with two open letters to Buckland from 36 members of the European Parliament and 11 current and former politicians from 9 nations, calling for Julian Assange’s immediate release on bail in light of Covid-19, which places him “at grave medical risk” given his medical history, including persistent respiratory issues, the doctors warn.
In a 60 Minutes Australia interview on Sunday night, Julian Assange’s fiancé, Stella Moris, stressed that Julian Assange is “very unwell”, expressing her fears that he may not survive.
NHS doctor and producer of the documentary ‘The Great NHS Heist’, Dr Bob Gill, said, “Mr Assange’s life is being slowly extinguished to punish him and silence others who dare to bravely expose the lies of the powerful. Left unchallenged this single act threatens the very existence of civil society and propagates our collective drift to corporate-state authoritarianism.”
Dr Paul Hobday, author of The Deceit Syndrome, added: “The psychological torture and violation of the fundamental rights of a journalist and publisher who has been convicted of no crime should alarm and disgust anyone believing in an accountable transparent and fair democracy. This should haunt for a long time those responsible and those who remain silent….All journalists should be wary and vigilant of this perilous atmosphere.”
Professor Thomas G. Schulze of the Executive Committee of the World Psychiatric Association said, “As a fellow human being, as a doctor, in particular as a psychiatrist, it is my duty to report torture wherever and whenever it happens.” Schulze added that physical and psychological torture are “equally devastating”.
Professor William R. Hogan of the University of Florida stressed that “Mr. Assange must be released immediately, to treat the effects of his torture inflicted by an English court of law.”
Contact: [email protected] https://doctorsassange.org.
Letter to The Lancet
Letter to the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Robert Buckland
To: The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Robert Buckland QC
Subject: Lancet letter re Julian Assange
Dear Mr Buckland,
Today, the world’s pre-eminent medical journal, The Lancet, carries a letter on behalf of 216 doctors from 33 countries regarding the human rights, health and torture of Australian citizen and journalist Mr Julian Assange.
Mr Assange faces extradition to the United States under the Espionage Act for journalistic activity. He is being subjected to prolonged psychological torture while in UK custody as assessed by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, and is being arbitrarily detained in Belmarsh prison according to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
On December 4 2019, we wrote to you, as UK Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, demanding an urgent response from the UK Government to end the torture and medical neglect of Julian Assange. Our letter followed an earlier appeal, on November 22 2019, to the UK Home Secretary. We have received no response from the UK Government to either letter.
Following the UK Government’s lack of response, on February 17 2020 The Lancet published our calls to end the torture and medical neglect of Julian Assange. Today, we explain in The Lancet that Mr Assange’s torture at the hands of UK officials has only intensified since that time.
We join the world’s leading authorities in human rights and international law calling for the UK Government to release Mr Assange from prison and cease the extradition proceedings against him, which are serving as vehicles for his ongoing torture and medical neglect, placing his life at risk. We urge you to listen to the world’s leading human rights authorities and experts in international law, the worlds leading press freedom authorities, current and former politicians from around the world, and doctors, all of whom are imploring you to end Mr Assange’s abuse, on legal, democratic, human rights and medical grounds.
The convergence of warnings from as broad a base of civil society as this underlines the fact that Mr Assange’s life and health are inseparable from the life and health of our democracies. The fundamental rights upon which those democracies are founded risk ending up on life support along with Mr Assange if his torture and medical neglect are not brought to an end, immediately.
The letter will be available on the online edition of The Lancet here (in advance of the print edition) when the embargo lifts on 23 June at 23:30 (GMT): https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31444-6
Please be advised that a press release regarding the letter and this email will be issued worldwide.
