1 WikiLeaks Advisory Council 2 Hi everyone, My name is Tom Dalo and I am currently a senior at Fairfield. I am very excited to Be chairing the WikiLeaks Advisory Council committee this year. I would like to first introduce myself and tell you a little Bit about myself. I am from Allendale, NJ and I am currently majoring in Accounting and Finance. First off, I have been involved with the Fairfield University Model United Nations Team since my freshman year when I was a co-chair on the Disarmament and International Security committee. My sophomore year, I had the privilege of Being Co- Secretary General for FUMUN and although it was a very time consuming event, it was truly one of the most rewarding experiences I have had at Fairfield. Last year I was the Co-Chair for the Fukushima National Disaster Committee along with Alli Scheetz, who filled in as chair for the committee as I was unaBle to attend the conference. Aside from my chairing this committee, I am currently FUMUN’s Vice- President. In addition to my involvement in the Model UN, I am a Tour Ambassador Manager, and a Beta Alpha Psi member. I love the outdoors and enjoy skiing, running, and golfing. I am from Allendale, NJ and I am currently majoring in Accounting and Finance. Some of you may wonder how I got involved with the Model United Nations considering that I am a business student majoring in Accounting and Finance. Model UN offers any student, regardless of their major, a chance to improve their puBlic speaking, enhance their critical thinking skills, communicate Better to others as well as gain exposure to current events. For all Model UN memBers, young and old, I urge you to step out of your comfort zone and participate fully in this conference. Make new friends, speak in the committee and most of all have fun. What is the worst that can happen? So you stand up and stutter a little. At least you tried and it is better than sitting back and not saying anything all at. This is a learning experience and I hope to gain as much as you do in this committee. Feel free to reach out to me at any point regarding any questions or concerns you may have. Looking forward to meeting you all! Best, Tom Dalo [email protected] 3 Purpose of WikiLeaks: But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. Ephesians 5:13 More than forty years ago, two young reporters from the Washington Post descended to the Bottom level of a dimly lit parking garage in the wee hours of the morning to meet with a federal employee who possessed secret information regarding the 1972 Break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters. Those reporters were BoB Woodward and Carl Berstein. Their anonymous source was FBI Deputy Director W. Mark Felt, whom they referred to as “Deep Throat”. The information they oBtained and suBsequently puBlished on June 18, 1972 set in motion the infamous scandal known as Watergate. “The name still reverberates as one of the greatest domestic scandals in American political history, leading to the resignation of the President, Richard Nixon, and the trial and conviction of many of the men closest to him. It echoes, too, as the most daring and exciting story in the history of American journalism” (Perry). The actions of Woodward, Berstein and Felt represent an important milestone in the advancement of freedom of the press and the puBlic’s right to know the secrets of their governments and their leaders. In 2006 WikiLeaks was launched By Julian Assange to further the concept of absolute free information. According to the WikiLeaks weBpage, “[o]ne of our most important activities is to puBlish original source material alongside our news stories so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth.” WikiLeaks operates as a non -profit organization, which is funded by human rights groups, investigative journalists, as well as the general puBlic. The group stands to challenge the conventions of existing media and to go Beyond contemporary reporting By Breaking down Barriers to information created governments and corporations. WikiLeaks derives their principles from t he Universal Declaration of Human Rights, specifically article 19 which “states that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” (UN.org). 4 WikiLeaks operates under a platform similar to Wikipedia, taking information and disseminating it to the people. The main difference between the two sites is that WikiLeaks information is not editable. The organization accepts (does not solicit) information from the general public, hacker groups, and journalists who pass leaked information to WikiLeaks through a highly-secure “anonymous drop box fortified by cutting-edge cryptographic information technologies.” WikiLeaks then analyses the information that it receives, verifies it, and publishes the original material as well as a supplemental news story. The organization serves to promote transparency and truth aBout governments and corporations, rather than stand for profit and sensationalism as most media outlets do. The WikiLeaks organization, which was initially launched under the Sunshine Press, claimed to have a dataBase holding 1.2 million documents pertaining to various corporations and governments. WikiLeaks has Been successful at Breaking stories of all natures on major media outlets, while never revealing a single source. According to their website the organization has leaked stories pertaining to topics including: • War, killings, torture and detention • Government, trade and corporate transparency • Suppression of free speech and a free press • Diplomacy, spying and (counter-) intelligence • Ecology, climate, nature and sciences • Corruption, finance, taxes, trading • Censorship technology and internet filtering • Cults and other religious organizations • Abuse, violence, violation 5 Major Leaks: Collateral Murder On April 5, 2010, WikiLeaks released this video exposing another side of the War in Iraq. The video depicts an unprovoked and indiscriminate slaying of wounded civilians and journalists, By U.S. troops who were flying over a neighborhood in New Baghdad. Among those injured were two Reuter’s news staff and children. On July 6, 2010 Private Bradley Manning was charged with disclosing this video. Afghan And Iraq War Logs On OctoBer 22, 2010, WikiLeaks released the largest classified military leak in history. This leak consisted of 391,832 reports documenting the war from January 2004-December 2009, detailing the deaths of 109,032 people with over 60% of that numBer contriButing to civilian casualties. Around the same time, WikiLeaks released the ‘Afghan War Diaries’ detailing the death of 20,00 The Guantanamo Files people, a far less amount than in Iraq. On April 25, 2011 WikiLeaks released about 800 documents pertaining to the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, detailing never before seen information about Guantanamo prisoners from 2002 to 2008. While this facility was supported by Bush, and criticized by Obama, the facility still remains open as of today. Cablegate On November 28, 2010, WikiLeaks published the largest set of classified documents to the puBlic in history. The leak consisted of 251,287 U.S. emBassy caBles dating Back to 1966 all the way to 2010. “The caBles show the extent of US spying on its allies and the UN; turning a Blind eye to corruption; Backroom deals with supposedly neutral countries; and lobbying for US corporations” (wikileaks.org). 6 Purpose of Our Council “Every American schoolchild is taught that George Washington–the country’s first President–could not tell a lie. If the administrations of his successors lived up to the same principle, today’s document flood would Be a mere embarrassment. Instead, the US Government has been warning governments–even the most corrupt–around the world about the coming leaks and is bracing itself for the exposures.” (Wikileaks.org) To a certain extent, governments depend on secrecy to guarantee the safety of their citizens. However, governments have covered up corruption, mismanagement, and even human atrocities, all in the name of national security. This abuse of secrecy creates a recipe for disaster, especially at a time where governments are capable of collecting and retaining more data than ever Before. Out of dissatisfaction with the status quo, journalistic enterprises, such as WikiLeaks are determined to facilitate the free flow of information and to expose the truth lurking behind the doors of political institutions throughout the world. This council is comprised of a mix of known people associated with the WikiLeaks organization, including hackers, media analysts, contriButors and journalists. Also involved as committee memBers will Be various media outlets, corporations and representatives from countries around the globe, who will for the first time Be aBle to meet directly with WikiLeaks contriButors in order to Better communicate and work towards achieving transparency and international sovereignty. It will Be the responsiBility of the committee to act in responding to the current issues and threats that face the organization. More importantly, committee memBers must keep in mind a future plan for WikiLeaks, as it should seek to create a Balance between the concerns of governments and citizens, regarding the transparency of information while taking into consideration the concerns