Intellettuali, accademici, ex funzionari, leakers, attivisti e artisti, tra cui Noam Chomsky e Oliver Stone, chiedono al presidente dell'Ecuador, Rafael Correa, di concedere asilo a Edward Snowden.

"Le rivelazioni di Snowden  hanno mostrato in che misura allarmante il governo degli Stati Uniti spia i propri cittadini e le persone di tutto il mondo", comincia la lettera firmata anche da Daniel Ellsberg, John Cusack, Naomi Klein, Danny Glover e John Pilger.

"Invece di concentrarsi sul pericolo per la libertà e la privacy dei cittadini, che queste rivelazioni portano alla luce e le riforme che sarebbero necessarie per tutelare i diritti dei cittadini, l'amministrazione Obama, il Congresso degli Stati Uniti e molti media concentrano la loro rabbia sul messaggero, il filtro coraggioso che, con grande rischio personale, ha deciso di farsi avanti e di informare il pubblico americano su ciò che viene fatto in loro nome e quello che fanno per loro ", si legge nella lettera che è aperta a più imprese .

I firmatari sostengono che l'amministrazione Obama "ha processato più il doppio degli infiltrati, sotto l'Espionage Act, rispetto  ai presidenti precedenti insieme." Si evidenzia  a tal proposito il caso di Bradley Manning , il soldato che è attualmente sotto processo per aver fornito a Wikileaks centinaia di migliaia di file del Dipartimento di Stato americano .

"Molti di noi hanno chiesto l'anno scorso di concedere l'asilo politico a Julian Assange, fondatore di Wikileaks," scrivono a Correa, cosa che in effetti accadde a Assange  poco più di un anno fa,  presso l'Ambasciata dell'Ecuador a Londra.

"Il trattamento di Manning dal suo arresto dimostra che Snowden potrebbe essere soggetto a qualcosa di crudele e inusuale, se fosse sotto custodia degli Stati Uniti. C'è il grande pericolo che Snowden non possa ricevere un equo processo negli Stati Uniti, un elemento citato nella sua richiesta di asilo. Il caso di Manning mostra anche che, il diritto costituzionale di Snowden di ricevere un processo 'veloce', non può essere garantito ", continua la lettera.

I firmatari concludono: "Non ci sono prove che le sue rivelazioni abbiano rappresentato una minaccia per la sicurezza nazionale degli Stati Uniti, o che quella sia stata la sua intenzione. Tuttavia, invece di promuovere riforme atte a tutelare i diritti delle persone negli Stati Uniti e in tutto il mondo, la nuova amministrazione Obama cerca di mettere a tacere coloro che portano questi abusi alla luce. Questi sono atti di repressione politica. Sarebbe pertanto corretto concedere il diritto di asilo politico ".

By Michael Bohm

Is Edward Snowden a traitor or hero? While public opinion in the U.S. clearly favors traitor, Russian politicians and the Kremlin-friendly media have turned him into a "hero of democracy" and a "U.S. dissident."

Alexei Pushkov, the State Duma's International Affairs Committee head, perhaps best represented the prevailing government — and, by default, popular Russian — view when he recently wrote on Twitter: "By listening in on phone calls and tracking Internet activity, U.S. intelligence agencies have violated the laws of their own country. In this sense, Snowden, like [WikiLeaks founder Julian] Assange, is a human rights activist. … They are new dissidents."

If Snowden receives asylum in Russia, he will face a serious moral dilemma: His will be living in a country with a far worse record than the U.S. on government abuse and transparency. 

But Pushkov is wrong on several counts. First, the NSA did not indiscriminately eavesdrop on the private phone calls of Americans without a court order. It tracked "metadata" by sorting general information about calling patterns, not the content of the calls.

Second, the NSA program is fully legal and has been upheld by several U.S. court rulings, which likened it to what the U.S. Postal Service does when it reads addresses that are written on envelopes. The courts ruled that Americans willingly give up this information to third parties to complete their calls and send their letters. At the same time, however, the contents within the envelope, like the content of phone calls, are constitutionally protected against search and seizure without a court warrant.

Although the NSA surveillance program was secret, the U.S. legislative branch (the House and Senate intelligence committees) approved the program, and the judicial branch (the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court) provided constant oversight during the seven years of its existence. Since Snowden did not reveal anything illegal on the NSA's part, he would not be protected under U.S. whistleblower-protection laws.

