The Belmarsh Tribunal

The ‘Progressive International’, an organisation of activists, artists, intellectuals and others, has convened The Belmarsh Tribunal to “to put the United States government on trial for its crimes of the twenty first century – from atrocities in Iraq to torture at Guantánamo Bay to the CIA‘s illegal surveillance program – and draw attention to the extradition case of Julian Assange for revealing them.”

Named after the prison in which Julian Assange is being held, this new tribunal invokes the legacy of the International War Crimes Tribunal founded by Bertrand Russell in response to the US’s actions in Vietnam. The Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation wrote to Yannis Varoufakis and Srecko Horvat from the Progressive International as follows:

Dear Yannis, Dear Srecko, We were encouraged to hear of your timely initiative in convening the Belmarsh Tribunal. In Russell’s words about the Vietnam War Crimes Tribunal, it is urgently necessary to ‘prevent the crime of silence’ surrounding Julian Assange and the extradition proceedings to which he is subject. We wish you well in your endeavours, and please let us know if we can assist.

With greetings from England!

Tony Simpson, Tom Unterrainer and Tamara Coates