Yours sincerely,
Doctors for Assange
Signatories for Doctors for Assange
As of 22 June 2020
Dr Victoria Abdelnur, MD Specialist in Integrative Trauma Therapy (Germany & Argentina)
Dr Mariagiulia Agnoletto, MD Specialist in Psychiatry ASST Monza San Gerardo Hospital, Monza (Italy)
Dr Vittorio Agnoletto, MD Università degli Studi di Milano Statale, Milano (Italy)
Dr Thomas Alexander, MD (United States)
Dr Sonia Allam, MBChB FRCA Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pre-operative Assessment, Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Scotland (United Kingdom)
Dr Talal Alrubaie, MBChB MSc MD Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist (Austria)
Dr Nicolette van Amerongen, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, General Medical Practitioner (retired) (Netherlands)
Dr Norbert Andersch, MD MRCPsych Consultant Neurologist and Psychiatrist, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (retired); Lecturer in Psychopathology at Sigmund Freud Private University, Vienna-Berlin-Paris (Germany & United Kingdom)
Dr Olli Arjamaa, Ophthalmology, Physiology and Endocrinology (Finland)
Dr Narmin Baraheni, MD FRCOG (United Kingdom)
Prof Jürg Barben, Head, Division of Paediatric Pulmonology & CF Centre, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Switzerland (Switzerland)
Dr Marianne Beaucamp, MD Fachärztin (Specialist) in Neurology & Psychiatry Psychoanalyst and Psychotherapist (retired), Munich (Germany)
Dr Thed Beaucamp, MD Fachärztin (Specialist) in Neurology, Psychiatry & Psychosomatic Medicine Psychoanalyst and Psychotherapist (retired), Munich (Germany)
Dr Mark L Beauchamp, Internal Medicine, Post Acute Long Term Care (United States)
Dr Margaret Beavis, MBBS FRACGP MPH General Medical Practitioner (Australia)
Dr Susanne Bejerot, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, School of Health and Medical Sciences, Örebro University (Sweden)
Dr David Bell, Consultant Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst, London (United Kingdom)
Dr Wilfried Benik, General Medical Practitioner (Germany)
Dr Ernst Berger, MD, University Professor, Specialist in Psychiatry and Neurology, Specialist in Child Psychiatry, Psychotherapist, Former head of Human Rights Commission of Austrian Ombudsman Board MUW Klinik f. Kinder- u. Jugendpsychiatrie (Austria)
Prof Osmund Bertel, Professor, MD (Switzerland)
Dr Matthew Bivens, MD APHMFP HMFP, Specialist in Emergency Medicine, Emergency Department attending physician, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Emergency Department attending physician, St. Luke’s Hospital; EMS Medical Director, St. Luke’s Hospital; Chair, Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility (United States)
Dr Uday Bodhankar, MBBS, DCH, MD, Pediatrician, Executive Director, Commonwealth Association for Health and Disability, Deputy Chairperson, Commonwealth Health Professions Alliance, UK, Adjunct Associate Professor Pediatrics, Sydney (India & United Kingdom) 10
Dr Brenda Bonnici, B Pharm (Hons), M Pharm (Regulatory Affairs), PhD (Neuropharmacology); Consultant Patient Information (Switzerland)
Dr Jean Sébastien Borde, Nephrologist, Sainte hospital (France)
Dr Damien Boyd, MBBS FANZCA, Senior Staff Specialist, Anaesthetics Department, St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney (Australia)
Mr Patrick John Ramsay Boyd, (signed John Boyd) MRCS LRCP MBBS FRCS FEBU Consultant Urologist (retired) (United Kingdom)
Dr Guillermo Calderón, Specialist in general psychiatry, Medical Assistant Specialist, Puntarenas (Costa Rica)
Dr Hannah Caller, MBBS DCH Paediatrician, Homerton University Hospital, London (United Kingdom)
Dr Franco Camandona, MD Specialist in Obstetrics & Gynaecology E.O. Ospedali Galliera, Genova (Italy)
Dr Betty Carlisle, Correctional Health (United States)
Dr Ola Carlsson, Radiology (Sweden)
Dr Stephen Caswell, Clinical Psychologist BSc (Hons) MSc PGDip DClinPsych (United Kingdom)
Dr Sylvia Chandler, MBChB MRCGP BA MA General Medical Practitioner (retired) (United Kingdom)
Dr Julie Chase, Chartered psychologist (United Kingdom)
Dr Frances Chavez, MD Family Medicine (United States)
Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans, M.B., B.S., F.R.C.S.(Eng.), M.Appl.Sci.(OHS), M.Pol.Econ., Former CEO of the Sydney Peace Foundation (Australia)
Dr Marco Chiesa, MD FRCPsych Consultant Psychiatrist and Visiting Professor, University College London (United Kingdom)
Dr Usman Choudhry, MBChB, MRCP, Anaesthetic & Intensive Care (United Kingdom)
Dr Carla Ciccone, MD, Specialist in Obstetrics & Gynaecology AORN MOSCATI, Avellino (Italy)
Dr Miriam Cnop, MD PhD Professor of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels (Belgium)