Nonetheless, Pushkov wrote on Twitter that he supports the idea of political asylum for Snowden because he is being "persecuted" by the U.S. government "on political grounds."

This is the same line Pushkov and Kremlin-friendly analysts have used to defend another "U.S. dissident" — Private Bradley Manning, who released 700,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks, the overwhelming majority of which were also not protected under U.S. whistleblower laws.

Instead of engaging in Assange-like vigilantism by leaking classified information indiscriminately, Snowden should have appealed to U.S. lawmakers, the Freedom of Information Act or the inspector general to declassify the NSA program to achieve his self-proclaimed goal of sparking a public discussion and debate over the program. Manning should have leaked only those documents that revealed true government abuse, certainly not those that revealed the identity of U.S. informants or classified diplomatic cables that had no public service value whatsoever.

In Snowden's case, the leaks looked more like the works of a narcissistic Herostratus. According to statements he made to the South China Morning Post newspaper and published Monday, he joined Booz Allen Hamilton, an NSA contractor, with the express intent of getting a security clearance and leaking classified NSA documents. Meanwhile, Manning's motive was to take revenge on the U.S. for the failures and traumas he incurred in the army as a result of a gender-identity disorder. These are hardly the profiles of a true whistleblower.

By claiming that Snowden and Manning are genuine whistleblowers who have become victims of U.S. government persecution, Pushkov and other Russian opinion makers have flipped the two scandals completely on their heads. This brings back echoes of the "Free Angela Davis!" slogan, a massive Soviet propaganda campaign in the late 1960s and early 1970s to defend U.S. Communist Party leader Angela Davis. Davis faced charges in the U.S. of being an accomplice in a murder case, but the Kremlin claimed she was persecuted exclusively for her political beliefs.

Interestingly, Russia's own top whistleblower — Alexei Navalny — is portrayed by the same pro-Kremlin analysts and media outlets as the subversive leader of a fifth column who is financed by the U.S. State Department to carry out an Orange-style revolution in Russia. Another prominent Russian whistleblower, Sergei Magnitsky, died in 2009 after being denied medical care in pretrial detention and after he exposed a $230 million corruption scheme among officials at the Interior Ministry and tax inspectorate.

If there is anything Orwellian about the Snowden scandal, it is not that the U.S. has become a "Big Brother," listening in on Americans' private conversations. It is the way Russia has lionized two U.S. criminals, while criminalizing Russia's true whistleblowers and opposition leaders. Navalny is being tried on embezzlement charges, while Magnitsky is being tried -- posthumously -- on tax evasion charges.

During a recent meeting with journalists from RT state television, President Vladimir Putin commented on the NSA surveillance program, saying disingenuously that government eavesdropping on its citizens is "acceptable if it is done within the limits of the law."

If Putin was referring to Russian law, he should answer the following questions: Who makes, interprets and enforces Russia's laws? Independent bodies with checks and balances, or Kremlin-loyal organs? How many times do Russian courts approve the warrants after the surveillance has already occurred, and how many times does the FSB listen in on private conversations without a warrant?

Take, for example, the eavesdropping on opposition leader Boris Nemtsov's phone conversations in December in which he used abusive language to criticize several colleagues in the opposition movement. Nemtsov's phone conversations were published by the Kremlin-friendly Life News website three days before a planned protest march in an attempt to split the opposition leadership. Andrei Soldatov and other independent intelligence analysts believe that only Russian intelligence agencies have the equipment to eavesdrop on Nemtsov and other opposition leaders.

This is clearly a violation of Russian law because Nemtsov's conversations were exclusively private. They did not belong to the category of "the public has a right to know" because they did not expose corruption, abuse of power or any other crime.

Thus, while the NSA surveillance program was aimed at finding terrorists in a haystack, the FSB, it would seem, is more interested in smearing opposition leaders. But, then again, as United Russian leader Irina Yarovaya infamously said recently, the country's opposition leaders "do not differ at all from terrorists."

Forty years ago in the U.S., spying on the opposition led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon and the prosecution of 43 top officials and executors of the crime. In Russia, those who spy on the opposition are, most likely, first in line to receive promotions and big bonuses.

Imagine if there was a "Russian Snowden" who worked in the FSB, leaked classified information to a British newspaper about the agency's massive internal surveillance programs and fled the country. It is doubtful that Pushkov and others would hail him as a political dissident or a brave symbol of democracy, human rights and government transparency.

