Re: [DFRI-listan] Stefan Svallfors: "Låt Snowden få Sacharovpriset"

[Emil Tullstedt <sakjur@xxxxxxxxx>]

Om vi sprider det här via EDRi och försöker få in det i deras
nyhetsbrev så kanske det kanske tillochmed blir något bra utav det?

Skadar ju inte att försöka :)

mvh
--
Emil Tullstedt


On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 11:35 AM, Erik Josefsson
<erik.hjalmar.josefsson@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Sydsvenskan publicerar idag 29 augusti en artikel av Professor Stefan
> Svallfors:
>
> "Låt Snowden få Sacharovpriset"
> http://www.sydsvenskan.se/opinion/aktuella-fragor/lat-snowden-fa-sacharovpriset/
>
> Nedan en engelsk version.
>
> //Erik
>
> A Sakharov for our time?
>
> Since 1988, the European Parliament has awarded the Sakharov Prize.
> According to its statutes, this is given to a person or group "who made
> remarkable efforts to defend human rights and fundamental freedoms" and thus
> "worked against intolerance, fanaticism and oppression."
>
> The award is given in memory of the Russian physicist Andrei Sakharov
> (1921-1989), known as one of the men behind the hydrogen bomb but even more
> as a Soviet dissident with his Human Rights Committee and his defense of
> political prisoners. Sakharov stands as a symbol of the individual human
> being who dares to stand up against tyranny and oppression, even when the
> personal cost is very high.
>
> A most deserving recipient of the 2013 price would be the American whistle
> blower Edward Snowden. In May, The Guardian published his disclosure of the
> extensive, illegal and deeply intrusive monitoring conducted by the American
> National Security Agency. For this heroic effort Snowden has paid a heavy
> personal price. He is hunted as an outlaw by the U.S. government, accused of
> crimes that will put him in jail for the rest of his life. The U.S.
> government has threatened the governments that dare to offer him asylum with
> serious consequences. In a painful irony, the only sanctuary that had been
> found for Snowden is Russia, a country whose democratic problems and
> authoritarian tendencies are obvious.
>
> But is really Snowden a worthy recipient of the prize, someone may sneeze.
> Is not America the world's leading democracy, a friend of Europe, committed
> to the rule of law? Yes. But even democracies can hide pockets of tyranny in
> their hearts, a democratic state may well coexist with other systems that
> are characterized by anything but democracy and law. As the monitoring
> system which now puts its global tentacles far into the private lives of
> citizens. By exposing this system Snowden made it possible for us to say No
> – this is not a development and a society we want, we protect our civil
> rights and freedoms when they are threatened.
>
> Snowden's revelations make explicit demands on citizens and politicians to
> act and react. How have we responded to these demands? Not in any impressive
> way one must say. Individual politicians and many citizens have reacted,
> expressed support for Snowden, trying to act in his defense. They see the
> unpleasant consequences of a surveillance system where innocent citizens get
> their electronic communication and their phone calls tapped and mapped. The
> German President Joachim Gauck, with his personal East German experience,
> for example stated that Snowden "deserves respect" for his actions. But
> otherwise an awkward silence, evasive answers, gentle tiptoeing. Merkel
> hums, The European Commission whispers, the parliaments remain silent.
>
> On the Swedish side, even more depressing inaction is observed. Sweden acts
> together with Britain to make sure the question should not be addressed at
> European level. This is a bilateral issue and by the way, no Swedish
> interests are at stake, the Foreign Minister distractedly announces before
> returning to Twitter. The government obviously sees no reason to allow this
> issue to eclipse the splendor of Obama's forthcoming state visit. From the
> political left, a complete disinterest is shown. No social democratic
> position is advanced or even formulated.
>
> It is tragic to see how thin the liberal veneer is in many places. When
> liberalism is no longer easy and obvious, when it requires courage and
> sacrifice, when we are forced to choose and our choices have real costs,
> what happens then? We fall into line, we bend to power. Without grumbling we
> let fairly manageable threats from terrorists sweep away fundamental rights
> and freedoms.
>
> We must demand more of ourselves and our elected officials than that. We
> could start by giving Edward Snowden the price whose name symbolizes a man
> who refused to bow to oppression and thereby actually changed history.
>
>
>
> Stefan Svallfors
> Professor of Sociology at Umeå University
> & the Institute for Future Studies