Dr Gareth Crouch, MBBS FRACS, Cardiothoracic Surgeon (Australia & New Zealand)
Prof David Curtis, London (United Kingdom)
Dr C Dassos, MB BS General Medical Practitioner (Australia)
Dr Richard Davies, MPsych (Clinical)/PhD, Clinical Psychologist (Australia)
Dr Chrissa Deligianni, MD Pediatrician (Greece)
Dr Owen Dempsey, MBBS BSc MSc PhD General Medical Practitioner (retired) (United Kingdom)
Dr James Deutsch, MD, PhD, FRCPC, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto (Canada)
Dr H R Dhammika, MBBS Medical Officer, Dehiattakandiya Base Hospital, Dehiattakandiya (Sri Lanka) 11
Dr Peter Diamond, MD Anesthesiologist, Connecticut (United States)
Dr Flavia Donati, MD Specialist in Psychiatry and Psychoanalyst, Rome (Italy)
Dr Thorsten Dorn, Endocrinology and Diabetes, Karlsruhe (Germany)
Dr Tim Dowson, MBChB MRCGP MSc MPhil Specialised General Medical Practitioner in Substance Misuse, Leeds (United Kingdom)
Dr Donal Duffin, MB MRCP (London) MRCGP Consultant Physician NHS (retired) (United Kingdom)
Dr Eugene Egan, MB FFARCSI MSc (Republic of Ireland)
Dr Iris Eggeling, Specialist in Diagnostics (Radiology and Nuclear Medicine) (Germany)
Miss Kamilia El-Farra, MBChB FRCOG MPhil (Medical Law and Ethics) Consultant Gynaecologist, Essex (United Kingdom)
Dr Leif Elinder, MD Specialist in Paediatric Medicine (Sweden & New Zealand)
Dr Toril Enger, MD, Consultant (Norway)
Mr Jan Engert, Internal Medicine (Germany)
Dr Beata Farmanbar, MD General Medical Practitioner (Sweden)
Dr Ibrahim Faud Ibrahim, MD Physician Hematologist, Dallas, Texas (United States)
Dr Eduardo Fernandez, MD, PhD, Consultant Neurologist (United Kingdom)
Dr Gloria Fernandez-Esparrach, Gastroenterology, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona (Catalonia)
Dr Teresa Forcades, Internal Medicine, Public Health (Spain)
Dr Brian Foresman, MD Board certified, General Surgery (United States)
Dr Tomasz Fortuna, MD RCPsych (affiliated) Forensic Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Adult Psychotherapist and Psychoanalyst, British Psychoanalytical Society and Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, London (United Kingdom)
Dr C Stephen Frost, BSc MBChB Specialist in Diagnostic Radiology (Stockholm, Sweden) (United Kingdom & Sweden)
Dr Prasantha Gamage, MBBS MEDICINE (Sri Lanka)
Dr Pilar Garcia, PH, Dermatology, University Sant Pau Hospital Barcelona (Catalonia)
Dr Peter Garrett, MA MD FRCP Independent writer and humanitarian physician; Visiting Lecturer in Nephrology at the University of Ulster (United Kingdom)
Dr Martin Gelin, Dental Surgeon (Sweden & Australia)
Dr Danielle Gelles, General Medical Practitioner (Germany)
Dr Athanassios Giannis, PhD MD, Specialist in Medicinal Chemistry / Chemical Biology, Professor at the University of Leipzig, Institute for Organic Chemistry (Germany)
Dr Rachel Gibbons, MBBS BSc MRCPsych. M.Inst.Psychoanal. Mem.Inst.G.A Consultant Psychiatrist (United Kingdom)
Dr Bob Gill, MBChB MRCGP General Medical Practitioner (United Kingdom)
Dr Eva Glagau, MD (Germany)
Dr Barbara Golden, MD CAPGAN (United Kingdom) 12
Ms Elizabeth Gordon, MS FRCS Consultant Surgeon (retired); Co-founder of Freedom from Torture (United Kingdom)
Ms Angelika Göser, Karlsruhe (Germany)
Prof Derek A Gould, MBChB MRCP DMRD FRCR Consultant Interventional Radiologist (retired): BSIR Gold Medal, 2010; over 110 peer-reviewed publications in journals and chapters (United Kingdom)
Dr Moray Grigor, MB ChB MRCGP DCCH (United Kingdom)
Dr Jenny Grounds, MD General Medical Practitioner, Riddells Creek, Victoria; Treasurer, Medical Association for Prevention of War, Australia (Australia)
Dr Andrew Gunn, MBBS BA MAPhil FRACGP, General Medical Practitioner, Senior Lecturer at University of Quensland, Former Editor of New Doctor, National Treasurer of the Doctors Reform Society (Australia)
Dr Jürg Hammer, Paediatric Critical Care (Switzerland)
Dr Catherine Harkness, General Medical Practitioner (retired) (United Kingdom)
Dr Sonia Henry, BPhty MBBS, General Medical Practitioner, Published Author (Australia)
Dr Barbara Hinkelmann, Pediatrician, Neonatologist, Senior Consultant (Germany & Sweden)
Dr Paul Hobday, MBBS FRCGP DRCOG DFSRH DPM General Medical Practitioner (retired) (United Kingdom)
Prof William Hogan, MD, Specialist in Internal Medicine, Professor of Biomedical Informatics (United States)
Dr Richard House, Psychotherapist (retired), Chartered Psychologist, AFBPsS Cert.Couns (United Kingdom)
Dr Mats B Humble, MD, PhD, Senior lecturer in Psychiatry, Örebro University (Sweden)
Dr Reinhard Huss, MBCHB, MD, MPH, International Public Health, University of Leeds (retired) (United Kingdom)