The irony is that if Snowden ever does receive asylum in Russia, he will be living in a country that has a far worse record than the U.S. in terms of government abuse and transparency. And if Snowden is true to his stated values and wants to continue his mission in Russia as a libertarian and privacy rights activist, he will definitely have his work cut out for him.

Before Russian politicians and the media get too worked up over the U.S. persecution of "dissidents" like Snowden and Manning, they should spend a little more attention to their own dissidents — whistleblowers, human rights activists and members of the opposition who are being harassed, intimidated and jailed by the state. Even Angela Davis would agree with that.

The Moscow Times 

A project to create costumes from the popular manga series “Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne” is under way in the textile hub of Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, which recently came up with the “Costume Town” concept to promote itself.

The Ichinomiya Chamber of Commerce and Industry has gathered the best technology in the area to manufacture exact replicas of the outfits in hopes of raising the image — and value — of the “made in Ichinomiya” brand. The clothes chosen are worn by Maron Kusakabe, the protagonist in “Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne.”

The popular manga by Arina Tanemura, an Ichinomiya native, depicts the adventures of Maron Kusakabe, a high school girl with the ability to transform into a supernatural phantom thief, Kaito Jeanne, to battle demons. It was published by Shueisha Inc.’s Ribon manga magazine from 1998 to 2000 and was targeted at teenage readers.

It was also turned into an anime television series aired between 1999 and 2000 by TV Asahi, further driving its popularity and fame at home and overseas.

The chamber of commerce started promoting Ichinomiya as a Costume Town as a means of revitalizing local industry, organizing parades by “cosplay” enthusiasts and inviting them to take part in the city’s annual “setsubun” festival to dispel evil spirits.

But this time the project involves working with local industries to replicate the costumes. Tanemura has given the organization licence to use her manga characters for free.

More than 10 textile manufacturers from Ichinomiya will contribute to the project, with fabrics manufactured in the city to be used to make the outfits. Professional designers will pitch in to help as well.

Tanemura’s drawings are known for their attention to detail. Kaito Jeanne’s outfit has long belts and sleeves, and Tanemura has asked that the costumes create a sense of movement.

The project team aims to work hard to meet the request, with one member saying that “the bar has been set really high.”

Production will begin in July and the costumes will be unveiled to the public at an event in October.

In the second phase of the project, the team will create the costumes Maron Kusakabe wears as a high schooler, before she transforms into Kaito Jeanne. They are scheduled to be completed in December.

Three pairs will be manufactured for each set. One will be presented to Tanemura and the other two will be used for future exhibitions.

“I want the costumes to be of the highest quality so that people will recognize and see that they are real,” said Daihachiro Nagao, 72, the deputy head of the chamber of commerce who is leading the project.

“I also want people to identify Ichinomiya as the city of textiles to boost the development of this area.”

Tenemura says “Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne” brings back a lot of memories, as she drew the series while she was still living in Ichinomiya.

“I’m very interested in seeing how my manga character will come out live in a 3-D version,” she said.

“I have always been proud of my hometown as a city of textiles and I’m delighted if my work can contribute to Ichinomiya’s development.”

Source: The Japan Times

El presidente de Ecuador, Rafael Correa, respondió duramente a las críticas a su país lanzadas por la prensa de EE.UU. por considerar la petición de asilo realizada por Edward Snowden, quien desveló el programa de espionaje de la NSA.

"¡Vaya descaro! ¿Se dan cuenta del poder de la prensa internacional?", dijo Correa en Twitter. "Han logrado centrar la atención en Snowden y en los 'malvados' países que lo apoyan, haciéndonos olvidar las terribles cosas que denunció contra el pueblo norteamericano y el mundo entero. El orden mundial no sólo es injusto, es inmoral".

El mandatario realizó estas declaraciones en respuesta a un artículo del 'Washington Post' que se refería a Correa como "el líder autocrático del pequeño y empobrecido Ecuador". El diario también acusó a Ecuador de criticar las políticas de Washington mientras "se beneficia" de los acuerdos de libre comercio con EE.UU.

Han logrado centrar la atención en Snowden y en los 'malvados' países que lo apoyan, haciéndonos olvidar las terribles cosas que denunció contra el pueblo norteamericano y el mundo entero. El orden mundial no sólo es injusto, es inmoral  

Legisladores estadounidenses amenazaron esta semana a Ecuador con bloquear la renovación de las preferencias arancelarias si otorga el asilo político a Edward Snowden.

