August 2012 Archive

Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, spoke publicly last Sunday from the balcony of the Embassy of Ecuador in London where he has taken refuge from both the United Kingdom and the Swedish court authorities. He accused the U.S. of a Witch Hunt. He was granted asylum by the Ecuadorean government. Mr. Assange is wanted for questioning on accusations of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion by two women in Stockholm. He denies the accusations but yet refuses to face his accusers in court. He claims that if he turned himself in, Sweden would then extradite him to the U.S. where he would face espionage charges for revealing state and military secrets to the world with the publication of the Wikileaks.

I think that Benjamin Radford is correct when he writes in his analysis Ethical Issues Plague Wikileaks Standoff published by Discovery News, that “Assange’s claims (whether true or not) that the U.S. government is out to get him does not offer him a blanket immunity from all crimes he may have committed in the past, or may commit in the future.” 

I find it quite amusing, as cleverly explained by fellow blogger and friend Ben Cohen in his blog post entitled “Julian Assange and Ecuador’s Gesture Politics, that of all the countries to choose from to seek asylum, Mr. Assange would choose Ecuador, which has less than a pristine record on freedom of the press.  Mr. Assange may have to spend many months and years at the Ecuadoran Embassy in London. 

The notion and practice of asylum is ancient. It was recognized by the Egyptians, the Jews and the Greeks. In Medieval Europe, the Church, or rather certain churches, were designated as havens. Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that: “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.”

According to the Biblical account, God instructed Moses to designate six cities of refuge, in the Land of Israel, where a person, who accidentally killed another, could flee to and be protected from the vengeance of the family of the deceased.

There are many interesting cases of famous asylum seekers. Albert Einstein, Marc Chagall and the Dalai Lama at one point in their lives were refugees. In 1956, Hungarian Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty, anticipating imminent arrest because of his opposition to Stalin and Communism, took refuge at the American Embassy in Budapest and lived there for 15 years until he was allowed to leave Hungary. French author Christine Arnothy tells his story in her book called the Captive Cardinal. 

The fundamental values in asylum are empathy and compassion.  We should respect those values but also be protective of them to make sure they are not abused. 

I do not believe that it is Mr. Assange who is entitled to empathy and compassion in this alleged sexual molestation case but rather his victims. They deserve justice.

As Albert Einstein once said:

“In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.”

Sebastian Shakespeare of the London Evening Standard wrote in his article entitled The Olympics should be no place for ethics: “If we must have the Olympics, let them be fun, not fettered with high-minded ethical considerations.”

I profoundly disagree. Ethics has its place in the Olympics as in any human enterprise, even more so with one of this magnitude.

The International Olympic Committee has its own Code of Ethics that addresses issues of dignity, integrity, good governance and confidentiality.   The ethical issues involving the games are many such as bribery-corruption, sponsors lack of corporate social responsibility, the consumption of illegal performance enhancing drugs, and cheating.  

The games also illustrate some fundamental values at play that can also be applied in our professional and private lives.

Let me list a few:

Fairness:

Fairness, obviously, is one of the fundamental values in sports. A sports event such as the Olympics is an amazing affirmation that one can compete in fairness, abide by the rules and yet win. Good guys (gals) CAN finish first!

Courage and Perseverance:

The dedication, efforts and sacrifice required to reach the goal of an Olympic medal is astonishing, particularly when you consider the number of years it usually takes for athletes to reach world-record levels. Kayla Harrison, who won the first gold medal in judo for the United States, had some traumatic obstacles to overcome. The 22-year old athlete had been sexually abused from the ages of 13 to 16 by her then coach. (He now serves a 10 year jail sentence and has been banned from the sport for life.)  Mrs. Harrison said: “It is no secret that I was sexually abused by my former coach, and that was definitely the hardest thing I have ever had to overcome.”           

Pride and Honor:

We should be proud of who we are and also of our individual accomplishment. Lopez Lomong, a member of the U.S. 2012 Olympic team, competing in the 5000-meter event says: “The Olympics is the ultimate show of national pride and identity.” Mr. Lomong was a Sudanese refugee in Kenya and became an American citizen in 2007. He says: “I had been accepted into a country that I was proud of and, for the first time in my life, I had an identity. I am honored to be an ambassador for the United States as I travel to compete with the world’s greatest athletes and bring home Gold.”  

Teamwork:

The games are also a demonstration that teamwork can bring the best results whether the team is composed of the athlete and the coach or of an Olympic sports team or even of a national Olympic committee. None of the athletes would have been able to succeed with the outstanding performances we have witnessed had it not been for the collaboration of so many who worked behind the scenes. That is true for all of “our” accomplishments. We never could have achieved them without the help of many.

As the author of the Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery once wrote:

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”