Dr Vivek Jain, Primary Care Physician, Clinical Instructor, (Psychiatry residency training graduate) (United States)
Mr David Jameson-Evans, MBBS FRCS Consultant Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgeon (retired) (United Kingdom)
Dr Ove Johansson, Chief Medical Doctor (Överläkare), formerly at the Karolinska University Hospital (Sweden)
Dr Bob Johnson, MRCPsych MRCGP Diploma in Psychotherapy Neurology & Psychiatry (Psychiatric Institute New York) MA (Psychol) PhD (Med Computing) MBCS DPM MRCS Consultant Psychiatrist (retired); Formerly Head of Therapy, Ashworth Maximum Security Hospital, Liverpool; Formally Consultant Psychiatrist, Special Unit, C-Wing, Parkhurst Prison, Isle of Wight (United Kingdom)
Dr Lissa Johnson, BA BSc(Hons, Psych) MPsych(Clin) PhD Clinical Psychologist (Australia)
Dr Sandra Johnson, Yass River (Australia)
Dr Anna Kacperek, MRCPsych Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, London (United Kingdom)
Dr Alyson Kakakios (Australia)
Mr Fivos Kakavitsas, Spec. GP, Greek NHS, Corfu Primary Care Health Center (Greece) 13
Dr Kerstin Käll, MD, PhD, specialist in psychiatry, working mainly in addiction medicine at the Psychiatric Clinic, University Hospital, Linköping (Sweden)
Dr Sujeewa Indrajith Karunananda, MBBS, MD (Psychiatry) Acting Psychiatrist, District Base Hospital, Medirigiriya (Sri Lanka)
Dr Cath Keaney, BSc MBBS DCH FRACGP (Australia)
Ms Kameta Khasboulatova, Neurologist (Belgium)
Dr Sarah Leila Khosravi, MBChB Medicine and Surgery, University of Liverpool, Paediatrics, Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Trust, London (United Kingdom)
Dr Christoph Kind, Courtenay (Canada)
Dr Jessica Kirker, MBChB DipPsychiat MRCPsych FRANZCP MemberBPAS Psychoanalyst and Consultant Medical Psychotherapist (retired) (United Kingdom)
Mrs Vasiliki Korvesi, Radiologist (Greece)
Dr Aviraj Kumar, MS (Germany)
Dr Amine Larnaout, MD Psychiatrist, Assistant Professor, Razi Hospital, Tunis Medecine Faculty, Tunis El Manar University (Tunisia)
Dr Anne Lemaire, General Medical Practitioner (Belgium & Portugal)
Mr Kwok On Leung, MBBS (HK), FRACS (Hong Kong)
Dr Henry Lindner, MD (United States)
Dr Valeria Mages, MD (Germany)
Dr Alberto Gutiérrez Mardones, PhD, Chief Medical Doctor (Överläkare), Karolinska University Hospital (Sweden)
Dr Teresa Maristany, Radiology (Catalonia)
Dr Robert Marr, MD, MBBS, Master of Public Health, FFPHM, General Medical Practitioner and Public Health Doctor (Australia)
Ms Mercè Marzo, Research (Catalonia)
Dr Willi Mast, MD Facharzt für Allgemeinmedizin, Gelsenkirchen (Germany)
Dr Antonis Mavromatos, MD, MSc, PhD candidate, Psychiatry Resident, Attikon University General Hospital, Athens, Greece (Greece)
Dr Tom McGinn, MD FACP. Gastroenterologist (United States)
Dr Daniel McQueen, MRCPsych, Consultant Psychiatrist, Child and Family Department, The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust Tavistock Centre (United Kingdom)
Dr Janet Menage, MA MBChB General Medical Practitioner (retired); qualified Psychological Counsellor; author of published research into Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (United Kingdom)
Prof Arturo Menéndez Cabezas, PhD, MD, Medical Sciences, University of Medical Sciences, Camagüey, Cuba (Cuba)
Prof Alan Meyers, MD MPH Emeritus Professor of Paediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts (United States)
Dr Salique Miah, BSc MBChB FRCEM DTM&H ARCS Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Manchester (United Kingdom) 14
Dr Carine Minne, FRCPsych Consultant Psychiatrist in Forensic Psychotherapy; Psychoanalyst, London (United Kingdom)
Dr Fathima Mirza, MBBS (Sri Lanka)
Prof Lluis Mont, Professor of Cardiology. University of Barcelona (Catalonia)
Dr David Morgan, DClinPsych MSc Fellow of British Psychoanalytic Society Psychoanalyst, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Consultant Psychotherapist (United Kingdom)
Dr Helen Murrell, MBChB MRCGP General Medical Practitioner, Gateshead (United Kingdom)
Prof Tony Nelson, Clinical Professional Consultant and Professor of Practice, Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
Dr Síofra Nic an Bhreithiún, MB MICGP, General Medical Practitioner (Republic of Ireland)
Prof Marcello Ferrada de Noli, Med Dr (Psychiatry, PhD), Professor Emeritus. Former head of Research group on International and Cross-Cultural Injury Epidemiology, Karolinska Institute, Sweden. Formerly Research Fellow, Harvard Medical School. Chair, Swedish Doctors for Human Rights -SWEDHR (Sweden)
Dr Alison Anne Noonan, MBBS (Sydney) MD (Rome) MA (Sydney) ANZSJA IAAP AAGP IAP Psychiatrist, Psychoanalyst, Specialist Outreach Northern Territory, Executive Medical Association for Prevention of War (NSW) (Australia)