"Si se le concede el asilo en Ecuador a Snowden, lideraré los esfuerzos para impedir la renovación del acceso libre de aranceles de Ecuador bajo el GSP y también me aseguraré de que no haya oportunidad alguna para la renovación del ATPDEA", aseguró el senador demócrata Robert Menéndez, quien también es presidente del Comité de Relaciones Exteriores del Senado.

Por su parte, el presidente venezolano, Nicolás Maduro, afirmó a su vez que si Snowden le pidiera asilo a su país "casi seguro" se lo daría e hizo un llamamiento al mundo para "proteger al muchacho para que no sea capturado y asesinado y pueda seguir diciendo verdades".

Un prelado del Vaticano, un agente de los servicios secretos italianos y un broker financiero fueron detenidos hoy viernes en Italia por su presunta responsabilidad en los delitos de “fraude” y “corrupción”, informó la policía fiscal de ese país.

Portavoces de esa institución, revelaron que los detenidos son el sacerdote Nunzio Scarano, responsable de la contabilidad de la Administración del Patrimonio de la Sede Apostólica (APSA); Giovanni Maria Zito, agente de los servicios secretos italianos, y Giovanni Carenzio, un intermediario financiero.

Los tres sospechosos fueron detenidos por elementos del Núcleo Especial de la Policía Monetaria, mientras que las órdenes de custodia cautelar fueron firmadas por la juez Barbara Callari.

Este caso judicial está relacionado con un acuerdo entre Scarano y Zito para transportar de Suiza a Italia 20 millones de euros en efectivo, utilizando una aeronave. El dinero, al parecer, pertenece al sacerdote, quien contrató a Zito para que lo transportara sin reportarlo a las autoridades. Scarano recompensó a Zito con 560 mil euros por haberle hecho ese servicio.

Ha trascendido que quien manejaba ese dinero en Suiza era el broker Carenzio, quien hizo las gestiones para sacar el dinero de cuentas bancarias suizas y tenerlo en efectivo para su envío aéreo.

En una entrevista con The Associated Press, el abogado del sacerdote, Silverio Sica, señaló que éste no es realmente el dueño del dinero, sino unos amigos suyos, quienes se lo habían dado para que lo invirtiera en Suiza y luego le pidieron que lo regresara a Italia.

Sin embargo, todos estos movimientos están siendo investigados por las autoridades financieras, por lo que aún no se aclaran del todo. Por ejemplo, está por verse quienes son estos “amigos” del clérigo, si es que existen.

Lo cierto es que en la trama está implicado un miembro de la Santa Sede, Scarano, quien incluso tiene el título de “monseñor”, dignidad eclesiástica que se les otorga a los sacerdotes de mayor mérito.

Pero además resultó implicada la institución vaticana para la que trabajaba, la APSA, encargada de administrar los bienes patrimoniales del Estado Vaticano, que tienen un cuantioso valor porque incluyen palacios, tesoros y muchas obras artísticas.

A Scarano se le dio un cargo en la APSA debido a que era un funcionario bancario antes de que tomara los votos sacerdotales, por lo que tiene amplia experiencia en cuestiones financieras. En Roma muy pronto se le motejó como “Monseñor 500”, ya que solía hacer transacciones en efectivo con billetes de 500 euros.

Hoy mismo, tan pronto se anunció su detención, el vocero del Vaticano, Federico Lombardi, salió al paso aclarando que “Monseñor 500” ya había sido suspendido de su cargo en la APSA desde el mes pasado, “cuando sus superiores supieron que estaba siendo investigado”.

Pero las declaraciones de Lombardi no logran aplacar las sospechas de que algunas instituciones de la Santa Sede están implicadas en lavado de dinero, particularmente el Banco del Vaticano, que tiene un pasado muy oscuro y actualmente es investigado por la Fiscalía de Roma por estar presuntamente implicado en ese delito.

Apenas el pasado miércoles 26, el papa Francisco creó una comisión especial —integrada por cinco miembros— para que supervisara las actividades del banco. Es el último intento por limpiar la imagen de esa institución.

Fuente: El Proceso

Los líderes de la Unión Europea (UE) acordaron abrir las negociaciones de adhesión con Serbia antes de enero de 2014, en reconocimiento a sus esfuerzos por mejorar las relaciones con su antigua provincia de Kosovo.

