Robert Tibbo

An update on the circumstances of Mr Snowden and the Snowden Refugees will be provided at the 36C3 event and venue in December 2019. There have been many significant events and incidents during 2019.

Of these significant events is the major success of Vanessa Rodel and her daughter Keana being granted refugee status by Canada and resettled in Montreal, Canada in late March 2019. Vanessa’s journey to Canada will be discussed. More significantly the issue of the Canadian government having left Supun and his family and Ajith behind in Canada has split up a family namely Keana in Montreal from her father Supun and siblings Sethumdi and Dinath in Hong Kong. In further context of the emerging police state that Hong Kong has become and its arbitrary and disproportionate use of violence against protesters and innocent civilian bystanders and breaches of constitutional rights and under international law, this has re-traumatized The Snowden Refugees in Hong Kong and has put them all at heightened risk. The lecture will cover the current global erosion and dismantling of international refugee and constitutional law by increasingly authoritarian democracies and loss of international protection for whistleblowers and those who protect whistleblowers. It will be discussed how this has impacted upon the cases of Mr Snowden and The Snowden Refugees.

Other people: Edward Snowden

An update on the circumstances of the Snowden Refugees will be provided at the 35C3 event and venue in December 2018.

There have been many significant events and incidents during 2018, and some of these will be disclosed at the talk. Updates will provided on the Snowden Refugees appeals in Hong Kong and their refugee claims with Canada. There will also be disclosures on continued surveillance and harassment by the Hong Kong authorities.

The Snowden Refugees’ actions to protect the world’s most significant whistle blower of the 21st Century, amounts to an expression of Political Opinion. Since September 2016, the Snowden Refugees have been systematically targeted and persecuted by the Hong Kong government based on that political opinion.

After the Oliver Stone film “Snowden” was released in September 2016, the world learned about Edward Snowden having been provided a safe haven and refuge in Hong Kong by the destitute “Snowden Refugees”. Instead of being recognized as brave individuals who selflessly protected Mr Snowden, the Hong Kong government launched a systematic campaign to harass, oppress and punish the Snowden Refugees, with a view to deport them from Hong Kong as quickly as possible. By October 2017, the Hong Kong government had utilized the Social Welfare Department, its Swiss based Contractor International Social Services, and the Immigration Department to target and punish the Snowden Refugees. These well-planned systemic efforts escalated with the Hong Kong police targeting the Snowden Refugees, instead of providing protection to them. The Hong Kong government has been aggressively seeking to rapidly remove Vanessa and her stateless daughter to the Philippines under conditions of a nation-wide state of emergency, martial law in Mindanao and a recently catalyzed nation-wide civil war with the National People’s Army. In the name of a war on drugs, President Duterte directed the well-planned and systematic use of torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings of tens of thousands of innocent civilians including politicians, with no end in sight. His actions amount to crimes against humanity. The Hong Kong government also seeks to deport the Sri Lankan Snowden Refugees to a country accused of having committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, with its current Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe accused of being complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity. Today Sri Lanka is plagued by systemic use of torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings with no end in sight. In the above context, the Hong Kong government has failed to protect the Snowden Refugees and in fact have taken steps to put them in harms’ way both in Hong Kong and their countries of origin.

Other people: Edward Snowden

On June 9, 2013, Edward Snowden revealed massive civil rights abuses by the NSA. On June 10, Snowden didn’t know where to hide.

Snowden’s revelations had started the greatest intelligence man hunt in history. The entire US secret service apparatus was looking for the American Whistleblower. Every policeman in Hong Kong was on the lookout. And hundreds of journalists were flooding the city to find the man who shocked the world. No one could find him. On June 23, Snowden boarded a plane to Moscow. In the two weeks before that, he had simply been invisible. For three years, these two weeks have been unexplained. Then, investigative journalist Sönke Iwersen from the German newspaper Handelsblatt filled in the gaps. Today, Sönke will present the people who kept Snowden alive: rights lawyer Robert Tibbo, who is coming from Hong Kong to Hamburg to join us on stage. Ajith, a former soldier from Sri Lanka. Vanessa, a domestic helper from the Philippines. And Nadeeka and Supun, a refugee couple in Hong Kong. Without any preparations, these five men and women were given an almost impossible task: Hide the most wanted man alive. This hour at 33c3 will tell how they succeeded. You will learn about Snowden’s days in hiding, the human rights situation for refugees in Hong Kong, and how you can help both Snowden and the refugees who saved his life. Also, you will hear the latest news on Edward Snowden himself. Lena Rohrbach from Amnesty International will tell you about the Pardon Snowden Campaign and how you can participate. Time is running out!

Other people: Lena Rohrbach Sönke Iwersen