Dr Maria Ntasiou, MD, Pulmonologist, Director in Primary Health (Greece)
Mr Brendan O’Brien, MB (GP retired) (United Kingdom)
Dr Peadar O’Grady, Consultant Child Psychiatrist, Critical Psychiatry Network, Dublin (Republic of Ireland)
Dr Gunnar Olofsson, MD, PhD, Consultant in Surgery & Urology (Sweden)
Ms Blanca Oms, Physician. Neurology specialist. Public hospital (Catalonia)
Dr Michael Orgel, MD, Specialist in Addiction (retired), former Chief of Medical Services, Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic Drug Detox and Aftercare Project, San Francisco, US; former Medical Director, Community Drug Dependency Services, Bay Community NHS Trust, Lancaster, England; former Consultant in Substance Abuse NHS Lothian, Edinburgh Community Drug Problem Service and Edinburgh Harm Reduction (United Kingdom & United States)
Dr Lena Oske, Medical Doctor, Specialist in General Medicine, Skåne Health Services (Sweden)
Dr Markéta Paarová, Internal and pulmonary medicine (Czech Republic)
Dr Pablo Paulsen, General Practitioner, Medical Doctor, Chiropractor, Naturopath, Physical Therapist, M.Sc. (MD, DC, ND, PT, M.Sc.) (Chile)
Dr Nenad Pavic, MD, Gynecology and Obstetrics, Basel (Switzerland)
Dr Alison Payne, BSc MBChB DRCOG MRCGP prev FRNZGP General Medical Practitioner, Coventry; special interest in mental health/trauma and refugee health (United Kingdom)
Dr Peter Pech, MD Specialist in Diagnostic Radiology (sub-specialty Paediatric Radiology), Akademiska Sjukhuset (Uppsala University Hospital), Uppsala (Sweden)
Mr Alexander Pergamenchikov, Buchs (Switzerland)
Dr Tomasz Pierscionek, MRes MBBS MRCPsych PGDip (United Kingdom) 15
Prof Allyson M Pollock, MBChB MSc FFPH FRCGP FRCP (Ed) Professor of Public Health, Newcastle University (United Kingdom)
Dr Laura Pölsler, MD, Specialist in Medical Genetics, Institute of Human Genetics, Department of Genetics, Innsbruck Medical University (Austria)
Ms Athina Pouliou, Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor (Greece)
Dr Efstratios Prousalis, General Dental Practitioner, DDS 2008, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki (Greece)
Dr Joseph M Pullara, MD Hospitalist Physician Olympic Medical Center and Emergency Medicine Physician Forks Community Hospital Washington (United States)
Dr Luc Quintin, MD PhD, Staff Anesthesiologist-Intensivist (retired), Senior Investigator (retired) Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (France)
Dr Chandana Ranasinghe, MBBS Degree, general practitioner (Sri Lanka)
Dr Ullrich Raupp, MD Specialist in Psychotherapy, Child Psychiatry and Child Neurology; Psychodynamic Supervisor (DGSv) Wesel, Germany (Germany)
Dr Abdulsatar Ravalia, FRCA Consultant Anaesthetist (United Kingdom)
Dr Momsen Reincke, Charité – Universitätsmedizin, BerlCharité Universtiätsmedizin – Department of Neurology, Berlin, Germany (Germany)
Dr Daniel Robinson, BMed, MMed (Crit Care), General Medical Practitioner (Australia)
Prof Anders Romelsjö, Med Dr (PhD), Professor Emeritus. Formerly at the Department of Social Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Sweden. Vice-Chair, Swedish Doctors for Human Rights -SWEDHR (Sweden)
Dr Andrew Rork, DO (United States)
Dr Maria Rossi, MD Specialist in Nephrology San Gerardo Hospital Monza (retired) (Italy)
Dr Gunther Ruckl, MD, PhD, Pediatrician (retired) (United States)
Dr Salvatore Rudilosso, MD, PhD, Neurologist (Italy)
Dr Fiona Russell, BMBS MPHTM FRACP PhD, Paediatrician (Australia)
Dr Leopoldo Salmaso, MD, Specialist in Infectious and Tropical Diseases and Public Health, University of Padova (Italy & Tanzania)
Prof Andrew Samuels, Professor of Analytical Psychology, University of Essex (recently retired); Honorary/Visiting Professor at Goldsmiths and Roehampton (both London), New York and Macau City Universities; Former Chair, UK Council for Psychotherapy (2009–2012); Founder Board Member of the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy; Founder of Psychotherapists and Counsellors for Social (United Kingdom)
Dr Stephanus Schmiedel, Neurologic Rehabilitation (Germany)
Dr Effie Schultz, Johannesburg (South Africa)
Prof Thomas G Schulze, MD, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA, Institute of Psychiatric Phenomics and Genomics (IPPG), University Hospital, LMU Munich; President of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics; Member of Executive Committee of the World Psychiatric Association; former President of the American Psychopathological Association (Germany & United States)
Ms Christine Schütze, Psychologist (Germany) 16
