Wikileaks and Julian Assange hold a press conference announcing the release of the 1.7 million U.S. diplomatic records from 1973-1976.

Now we know what Julian Assange has been up to while holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. WikiLeaks has published more than 1.7 million U.S. diplomatic records -- including cables, intelligence reports, and congressional correspondence -- from 1973-1976, the period during which Henry Kissinger was secretary of state and national security advisor. The collection is being released in a searchable database called the Public Library of U.S. Diplomacy (PlusD), and according to the Guardian is “the world’s largest searchable collection of confidential, or formerly confidential, diplomatic communications.” According to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the documents hint at the scope of U.S. intelligence activity around the globe at the time.

The Guardian:

Henry Kissinger was US secretary of state and national security adviser during the period covered by the collection, and many of the reports were written by him or were sent to him. Thousands of the documents are marked NODIS (no distribution) or Eyes Only, as well as cables originally classed as secret or confidential.

Assange said WikiLeaks had undertaken a detailed analysis of the communications, adding that the information eclipsed Cablegate, a set of more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks from November 2010 and over the following year. He said WikiLeaks had developed sophisticated technical systems to deal with complex and voluminous data.

Top secret documents were not available, while some others were lost or irreversibly corrupted for periods including December 1975 and March and June 1976, said Assange.

Assange added that his mother, who lives in Australia, had told him he was being kept at the embassy "with nothing to do but work on WikiLeaks material". Indeed.

In opening the press conference, Assange began with a quote from George Orwell's "1984": “He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.”

Thanks to Heather for the videos!

During an interview on CNN Wednesday night, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange warned that mass surveillance was becoming a worldwide problem as technology progressed. Assange has just published a new book about the internet, called "Cypher Punks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet."

Assange told CNN host Erin Burnett that the Internet has merged with global civilization, giving governments and others an unprecedented ability to spy on virtually anyone, because the technology to do so has become cheaper.

"Rather, the new game in two is strategic surveillance," he said. "It is cheaper now to intercept all communications in and out of a country. Store it permanently than it is to simply go after one particular person."

Now while you get the impression, at first, that Mr. Assange is a guest on CNN to discuss his new book. It could have indeed been quite an interesting topic, but that doesn't seem to be what Erin Burnett had in mind as she continuously tries to interrupt...

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Uh oh. WikiLeaks is publishing Defense Department documents that reportedly cover detainment policies in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay post-9/11. Julian Assange said that the files show a “dark space” where law and rights don’t necessarily apply. The documents also reveal a harsh but “formal” interrogation policy -- as well as a policy of destroying interrogation recordings.

Reuters:

The WikiLeaks website began publishing on Thursday what it said were more than 100 U.S. Defense Department files detailing military detention policies in camps in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay in the years after the September 11 attacks on U.S. targets.

In a statement, WikiLeaks criticized regulations it said had led to abuse and impunity and urged human rights activists to use the documents, to be released over the next month, to research what it called "policies of unaccountability".

The statement quoted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as saying: "The 'Detainee Policies' show the anatomy of the beast that is post-9/11 detention, the carving out of a dark space where law and rights do not apply, where persons can be detained without a trace at the convenience of the U.S. Department of Defense."

"It shows the excesses of the early days of war against an unknown 'enemy' and how these policies matured and evolved," it said, and led to "the permanent state of exception that the United States now finds itself in, a decade later."

Assange is still staying inside Ecuador's embassy in central London to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning about an alleged rape and sexual assault. Assange and his supporters believe that the extradition to Sweden is a ruse, and that Sweden will then extradite him to the United States to face charges related to the publishing of leaked U.S. military and diplomatic documents.

After news that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange had been designated an "Enemy of the State" by the United States government and that communication with him is considered "communicating with the enemy," protesters in Melbourne decided to visit the United States consulate in order to get some questions answered regarding whether or not they too were considered enemies of the state for supporting WikiLeaks and Julian Assange.

They were refused an audience with the consular officials and decided to stage a sit in.

After 3 hours of occupying the foyer and blocking a main entrance to the upper levels, police came in and violently removed the protesters resulting in the arrest of 3, with one of the protesters suffering a dislocated shoulder as a result.

The hacktivist collective Anonymous launched an attack on various Swedish government and banking websites in the name of The Pirate Bay and Wikileaks editor Julian Assange.

In the Youtube video above, organizers pledged to "launch major attacks on several vital portals that represent Swedish society" in the next few days.

The effort, dubbed #OpPRQ #OpPirateBay, will be "the biggest thing ever done in anonymous history," the video claimed. It requested the help of Anonymous supporters, likely to conduct distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

"Free Assange. Free internet. Expect us," the video concluded.

The Wall Street Journal today reported that attacks took down the websites for the Swedish Security Service, the Swedish Prosecutors' Office, and Sweden's central bank. All but the Swedish Security Service appear to now be back online.

Speaking via videolink from the Ecuadorean embassy in London, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange addressed a side meeting of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday evening. In his remarks, Assange gave thanks to the United Nations for its treaties on political asylum and denounced the U.S. treatment of alleged Army whistleblower Bradley Manning. Assange also accused President Obama of exploiting the Arab Spring and called on the U.S.to end its persecution of WikiLeaks and its supporters.

Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may have been designated an "enemy of the state" by the United States. U.S. Air Force counterintelligence documents show military personnel who contact WikiLeaks or its supporters may be at risk of being charged with "communicating with the enemy," a military crime that carries a maximum sentence of death. The designation is the same legal category as al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

The report came just before Julian Assange spoke via videolink to a side meeting of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday. Assange spoke from inside the Ecuadorean embassy in London. Ecuador granted him diplomatic asylum to prevent Assange from being extradited to Sweden over sex crime accusations. Assange is seeking asylum because he fears extradition to Sweden may lead to his transfer to the United States, where, he is concerned, he could potentially face charges relating to WikiLeaks.

Amy Goodman of DemocracyNow! also speaks with Julian Assange’s attorney Michael Ratner after the UN Speech.

Full transcript of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange addressing a side meeting of the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday night is below the fold.

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The controversial WikiLeaks founder is safe inside the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, Ecuador’s president said Saturday. President Rafael Correa said British police have withdrawn threats to force their way into the building where Julian Assange has remained since being granted asylum by the South American nation. “We consider this unfortunate incident over, after a grave diplomatic error by the British in which they said they would enter our embassy.” Assange is wanted in Sweden on allegations of sexual assault, and he fears that he would be extradited to the United States to face charges over his WikiLeaks activity. The United States has not issued any such charges and denies it has made any attempt to extradite Assange.

Meanwhile, in the photograph above, a London policeman has accidentally leaked an arrest plan for Assange, in what UK media have branded an "embarrassing slip-up" by London's Metropolitan Police.

The photo, captured by the Press Association news agency and published in several newspapers, shows a clipboard held by a uniformed officer Friday outside the Ecuadorian embassy where Assange has been holed up since June.

"Clearly legible in a zoomed-in view of the clipboard, on a sheet of paper headed "Restricted," are the words: "EQ Embassy brief - Summary of current position re. Assange. Action required - Assange to be arrested under all circumstances."'

The paper also suggests possible ways in which Assange could be removed from the building, such as in a "diplomatic bag or vehicle."

Police told CNN that the photo is not related to the Assange case. Must be some other "Assange" they want to arrest in a "diplomatic bag."

The hacktivist collective Anonymous says that it has attacked government websites in retaliation for the UK's handling of the Julian Assange case.

It claimed responsibility on Twitter for the denial-of-service attacks. Websites affected include the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office.

The latest attacks were launched on Monday and most of the affected websites appeared to be operating normally on Tuesday evening.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice website said it "had been experiencing some disruption" and that "The Ministry of Justice website was the subject of an online attack."

The Ministry of Justice website is a public information site, and held no sensitive or confidential data.

"Measures put in place to keep the website running mean that some visitors may be unable to access the site intermittently," said the spokeswoman.

[Via]

Julian Assange makes his first public appearance in two months, ever since he took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The WikiLeaks founder was granted political asylum on Thursday -- a decision that ignited a wave of international responses, with the UK and Sweden opposing the verdict and Latin American countries strongly supporting Ecuador's move.

Assange called upon the U.S. to end its 'witch hunt' on wikileaks, and to 'end the war on whistleblowers.'

A full transcript of his remarks follows:

“I am here today because I cannot be there with you today. But thank you for coming. Thank you for your resolve and your generosity of spirit.

“On Wednesday night, after a threat was sent to this embassy and the police descended on this building, you came out in the middle of the night to watch over it and you brought the world’s eyes with you.

“Inside this embassy, after dark, I could hear teams of police swarming up into the building through its internal fire escape. But I knew there would be witnesses. And that is because of you.

“If the UK did not throw away the Vienna conventions the other night, it is because the world was watching. And the world was watching because you were watching.

“So, the next time somebody tells you that it is pointless to defend those rights that we hold dear, remind them of your vigil in the dark before the Embassy of Ecuador.

“Remind them how, in the morning, the sun came up on a different world and a courageous Latin America nation took a stand for justice.

And so, to those brave people. I thank President Correa for the courage he has shown in considering and in granting me political asylum.

“And I also thank the government, and in particular Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino, who upheld the Ecuadorian constitution and its notion of universal rights in their consideration of my asylum. And to the Ecuadorian people for supporting and defending this constitution.

“And I also have a debt of gratitude to the staff of this embassy, whose families live in London and who have shown me the hospitality and kindness despite the threats we all received.

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Via:

It was a warning meant to remind Ecuador that Britain's patience has limits. But as the stalemate over Julian Assange settled in Friday, it appeared London's veiled threat that it could storm Ecuador's embassy and drag Assange out has backfired — drawing supporters to the mission where the WikiLeaks founder is holed up and prompting angry denunciations from Ecuador and elsewhere.

Experts and ex-diplomats say Britain's Foreign Office, which warned Ecuador of a little known law that would allow it to side-step usual diplomatic protocols, messed up by issuing a threat it couldn't back up.

"It was a big mistake," said former British ambassador Oliver Miles. "It puts the British government in the position of asking for something illegitimate."

Extradition expert Julian Knowles said that said British officials could arrest Assange once the diplomatic and media ferment faded.

"I think they'll take the view that within a few days or weeks it will all blow over," he said.

The U.S. state department chimed in with this: "The United States is not a party to the 1954 OAS Convention on Diplomatic Asylum and does not recognize the concept of diplomatic asylum as a matter of international law."

This will no doubt come as a shock to Chinese human rights campaigner Chen Guangcheng, who fled to the US embassy in Beijing after evading house arrest and beatings in May.