Accoun has earlier highlighted NATO’s criminal past. This year, when NATO has turned 70 years old, protesters in many countries are calling for freedom from NATO. Stopp NATO and Norge ut av NATO (Norway out of NATO) write that this anniversary is nothing to celebrate (links to content in Norwegian). The Florence Declaration calls for an exit from NATO – read it in English or Swedish (with link to other languages). Meanwhile, news are also emerging about how police has infiltrated anti-NATO organizers.

Amnesty International reports about the execution of 37 people convicted on “terrorism” related charges:

Also among those executed is Abdulkareem al-Hawaj – a young Shi’a man who was arrested at the age of 16 and convicted of offences related to his involvement in anti-government protests. Under international law, the use of the death penalty against people who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime is strictly prohibited.

However, the ruling elite seems to get away with anything. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been described as a significant source for funding of terrorism worldwide.

Last month, Chelsea Manning was sent to jail indefinitely after she refused to take part in a US Department of Justice investigation into WikiLeaks. Now a court has denied the whistleblower’s request to be released on bail.

This month, on the 11 April, both Julian Assange and a friend of him, Ola Bini, were arrested.

Regarding Assange, keep in mind that already in 2016, the United Nations’ Working Group on Arbitrary Detention called on the Swedish and British authorities to end Assange’s deprivation of liberty, which is considered a form of arbitrary detention, respect his physical integrity and freedom of movement, and afford him the right to compensation. However, that is hardly ever mentioned by mainstream media. For example, The Economist argues that Assange should be extradited. Among many other things, the diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks revealed how Swedish social democrats asked the US embassy for help to gain public support (link to content in Swedish). That year, Assange was invited to Sweden, where he became suspected of sexual misconduct and other allegations,

According to Bini’s lawyers, the detention of Bini is unlawful – he was denied access to lawyers for 17 hours, was not informed of the charges against him, and was not offered a translator, as required by local laws. His lawyers also said they have been harassed and threatened by police.

More on this subject:

• Free Chelsea Manning AGAIN! (petition in English)
• Tell the UK not to extradite Julian Assange (petition in English)
• Støtt Julian Assange! Forsvar retten til å varsle om maktens overgrep (petition in Norwegian)
• Donald Boström about Assange (in Swedish)
• IALANA fordert die sofortige Freilassung von Chelsea Manning (Whistleblowerpreisträgerin 2001) und Julian Assange (in German)
• Löfvén måste agera för fängslade Ola Bini (in Swedish)
• The Indicter has also published several articles about Assange.

Read the interview with director Miles Lagoze about the war documantary “Combat Obscura” in The Intercept.

After US government threats and US authorities revoking the visa of chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, the International Criminal Court (ICC) caved in and decided to no longer investigate alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. Read about why the ICC should have opened an investigation into Afghanistan and why the decision might be impossibe to appeal.