Mr John H Scurr, BSc MBBS FRCS Consultant General and Vascular Surgeon, University College Hospital, London (United Kingdom)
Dr Peter Shannon, MBBS (UWA) DPM (Melb) FRANZCP Adult Psychiatrist (retired) (Australia)
Dr Walter Siegrist, FMH, Specialist in Internal Medicine (Switzerland)
Dr Gustaw Sikora, MD PhD F Inst Psychoanalysis Fellow of British Psychoanalytic Society Specialist Psychiatrist (diploids obtained in Poland and registered in the UK); Psychoanalyst; currently in private practice (United Kingdom & Poland)
Dr Keerti Singh, MBBS, MD (United Kingdom)
Dr Lars Sjöstrand, Consultant Psychiatrist, Addiction Center Stockholm (Beroendecentrum Stockholm) (Sweden)
Dr Wilhelm Skogstad, MRCPsych BPAS IPA Psychiatrist & Psychoanalyst, London, United Kingdom (United Kingdom & Germany)
Miss Sophie Slovak, Resident in Psychiatry (France)
Dr Paul Snelling, MB, ChB, BMedSci, FRACP. Nephrologist, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (Australia)
Dr Dilek Sonntag, Clinical Psychologist, Psychotherapist (Germany)
Dr Robert Spalthoff, MD, Clinical Psychiatry and researcher in Schizophrenia and neuroimaging, Saxonian Hospital in Altscherbitz (Germany)
Dr James Squire, Family Medical Practitioner (United States)
Dr John Stace, MBBS (UNSW) FRACGP FACRRM FRACMA MHA (UNSW) Country Doctor (retired), Perth (Australia)
Dr Jill Stein, MD, Internist, Lexington, Massachusetts, Green Party nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 and 2016 elections (United States)
Dr Carmen Subias, Physician (Catalonia)
Dr Derek Summerfield, BSc (Hons) MBBS MRCPsych Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London (United Kingdom)
Dr Mashhood Syed, Birmingham (United Kingdom)
Dr Rob Tandy, MBBS MRCPsych Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy & Psychoanalyst; Unit Head, Psychoanalytic Treatment Unit, Tavistock and Portman, London; City & Hackney Primary Care Psychotherapy Consultation Service, St Leonard’s Hospital, London (United Kingdom)
Dr Noel Thomas, MA MBChB DCH DobsRCOG DTM&H MFHom General Medical Practitioner; homeopath; has assisted on health/education projects in six developing countries Maesteg, Wales (United Kingdom)
Dr Philip Thomas, MBChB DPM MPhil MD Formerly Professor of Philosophy Diversity & Mental Health, University of Central Lancashire; Formally Consultant Psychiatrist (United Kingdom)
Dr Llúcia Titó Espinagosa, Gastroenterology (Catalonia)
Dr Gianni Tognoni, MD Istituto Mario Negri, Milano (Italy)
Dr Jean-Pierre Unger, MD DTM&H MPH PhD, Associate Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Visiting Professor at the University of Newcastle (Belgium & United Kingdom)
Dr Cici Verhoef, Psychiatrist (Netherlands) 17
Prof Eduard Vieta, University of Barcelona (Catalonia)
Dr Sebastião Viola, Lic Med MRCPsych Consultant Psychiatrist, Cardiff (United Kingdom)
Dr Howard Waitzkin, MD PhD FACP, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of New Mexico, Adjunct Professor, Internal Medicine, University of Illinois (United States)
Dr Peter Walger, MD Consultant, Infectious Disease Specialist, Bonn-Duesseldorf-Berlin (Germany)
Dr Sue Wareham, OAM MBBS General Medical Practitioner (retired) (Australia)
Dr Elizabeth Waterston, MD General Medical Practitioner (retired), Newcastle upon Tyne (United Kingdom)
Dr Victor John Webster, Surgeon (Upper GI laparoscopic) MB BS (Adel) FRCS(Eng) FRACS (gen surg) Cert HST (RACS Eng) (retired) (Australia)
Dr Jeffrey Weeks, DD (Japan)
Dr Steinar Westin, MD PhD, Professor of Social Medicine and former General Practitioner (Norway)
Dr Mareike Wild (Germany)
Dr Eric Windgassen, MRCPsych PGDipMBA Consultant Psychiatrist (retired) (United Kingdom)
Dr David Wolkoff, MD (United States)
Dr Pam Wortley, MBBS MRCGP General Medical Practitioner (retired), Sunderland (United Kingdom)
Dr Matthew Yakimoff, BOralH (DSc) GDipDent General Dental Practitioner (Australia)
Dr Anton Ysewyn, Consultant Neurologist, Maria Ziekenhuis (St Mary Hospital), Pelt (Belgium)
Dr Rosemary Yuille, BSc (Hons Anatomy) MBBS (Hons) General Medical Practitioner (retired), Canberra (Australia)
Dr Jelena Zagorcic, MD, General Medical Practitioner (retired) (Serbia)
Dr Felicity de Zulueta, Emeritus Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust; Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer in Traumatic Studies, King’s College London (United Kingdom)
Dr Paquita de Zulueta, MBBChir MA (Cantab) MA (Medical Law & Ethics) MRCP FRCGP PGDipCBT CBT Therapist and Coach; Senior Tutor Medical Ethics; Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer, Dept of Primary Care & Population Health, Imperial College London (United Kingdom)
The Doctors step up again. Thanks Doctors.