El presidente de la Comisión Europea, José Manuel Barroso, calificó la decisión como histórica.

Los veintisiete líderes también acordaron iniciar conversaciones sobre un acuerdo de asociación con Kosovo.

Y acogieron con beneplácito la entrada de Croacia el 1º de julio como 28º miembro de la UE.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Inspired by Nelson Mandela's struggles in South Africa, a young Barack Obama joined campus protests in the U.S. against the racist rule that kept Mandela locked away in prison for nearly three decades.

Now a historic, barrier-breaking figure himself, President Obama arrived in South Africa Friday to find a country drastically transformed by Mandela's influence — and grappling with the beloved 94-year-old's mortality.

It was unclear whether Mandela's deteriorating health would allow Obama to make a hospital visit. The former South African leader is battling a recurring lung infection and is said to be in critical condition at a hospital in the South African capital of Pretoria.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One as he made his way to Johannesburg, Obama said he would gauge the situation after he arrived.

"I don't need a photo-op," he said. "And the last thing I want to do is to be in any way obtrusive at a time when the family is concerned about Nelson Mandela's condition."

Obama's visit to South Africa is seen as something of a tribute to the man who helped inspire his own political activism. The president will pay homage to Mandela at Robben Island, the prison where he spent 18 of his 27 years in prison. And with South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress, facing questions about its effectiveness, Obama will urge the government and the South African people to live up to the democratic example set by their first black president.

"He's a personal hero, but I don't think I'm unique in that regard," Obama said during a news conference Thursday in Senegal, the first stop on his weeklong Africa trip. "I think he's a hero for the world. And if and when he passes from this place, one thing I think we'll all know is that his legacy is one that will linger on throughout the ages."

Obama and Mandela have met just once, a hastily arranged meeting in a Washington hotel room in 2005 when Obama was a U.S. senator. A photo of the meeting hangs in Obama's personal office at the White House, showing a smiling Mandela sitting on a chair, his legs outstretched, as the young senator reaches down to shake his hand. A copy of the photo also hangs in Mandela's office in Johannesburg.

Since then, the two have spoken occasionally by telephone, including after the 2008 election, when Mandela called Obama to congratulate him on his victory. The U.S. president called Mandela in 2010 after the South African leader's young granddaughter was killed in a car accident. Obama also wrote the introduction to Mandela's memoir, "Conversations With Myself."

Despite the two men's infrequent contact, people close to Obama say his one-on-one meeting with Mandela left a lasting impression.

"He is one of the few people who the president has respected and admired from afar who, when he met him, exceeded his expectations," said Valerie Jarrett, Obama's senior adviser and close friend.

Obama's own political rise has drawn inevitable comparisons to the South African leader. Both are Nobel Peace Prize winners and the first black men elected to lead their countries.

But their paths to power have been vastly different. While Mandela fought to end an oppressive government from the confines of a prison cell, Obama attended elite schools and rose through the U.S. political system before running for president.

"President Obama would believe that the challenges he has faced pale in comparison to those faced by President Mandela," Jarrett said.

Mandela had already shaped Obama's political beliefs well before their first encounter. As a student at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Obama joined protests against the school's investments during South Africa's apartheid era. In 1981, Obama focused his first public political speech on the topic.

"It's happening an ocean away," Obama said, according to a retelling of the story in his memoir "Dreams From My Father." ''But it's a struggle that touches each and every one of us. Whether we know it or not. Whether we want it or not."

More than 30 years later, as he traveled through the African continent, Obama recalled the influence Mandela had had on him during that period of his life.

"I think at that time I didn't necessarily imagine that Nelson Mandela might be released," Obama said Thursday. But the president said he had read Mandela's writings and speeches and understood him to be a man who believed in "treating people equally and was willing to sacrifice his life for that belief."

Following his release from prison, Mandela was elected president in 1994 during South Africa's first all-races elections. He served just one term, focusing in large part on racial reconciliation in the post-apartheid era, and retreated from public life several years ago.

The most recent images of him depict a frail man apparently approaching the end of his life. While South Africans have long been loath to talk about Mandela's inevitable death, there is now a growing sense in the country that the time is near. Well-wishers have delivered flowers and messages of support to the Pretoria hospital where he is being treated, and prayer sessions have been held around the country.