Who are we?
WISE Up Action is a loose grassroots network of people from Wales, Ireland (all Ireland), Scotland and England organising individually and together in solidarity with Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange. The network works best when people take the initiative and do things themselves rather than waiting for other people to do them! If you organise anything, let us know about it beforehand so it can be put on the calendar. Also, be sure to send us your reports and photos afterwards. Wherever you are, you can do something for Bradley and Julian. Here are some ideas and information…
So far, actions in Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England have included vigils, stalls, exhibitions, rallies, benefit gigs, public meetings, comedy nights, an election tour in Ireland and a three week tour of Wales. People have performed plays, written poems, recorded songs, made films.
Since the happy release of Chelsea Manning on 17th of May 2017 after 7 years of incarceration, solidarity actions have wound down. We continue in support of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks with grassroots actions.
Current Ongoing Actions:
Solidarity Vigils Outside the Ecuadorian Embassy: Tuesday Wednesday Thursday 3-5pm, outside No 3 Hans Crescent, Knightsbridge, nearest station Knightsbridge, Piccadilly line.
Postcards for Assange
MP Letter Writing Campaign
#Unity4J Movement
Follow the Official Campaign Julian Assange in Jeopardy Live Blog at Courage Foundation
Taken from the Official Defend Julian Assange Campaign site at the Courage Foundation, “Take Action section“:
Donate
You can donate to the Defence Fund here. You can also donate to our fundraising appeals:
- Support the Julian Assange & WikiLeaks Public Defense Fund here
- Help Wikileaks Sue the Guardian over a Fabricated Story here, and
- Help WikiLeaks Fight the Democratic National Committee here.
WikiLeaks is entirely funded by its readers and is being challenged by multi-million dollar corporations. We rely on supporters like you to help. Please share this campaign widely.
Challenge false reporting in the media
Julian Assange and WikiLeaks are the subject of regular false claims and smears in the media – a consequence of challenging the powerful. Media outlets which should support truthtellers often choose to side with powerful interests seeking to undermine WikiLeaks and the public’s right to know. A common smear has become to falsely link Julian Assange and WikiLeaks to Russia, when no links exist. You can write to media outlets and individual journalists who report false news, pointing out the truth. You can use individual newspapers’ complaint mechanisms to challenge editors and press them to issue apologies and retractions. You can use your online, social media presence to inform others about false media reporting.
Write to your political representative
You can write to your member of parliament, Congressman or Senator or Prime Minister asking them to end Julian Assange’s isolation in the embassy and to urge them to stop the attempt by the US government to extradite him from the United Kingdom.
- If you’re in the UK, please use this letter template to write now to your MP. You could also ask to meet your MP at their constituency office and ask them to respond to the letter.
- If you’re in the US, please send a version of this open letter to your political representative calling on President Trump to halt the investigation into WikiLeaks.
Write to a human rights organisation and union
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are among the prominent organisations standing up for Julian Assange. But all human rights and free speech organisations should be encouraged to voice their support for the defence of international law and free speech and freedom of the media which arise in the case of the US persecution of Julian Assange. As someone granted asylum status because of his “well-founded fear of persecution”, Julian Assange should be defended by all refugee rights organisations. You can write to human rights, refugee and free speech organisations asking them where they stand on Julian Assange and urging them be more vocal. Given the attacks on freedom of the media and the right to publish represented by the US attempts to “take down” WikiLeaks, you can also write to journalist unions and bodies asking them where they stand on Julian Assange and urging them to speak out in his defence.
Sign petitions and letters and join campaigns
You can sign this petition which calls for an end to Julian Assange’s isolation. You can also sign this open letter to President Trump. There are numerous local groups and campaigns that have sprouted up in support of Julian Assange around the world, such as Unity4J. In London, you can join the permanent campaign presence outside the Ecuadorian embassy, and encourage others and other campaign groups to attend.
Keep yourself informed
Follow Courage, WikiLeaks, AssangeLegal, AssangeDefence on Twitter, help us share the Defend WikiLeaks Liveblog and Defence Fund.
Follow media outlets which report independently on WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, such as Consortium News, The Canary, Counterpunch, Democracy Now, The Real News Network, Truthdig, and WSWS.