Nazi war criminals got more appropriate and timely medical care than Julian Assange is getting. So do zoo animals.
Britain has never changed.
“Civil government, so far as it is instituted for the security of property, is in reality instituted for the defense of the rich against the poor, or of those who have some property against those who have none at all.” ~ Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
“Many people’s thinking is permeated by state perspectives. One manifestation of this is the unstated identification of states or governments with the people in a country which is embodied in the words ‘we’ or ‘us… It is important to avoid this identification, and to carefully distinguish states from people…” ~ Brian Martin, ‘Uprooting War’
“The human, as a small-scale band or tribal species, is in fundamental cognitive dissonance with the large-scale nation-state.” ~ Caelan MacIntyre
“Lest anyone protest that the state’s true ‘function’ or ‘duty’ or ‘end’ is, as Locke, Madison, and countless others have argued, to protect individuals’ rights to life, liberty, and property, the evidence of history clearly shows that, as a rule, real states do not behave accordingly. The idea that states actually function along such lines or that they strive to carry out such a duty or to achieve such an end resides in the realm of wishful thinking…
Although I admit that the outcome in a stateless society will be bad, because not only are people not angels, but many of them are irredeemably vicious in the extreme, I conjecture that the outcome in a society under a state will be worse, indeed much worse, because, first, the most vicious people in society will tend to gain control of the state (Hayek 1944, 134-52; Bailey 1988; Higgs 2004, 33-56) and, second, by virtue of this control over the state’s powerful engines of death and destruction, they will wreak vastly more harm than they ever could have caused outside the state (Higgs 2004, 101-05). It is unfortunate that some individuals commit crimes, but it is stunningly worse when such criminally inclined individuals wield state powers…
Fire has proven to be a magnificent aid to human beings, but a fire that cannot be contained portends our utter destruction, and the state is precisely such a fire. ~ Robert Higgs, ‘If Men Were Angels: The Basic Analytics of the State versus Self-government’
“The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself… Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable…” ~ H.L. Mencken
“The most absurd apology for authority and law is that they serve to diminish crime. Aside from the fact that the State is itself the greatest criminal, breaking every written and natural law, stealing in the form of taxes, killing in the form of war and capital punishment, it has come to an absolute standstill in coping with crime. It has failed utterly to destroy or even minimize the horrible scourge of its own creation.” ~ Emma Goldman
Of course the powers that be are trying to kill him. Their secrets are too important to them to risk anything coming out. If he passes on, it’s proof that they really are hiding things. Money causes cruelty in it’s most basic forms all over the world.
Assange is a true hero. I hold each and every presstitute and stenographer from the corporate media complicit, as well as all supporters of the Demoplican Party and the Republicrat Party for not holding their parties accountable. We live in a land of the sheep and the home of the hypocrites.
So in the lost democracies of the U.K and the U.S., just who in charge of our totally corrupt lands be the ones to listen to the good signers of this letter?
Of course the U.K. Officials are morally responsible for the torture of Julian Assange, and they are also simply responding to U$ officialdumb’s insistence that Assange be severely punished and then turned over to the U$ for the “crime” of daring to reveal the truth.
Certainly, as well, officials in Sweden and Ecuador have piled on to the obscene corruption of the Rule of Law.
However, as almost every commenter here has pointed out, none of these officials is likely to feel any consequence.
Only, were the people of all the nations involved, not excepting Australia, to rise up in genuine disgust, might there be any possibility of such consequence.
Might there be any chance of Assange being freed.
However, the people are docile and easily distracted, are constantly bombarded with propagandistic “news” which is simply regurgitated “official” policy pronouncements.
Soon enough, many people, the world over, will be struggling to survive in the coming economic meltdown, especially in the U$, which now teeters on the brink of a potential (UN)Civil War, even as police, rather than backing off from violent behavior, double down on abusing the public, while the political class seeks to derail calls for community control of the police by promising “reform”, which is akin to Democrats placating progressives (whatever that term may actually mean) with “task forces” which, if one looks at what happened in 2008, when similar scurrying about took place, will have no more affect on Biden, should he be victorious in this season’s lesser evil voting fest, than did the earlier suggestions have on Obama.
Honest journalism, in the MSM, has long since gone the way of the dodo bird.
And the people, long instructed to embrace learned helplessness, may vent on statues and display their deep frustration with rapacious capitalism, with racism, classism, and oligarchic indifference and abuse, but too many still fail to perceive Julian Assange and his example as important to them, as part of the same expression of revulsion, now filtering through the collective consciousness, though still yet bereft of the courageous collective conscience that rising to Assange’s (and their own) defense requires.
