English Translation of labSurlab Press Release for Julian Assange Ecuador Asylum Request

[UPDATE: Something or other about the #AsiloAssangeEC petition.]

[UPDATE: French translation of labSurlab #AsiloAssangeEC press release in comments.]

[UPDATE: German translation of labSurlab #AsiloAssangeEC press release in comments.]

labSurlab (Twitter, Website), a network of independent initiatives including hackerspaces, published along with others a press release (PDF in Spanish) supporting Julian Assange’s request for political asylum in Ecuador. (Get up to speed: WikiLeaks Central live-blog tracking the asylum request; Glenn Greenwald article in Salon; Philip Dorling article in the Sydney Morning Herald; justice4assange.com; @wikileaks.)

The press release is dated 19 June 2012 from Quito, the capital of Ecuador, and they’re using this hashtag — #AsiloAssangeEC — for their efforts. Since no translation seems readily available, a native Spanish speaker, Fernando (Website, Twitter), put together this translation with me (as a Texan I know a bit of Spanglish). (Jumping off from ours, alxgucci put together another English translation.) Nothing below in brackets is in the original Spanish, but rather has been added by me.

Corrections and help are welcome — comment on this blog post. The press release asks for signatures to their petition. For people who don’t know Spanish: the big box at the top right asks for your first and last names (“Nombre y apellidos”) and then for your email address (“Tu correo electrónico”). After clicking the blue Unirme button, you’ll receive a confirmation email. Click “Sigue este enlace” in the confirmation email for your signature to count.

English Translation:

We support asylum for Assange in Ecuador.

We want to make known our support for the petition made by Assange to Ecuador’s government.

Ecuador as a country recognizes in its constitution the right to communication and defends the freedom of speech; it can’t evade its solidarity with someone who is suffering the consequences of having exercised the right to freedom of speech and who defends the right of all citizens to access to information.

We think that granting political asylum follows from the respect of norms and principles of the international rights available. We want Ecuador to make the right decision in relation to the request of asylum and we support this decision in advance.

SIGNATURES [Some might be wrong. Most explanations are based on the signers’ self-descriptions.]:

  • LabSurLab Quito 2012. [Twitter, Website. A network of independent initiatives including hackerspaces.]

  • Differential Quito [Twitter, Website. Connection space aiming to promote projects and activities that stimulate the development of digital culture.]

  • Aller [Possibly Aler with one ‘L’; possibly this group: Twitter, Website. Latin American Information Radio Education.]

  • Isaac Hacksimov [Twitter.]

  • Mujeres en Red (Spain) / Women in Network [Website. Feminist site.]

  • Baoba Voador (Brazil) [Maybe this website?]

  • Asociación de Cabildos Suroccidente Colombiano / Southwestern Colombian Association of Councils [Translation uncertain. Can’t find anything online.]

  • Fedaeps [Twitter, Website, Facebook. Foundation for research, action, and social participation.]

  • Centro Experimental Oído Salvaje [Something like “Wild Ear Experimental Center.” Vimeo, MySpace. Radio and sound art collective.]

  • Lado B-En tiempo real / Side B – In Real Time [Maybe this music group: Website (click “lado b” section), SoundCloud, Vimeo, YouTube, Facebook.]

  • Juuntos.org [Twitter, Website. Latin American Web community.]

  • Red Anillo Sur / South Ring Network [Likely this group: Website, Media Website. Distributed Federation of Free Lorea Social Networks.]

  • Chimbalab (Chile) [Twitter, Website. Art laboratory focused on research and production of DIY and open hardware.]

  • Minipimer (Chile) [Twitter, Website. Experimental lab for real-time Internet video. But maybe they’re based in Barcelona.]

  • Translab (Chile) [Likely this group: Twitter, Website. Platform for practice and research on contemporary art, technology, cyberculture, transmedia labs and processes.]

  • Artek (Chile) [Likely this group: Website. The Cultural Arts and Technology Corporation (Artek), created to promote the development of cultural and creative projects which link art, science, and technology.]

  • Cultura Senda (Venezuela-Argentina) [Something like “Culture Trail”? Likely this group: Twitter, Website. Organization specializing in research, development, and training in network technologies to facilitate the work of groups, networks and institutions.]

  • Hipermédula (Argentina) [Twitter, Website. Platform for Latin American art and contemporary culture. Thought, discussion, information.]

  • FM La Tribu (Argentina) [Twitter, Website. Free internet radio FM 88.7.]

  • Centro de Comunicación Mapuche KONA / the Center for Mapuche Kona Communication Productions [An indigenous advocacy group? Can’t find anything for it proper.]

  • Sat (Canadá) [Apparently this group: Twitter, Website, Facebook. Society for Arts and Technology in Montreal.]

  • Sayad (Mexico) [Can’t find anything.]

We have launched this campaign on oiga.me in support, sign this petition:

http://oiga.me/campaigns/pide-al-gobierno-de-ecuador-que-acepte-el-asilo-de-julian-assange

Again: sign the petition.

Original Spanish:

RESPALDAMOS EL ASILO PARA ASSANGE EN ECUADOR

Queremos manifestar nuestro apoyo a la petición de asilo realizada por Julian Assange al Gobierno de Ecuador.

Ecuador como país que reconoce en su constitución el derecho a la comunicación y que defiende la libertad de expresión, no puede eludir su solidaridad con alguien que está sufriendo las consecuencias de su compromiso con el ejercicio de esta libertad de expresión, y que defiende el derecho de la ciudadanía al acceso a información verdadera.

Consideramos que otorgar el asilo político está en consecuencia con el respeto a las normas y principios del derecho internacional vigentes.

Animamos al gobierno del Ecuador a tomar una decisión positiva en relación a la solicitud de asilo y respaldamos de antemano esta decisión.

FIRMAS:

LabSurLab Quito 2012. Diferencial Quito, Aller, Isaac Hacksimov, Mujeres en Red (España), Baoba Voador (Brasil), Asociación de Cabildos Suroccidente Colombiano, Fedaeps, Centro Experimental Oído Salvaje, Lado B-En tiempo real, Juuntos.org, Red Anillo Sur, Chimbalab (Chile), Minipimer (Chile), Translab (Chile), Artek (Chile), Cultura Senda (Venezuela-Argentina), Hipermédula (Argentina) FM La tribu (Argentina) Centro de Comunicación Mapuche KONA, Sat (Canadá), Sayad (Mexico),

Hemos lanzado esta campaña en oiga.me apóyanos y fima esta petición.

http://oiga.me/campaigns/pide-al-gobierno-de-ecuador-que-acepte-el-asilo-de-julian-assange

Sign the petition. The Spanish PDF seems to have originated from here, by the way.

Creative Commons License

Rough English Translation of labSurlab Press Release for Julian Assange Ecuador Asylum Request by Douglas Lucas is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at www.douglaslucas.com. Seeking permissions beyond the scope of this license? Email me: dal@douglaslucas.com.