For the UN, Assange's torture is psychological …

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, arrested in the United Kingdom, suffers from symptoms of "psychological torture", said yesterday the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, who called for the end of "collective persecution" against him, including the United States.

Melzer visited Assange Thursday in London Prison where he is serving a sentence for failing in 2012 on parole conditions to take refuge at the Ecuadorian embbady. Meanwhile, the 47-year-old Australian cyber-activist faces an extradition trial in the United States, where the Justice Department wants to bring him to justice for spying.

Assange did not appear Thursday at an extradition hearing for poor health, then WikiLeaks warned that his founder had physical and mental impairments and that he had lost a lot of weight since being incarcerated seven weeks ago. Although not being isolated, Melzer said he was concerned about the limitations of his contacts with lawyers and the lack of access to documents essential to his defense. Accompanied by two doctors, Mr. Melzer stated that "it is obvious that the extremely hostile and arbitrary context against Assange eventually affected him", said the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in a statement.

"In addition to the physical problems, Assange has shown all the typical symptoms of prolonged exposure to psychological torture, including extreme stress, chronic anxiety and intense psychological trauma – the evidence is overwhelming and clear", he continued. "Assange has been deliberately and for many years exposed to various forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment," Melzer warned, accusing all governments involved in the case of failing to adopt basic measures to respect human rights. "man and the dignity" of the journalist ". In this sense, he felt that "by maintaining an attitude of complacency at best and complicity in the worst, these governments have created a climate of impunity".

Assange was a refugee at the Embbady of Ecuador in London not to be taken to Sweden, which required him with regard to alleged badual crimes that he always denied. Sweden reopened this month the case against Assange, which had been closed in 2017 for lack of evidence. The Australian has always claimed that he feared that Sweden would deliver him to the United States, where he feared for his life. Last month, Assange was arrested by British police soon after the incumbent Ecuadorian President, Lenin Moreno, dismissed the diplomatic asylum.