Two years ago, Edward Snowden took the brave decision to blow the whistle on the illegal and human rights abusing behaviour of the National Security Agency (NSA), America’s intelligence agency, which he’d encountered as a contractor to the company.
Snowden revealed human rights abuses on a mass, global scale – yet he continues to be punished for blowing the whistle, and telling the world about the abuses.
Revealing mass human rights abuses
Snowden’s decision changed the face of digital communications around the world. Thanks to him, we now know that governments – including the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia – are intercepting and storing the private information of people around the world on a mass scale, without our consent.
Yet Snowden has paid a high price for exposing the abuses. Immediately after revealing NSA practices to the Guardian newspaper, he fled the USA and sought asylum in Russia, where he remains to this day.
If Snowden returns home, he faces imprisonment for exposing human rights abuses.
Espionage charges
The USA is seeking to extradite Snowden from Russia. The US Department of Justice has charged him with violating the Espionage Act for his part in exposing global mass surveillance programmes. If found guilty Snowden faces up to 30 years in prison.
Snowden revealed the information in the public interest – to expose the hitherto secret and unprecedented infringement of the right to privacy of whole nations of people. He is a whistleblower who exposed human rights abuses on a mass scale – and should not be punished for doing so.
The charges facing Snowden under the 1917 Espionage Act are outdated and ill-equipped to deal with the circumstances of his case – and if he’s tried for crimes under the Espionage Act, he could be prevented from presenting a defense that explains his motives were in the public interest.
Senior US officials have condemned Snowden without a trial, labelling him as both guilty and a traitor, raising serious questions as to whether he would receive a fair trial if he returns.
Besides the charges against him, Snowden’s passport has been revoked by US authorities, interfering with his rights to freedom of movement and to seek asylum. He remains unable to travel to countries that have extended the offer of asylum. The USA continues to lean heavily on governments around the world to impede his transit through their territories or travel through their airspace.
Whistle-blowing in the public interest
There are protections around whistleblowers when the information they have revealed is seen to be in the public interest. Snowden’s revelations undoubtedly brought our attention to previously unknown abuses.
In the two years since his revelations, Snowden has changed how we think about communicating online and on our phone. Without him, we simply wouldn’t know about and be able to address the issue of surveillance on our private digital communications. In the UK, Amnesty has brought litigation charges against the UK government and its intelligence agencies on human rights grounds – and won.
The NSA has in recent weeks been found to be in breach of the US Patriot Act for its surveillance techniques. Snowden brought the information to light – yet the strict charges against him remain.
What we’re calling for
We’re calling on President Obama to drop the charges against Snowden that relate to the Espionage Act, and to make sure the US doesn’t punish Snowden for blowing the whistle on human rights abuses.
If the US does try Snowden, President Obama should ensure that Snowden is guaranteed a fair trial, and allowed to argue that the information he revealed was in the public interest and guaranteeing him whistleblowers’ protections.