by Helen Tansey
July 12, 2013
The T-Room

Snowden held a rather public meeting today with international human interest groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to ask for their organizations protection. Following the brief meeting, Sergei Nikitin, the head of Amnesty International’s Moscow office, issued the following statement –

“Amnesty International was pleased to reiterate our support for Edward Snowden in person.

We will continue to pressure governments to ensure his rights are respected – this includes the unassailable right to claim asylum wherever he may choose.

What he has disclosed is patently in the public interest and as a whistleblower his actions were justified.

He has exposed unlawful sweeping surveillance programmes that unquestionably interfere with an individual’s right to privacy.

States that attempt to stop a person from revealing such unlawful behaviour are flouting international law.

Freedom of expression is a fundamental right.

Instead of addressing or even owning up to these blatant breaches, the US government is more intent on persecuting him.

Attempts to pressure governments to block his efforts to seek asylum are deplorable.

Human Rights Watch has not issued a public statement yet.

Of course, the O’Bush administration continues their posturing that Snowden is not a whistleblower but a criminal and should be returned to the U.S. immediately to face charges, but American’s aren’t buying their propaganda. Nope. A solid majority of American VOTERS say Snowden is a whistleblower and not a traitor according to a recent poll conducted by Quinnipiac:

“American voters say 55 – 34 percent that Edward Snowden is a whistle-blower, rather than a traitor, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. In a massive shift in attitudes, voters say 45 – 40 percent the government’s anti-terrorism efforts go too far restricting civil liberties, a reversal from a January 14, 2010, survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University when voters said 63 – 25 percent that such activities didn’t go far enough to adequately protect the country. Almost every party, gender, income, education, age and income group regards Snowden as a whistle-blower rather than a traitor.” (emphasis added)

h/t AntiWar dot com

To first learn and then allow time for how truly invasive and massive O’Bush’s spying to sink in must have rendered the remaining 45% of the respondents numb. There is no other explanation for it not being a solid 100% who should oppose the entirety of O’Bush’s/Military Industrial Complex snooping dragnet. I have faith in my fellow American, that is, the next poll released showing support for “Snowden the Whistleblower” should be ebbing closer to 100%.

Until then, listen to Snowden in his own words reading aloud his statement from this morning’s presser claiming he will seek temporary asylum in Russia eventually heading to one of the Latin American countries –

America has a new hero in the making. He is being forced to play a high stakes game of Survivor right now, and doing so he’s showing others a new way. As smart American’s we must stand solidly behind him. He and America deserve nothing less.