Katharine Gun

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Katharine Teresa Gun (actually Gün , * 1974 as Katharine Teresa Harwood in Taiwan ) is a former translator in the service of the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). In 2003, she went public as a whistleblower with top secret documents on illegal activities during the Iraq War (also the Third Gulf War or Second Iraq War) in the same year . The documents prove that the US secret service NSA collected information through illegal wiretapping operations in order to blackmail six voting members of the United Nations into agreeing to the US illegal war of aggression against Iraq .

The UK judiciary's trial against Gun for violating the Official Secrets Act 1989 was closed on February 25, 2004 after only half an hour of hearing because the Prosecution failed to produce any evidence.

For her unveiling, Gun received the whistleblower Sam Adams Award in 2003.

Life

Gun was born to British parents in Taiwan, where she spent much of her childhood. She later studied Japanese and Chinese at the University of Durham in England and began working as a translator for the GCHQ after completing her studies.

Gun has since emigrated to Turkey with her husband and daughter.

Whistleblower

On January 31, 2003, she received an email from NSA employee Frank Koza , Chief of Staff for "Regional Objectives" at the GCHQ for administrative assistance in translating material from the surveillance and wiretapping of United Nations offices bat, which is declared illegal by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, an international treaty . The order for collection and evaluation was as follows:

"[...] the whole gamut of information that could give US policymakers an edge in obtaining results favorable to US goals or to head off surprises."

"[...] the full range of information that could give US decision-makers an advantage in achieving results in line with US goals or avoiding surprises."

- Frank Koza

The states concerned were Angola , Bulgaria , Cameroon , Chile , Guinea and Pakistan , which at that time had voting rights in the United Nations Security Council , in which the United States wanted to legitimize the war of aggression on Iraq . Gun forwarded the text in question to The Observer newspaper . In its initial release, there was a faux pas on the part of proofreading : the original in American English written email was the British English transmitted and printed (for example, favorable place favorable or emphasize instead emphasize ). This was later corrected. Gun was arrested days after it was released in March. In a message to the public, she justified the publication:

“[…] Because they exposed serious illegality […] on the part of the US government who attempted to subvert our own security services; [...] I have only ever followed my conscience. "

"[...] because they prove serious illegality on the part of the US government, which tried to undermine our own secret services [...]. I always just followed my conscience . "

She received broad public support from individuals such as whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg , civil rights activist Jesse Jackson , actor Sean Penn, and organizations such as the Institute for Public Accuracy and the National Council for Civil Liberties .

Indictment and Trial

The charges for violating the first paragraph of the Official Secrets Act 1989 came on November 13, 2003, and the proceedings were opened on February 25, 2004. Gun pleaded "not guilty" and continued to publicly admit her actions:

“I'm just baffled that in the 21st century we as human beings are still dropping bombs on each other as a means to resolve issues. [...] my actions were necessary to prevent an illegal war in which thousands of Iraqi civilians and British soldiers would be killed or maimed. "

“I am amazed that in the 21st century we humans are still throwing bombs on each other to solve problems. [...] my actions were necessary to prevent an illegal war in which thousands of Iraqi civilians and British soldiers would be killed or maimed. "

Half an hour after the proceedings were opened, the prosecution under Lord Goldsmith did not produce any evidence of their position. The reasons for this are unknown; It was commonly assumed that a successfully conducted process in the sense of the GCHQ would have resulted in the publication of further secret documents or political exposure - especially since the population was already critical of the Iraq war and a conviction by a jury was therefore unlikely.

Aftermath and effects

The attitude of diplomats and politicians from Chile and Mexico was directly reinforced , the USA "regularly worked with dirty tricks".

Release of Gun in 2006

In 2006, Gun published the text Iran: Time to Leak , in which it called for secret documents relating to public interest activities to continue to be published.

Interview by Gun in 2013

In a 2013 interview, Gun said of her whistleblowing:

“Still no regrets, but the more I think about what happened, the more angry and frustrated I get about the fact that nobody acted on intelligence. The more we find out that in fact the million-person march was a real cause of worry for Downing Street and for Blair personally, it makes you think we were so close and yet so far. ”

“I still don't regret it, but the more I think about what happened, the more angry and frustrated I get that nobody acted on the findings. The more we find out that the Million Person March demonstration was the real cause of concern for the government and Tony Blair personally, the more it makes one think we were so close [to success] and yet so far away . "

Gun in 2019: The media are somewhat complicit

The Germany radio also writes on November 14, 2019

Unlike Edward Snowden in the USA, for example, Katharine Gun is no longer facing any legal consequences in her home country. It is difficult for her to understand why the media repeatedly judge whistleblowers differently.

“Why are some portrayed as whistleblowers and others as traitors ? To some extent, the media are partly to blame for damaging some people's reputations . "

Award / Prize

2003: Sam Adams Award

filming

In January 2019, the film version of Gun's activities premiered under the name Official Secrets as part of the Sundance Film Festival . In the lead role is Keira Knightley to see and be directed by Gavin Hood . The film adaptation is based on the book The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War: Katharine Gun and the Secret Plot to Sanction the Iraq Invasion , published in 2008 .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "I was afraid they might read my mind". In: Spiegel Online. October 19, 2019, accessed October 30, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Annan: Iraq war illegal. September 17, 2004, accessed March 8, 2020 .
  3. ^ A b Katharine Gun - Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence. Retrieved March 7, 2020 (American English).
  4. ↑ Oliver Burkeman, Richard Norton-Taylor: The spy who wouldn't keep a secret. In: The Guardian , February 26, 2004.
  5. ↑ Whistleblower Katharine Gun - "I would do it again". Retrieved on February 18, 2020 (German).
  6. ↑ a b , Katharine Gun: Ten years on what happened to the woman who revealed dirty tricks on the UN Iraq war vote? In: The Guardian , March 3, 2013, accessed February 8, 2014.
  7. ↑ US plan to bug Security Council: the text ( February 9, 2004 memento in the Internet Archive ) In: The Observer , March 2, 2003, accessed February 8, 2014.
  8. ↑ Revealed: US dirty tricks to win vote on Iraq war. In: The Observer , March 2, 2003, accessed August 23, 2020.
  9. ^ US plan to bug Security Council: the text. In: The Observer , March 2, 2003, accessed August 23, 2020.
  10. ↑ US stars hail Iraq was a whistleblower. In: The Guardian , January 18, 2004, accessed February 8, 2014.
  11. ↑ Katharine Gun. BBC , February 26, 2004, accessed February 8, 2014.
  12. ↑ Whistleblower Katharine Gun - "I would do it again". Retrieved on February 18, 2020 (German).
  13. ↑ Pamela McClintock: Harrison Ford, Anthony Hopkins to Star in 'Official Secrets'. In: hollywoodreporter.com , January 28, 2016, accessed January 31, 2016.
  14. ↑ Sabine Oelmann: Keira Knightley leaks "Official Secrets". Retrieved March 7, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Gun, Katharine
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gün, Katharine Teresa (official name); Harwood, Katharine Teresa (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British secret service worker as a translator, whistleblower
DATE OF BIRTH 1974
PLACE OF BIRTH Taiwan