Just in case you are not aware of Tracy Worcester’s diligently evolved initiative and it strong work on ‘system change’.
Peter
———- Forwarded message ———
From: Tracy Worcester <tracy@tracyworcester.org.uk>
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2020 at 19:29
Subject: Journalism is Not a Crime
To: <peterchallen@gmail.com>
| Having trouble viewing this email? View this email in your browser. We want to praise and support whistle-blowers, investigative journalists and publishers for their courageous work. Last week we posted disturbing images filmed by Viva! of cruelty and neglect on a pig farm in Leicestershire which led to the farm being dropped by the Red Tractor label that usually turns a blind eye to systemic cruelty and abuse. The same week, two major UK supermarkets terminated a Daventry cattle farmer’s contract when whistle-blowers Animal Justice Project publicised images of horrendous cruelty and violence to calves.Investigations by Viva! and Farms not Factories have to surmount razor wire, arc lights, security guards with dogs and locked barns, behind which the factory pig industry carries on inhumane, unlawful and secretive practices hidden from scrutiny by governments, consumers or animal welfare authorities. In 9 US states anti-whistleblower ‘Ag-gag’ laws criminalise investigations into abuses in factory farms. In 2006 Julian Assange founded WikiLeaks, a platform that allows whistle-blowers to expose information in the public interest without revealing their identity. WikiLeaks publications have a record of 100% accuracy. Besides their most famous exposures of war crimes and human rights abuses, WikiLeaks has published vital information about environmental pollution and revealed details of TTIP, a trade treaty negotiated in secret between EU and the US authorities and corporations (abandoned in 2016 due to public outrage) that was threatening to lower food safety and animal welfare standards.FACEBOOK TWITTER YOUTUBE If the UK allows Assange’s extradition to the US, journalists who reveal crimes that the US government would like to keep secret, can also expect to have their reputation destroyed by lies, smears, show trails, extradition and be imprisoned for life, much of it in solitary confinement. If you think the UK has good human rights practices, think again. Julian Assange is detained in Belmarsh high security prison where he is in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. He was visited there by the UN Special Rapporteur on torture who reported that he was showing “all the symptoms typical for prolonged exposure to psychological torture.” Whether we are consumers of meat raised in secretive, inhumane conditions, or members of the public demanding access to trade treaties being negotiated in secret, or taxpayers funding an illegal war, it is our fundamental right to know what is being done in our name. The United Nations, the National Union of Journalists, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and scores of other journalist and human rights groups are demanding that Assange is not extradited to the USA. So, to protect our brave whistle-blowers, investigative journalists and their publishers, the call to arms is to support the Don’t Extradite Assange campaign by joining the demonstration outside The Old Bailey, London from 9am on 7th September, the first day of the extradition hearing.Help shine a light on Julian Assange’s sham case and shame the government and justice system from granting extradition and thereby prevent the criminalisation of journalism and freedom of speech. READ THE FULL ARTICLE Please share this newsletter or just the videos/info with your friends and networks.Best wishes,Tracy Worcester, Director farmsnotfactories.org Remember to follow us: Please become a member of Farms Not Factories, or make a one-off donation today. Your support will help end the abuse of livestock, the overuse of antibiotics and the pollution of our air, soil and water. DONATE Copyright © 2020 Farms Not Factories, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Farms Not Factories, 28 Halsey Street, London SW3 2PT, United Kingdom |