Those commenting here are on the leading edge of that process.
However, Assange may well be sacrificed to the killing machine simply that officialdumb may make abundantly clear that they, and their owners, their “intelligence” agencies, their military, and their “system” are untouchable and always ever more powerful.
Assange is a test of sorts.
They have gotten away with global financial fraud at unprecedented levels, with Forever war and torture, with total narrative control, and total surveillance,
Destroying Assange is like like Yankee Doodle’s feather in the cap.
It tops things of in gaudy fashion.
The real powers in the United States have been trying to dismantle international law since before the Signatories’ ink was dry on the UN Charter and Geneva Accords. The utter cruelty the UK is laying on Julian Assange at the behest of the US must surely awaken the world to finally place sanctions on the US and every person and corporation involved in the heinous acts of war revealed in Wikileaks.
Given the US reaction to the idea of an “investigation” by the ICC of crimes that the US and its allies wear like medals, and speak of with pride and self-satisfaction whenever the opportunity presents itself, or just apropos of nothing more than their psychopathic sadism, I think I would put it another way. In a world where this simple justice was possible, Julian Assange would have been freed and exonerated before he ever entered the Ecuadorian embassy, or thought of doing so, and would be the most sought-after guest commentator on TV news everywhere in the English-speaking world, followed closely by Noam Chomsky, Chris Hedges and John Pilger. We don’t live in that world. I don’t think the demons who are responsible for what has happened to Mr. Assange have anything to worry about in this world.
Sorry, Joe Lauria and Elizabeth Vos would be right up there with the other three. And Caitlin Johnstone.
We live in a world ruled by war criminals and sexual perverts.
Ghislaine Maxwell and her properties in the UK are sacred.
Barak Obama, the mega war criminal, bloviates for American students about virtues.
Dick Cheney has appropriated another heart to continue his life of a profiteering traitor.
The US has lost its soul.
Save this man who has done so much for transparency in the world. A true hero.
Agreed. Whenever I hear or read about him, I get such a head and gut ache, I just want to weep. He’s not just a hero, he’s a martyr to freedom everywhere and I pray to whatever will listen that he lives to see his struggles vindicated.
Uk is responsible for the torture of Julian Assange.
There should be an international condemnation of this grave human right violation.
Also the international community should put sanctions on UK for this crime.
The International Criminal Court should condemn this abuse pepetrayed by UK
This would indeed be a just case for sanctions. UK should be severely sanctioned for torturing a man who did what all true journalists should do: tell the truth about a state’s crimes. Unfortunately UK has gone down the drain. Scums are now ruling the country that wrote and established the Magna Charta.
If English Politicians are still able to feel something, if they still have this tiny voice deep in themselves called the conscience, they would let Julian Assange go free.
Uk is accountable for the torture of Julian Assange.
There should be an international condemnation ofthis grave human right abuse
Excellent ongoing coverage of this terrible injustice.
Who can hold the evil-doers responsible? It’s astounding how they can get away with such heinous persecution of this amazing journalist, and astounding as well, how many citizens of the US and UK are complacent regarding his torture for telling the truth about war crimes. I hope these doctors can do something to shed light on this grave situation. If Julian dies, there will be either be revolution against or submission to the evil that runs this world. Is there anything we can do to get the message out?
Thank you for this. We are being forced to witness not only the slow torturous death of Assange , but the same of democracy
Julian Assange’s lack of fresh air, sunshine and obvious nutritional necessities is also torture. UK is a barbarous nation and should be held accountable for deprivation of basic civil rights. Assange is an international hero and whistleblower As a psychologist, I believe that it is the officials responsible for his condition and treatment that should be on trial…not Julian.
People knows that injustice of illegally invading Muslim countries without legal bases,but they wont bother to feel to act upon,because of self prejudices towards Muslims and deep down wanted to see Julian Assange to be punished by keeping silence,conspiracy for silence is there to feel.
There is no outrages like to George Floyed murder by police. What that POLICE felth prejudism towards black man and murederd George Floyd,very same public felth towards American invasion to Iraq Afghsnistan Libya and won’t get organized to demonstrate injustice happening to Julian Assange.
9th century crusaders are among us and we can feel it and see it.
So many prominent people, professionals, organisations, speaking up for Julian, a reputedly team of top lawyers, and letters from ordinary citizens to MPs and nothing has changed for Julian. In fact, apart from a long-awaited radio, his conditions seen to be worse, especially as his partner and children cannot visit him. It seems obvious that all governments involved are determined that he will die in prison in the UK or the US. I despair.
Yes, despair. And the MSM – here NPR and BBC World Service maintain a total silence on any of it all, even as they, of course, blether on about the horrible things Iran/China/Russia supposedly do to their prisoners. The MSM could easily report on what is being done to Mr Assange – these letters by these doctors, for instance. But they don’t. Their silence surely indicates that they are complicit? Certainly that they have no genuine humanity, do no truth telling, can hardly be imagined as “impartial,” “objective.” They are despicable.